There has been much discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of various fonts since the printing industry began. Researchers have written entire books on the topic, following months and even years of research at various institutes of higher learning. If you ask the experts, they will generally agree…at least that there’s a difference—the details are still a matter of debate.
For a fuller discussion of Typography in detail, consider reading Matthew Butterick’s online book: Practical Typography. If you have the time and inclination, it’s an excellent explanation of how things work. We’re not going to go into that much detail here—rather we’ll be pointing out a few helpful ideas of font choice.
Two Types
We will focus on two different types of fonts: Serif and Sans-serif. There are also Script and Decorative (including Fancy, Stencil and Handwritten), but typically they aren’t used in books. We also aren’t going to spend much time on monospaced fonts. Looking as if they were typed on an old typewriter, they are almost exclusively used to highlight computer coding examples, so if you’re writing a book about that, you probably already know how to format your illustrations.
Serif fonts are amongst the oldest fonts created, based on Roman carvings. The serifs are the extra tails that extend from the ends of each stroke of the letters. The serifs ease the identifying of letters and guide the reader’s eye along the lines of text, and so help make reading easier and more pleasurable. (We don’t want a good story to be ruined by a poor reading experience.)
Sans-Serif fonts don’t have those tails, ending with flat or square lines. Usually used in headings or titles to help them stand out, they keep your reader oriented in your wealth of information—an important objective. You’ll also see plenty of sans-serif fonts used in books aimed for a younger audience…think about those early readers where the kids are still sounding out each letter.
Which to use where
The general suggestion these days is to use a clear serif font for the body of the book. We recommend Century Supra or Equity (both at mbtype.com), Charter (practicaltypography.com/charter.html), or Source Serif Pro (github.com/adobe-fonts/source-serif-pro). For headings and chapter titles, a complementary sans-serif font works well. For that we suggest Advocate (all caps) or Concourse (both at mbtype.com), Fira Sans (bboxtype.com/typefaces/FiraSans), or IBM Plex (www.fontsquirrel.com/fonts/ibm-plex). Of course, because the titles of the chapters are usually short, some folks prefer to use a fancy font there, just to attract attention, so if that’s your preference please avoid Papyrus, Office Scripts, and of course Comic Sans.
Whatever you do, don’t use more than a few fonts in any one document…advert posters included! Once you start searching out new and different fonts, the more likely it will be that you catch font-itus.