I’m setting up the defaults in Scrivener and want to use a font which looks like one that a trade hardcover would actually be printed in. (When I go to Full Screen, it’s certainly motivating to imagine I’m reading my words “in print.”) There seem to be several favorites amongst publishers–some even note the font and its history in the back of the book. Can anyone suggest some different book-look fonts I can try?
Is this the right board to post this in to get the most responses?
You might wish to peruse this thread from a while back. A lot of good font talk, suggestions, and links—including some free ones. Searching for font threads on this forum is, at the moment, a bit troublesome. We talk about fonts so much, the forum software has decided that it is a common word, and thus worth ignoring!
Thanks, AmberV. That was an interesting thread, although it focused on the fonts that members like to use, which aren’t necessarily those we see between the covers. Is there anyone out there who knows one or more fonts that publishers typically use in their finished products?
I suggest you try Sabon, Georgia, Palatino and Bookman Old. There’s no guarantee that the fonts you noticed in a book are available in your Mac or can be purhcased for a small sum. Fonts are an asset and can be very expensive. To get the most out of fonts you’ll also want to be familiar with the typographic world. And make a good use of white spaces in your page. See ilovetypography.com for a good overview, tips, tricks and links.
I was going to suggest pretty much the same faces. Sabon, especially, seems to be getting a lot of use these days.
In other parts of the world Garamond, Janson, i Baskerville[/i], and my personal favorite Bembo are often used for books. For narrative prose, poetry and that kind of books, that is.
It is important to know that the names of the fonts are mostly under copyright but you can find inexpensive or even free fonts that look almost as but have different names.
Just as an example: The four basic Bembo fonts—regular, italic, bold, bold italic—cost me about 170 € in the Linotype font store (OpenType Pro versions).
Thanks, everybody. Those are all great suggestions. I’m writing a middle-grade fantasy/SF novel, and all those fonts would work well for my Scrivener Full Screen book-look.
Graphic designer is one of the many hats I wear in my business, so I have a lot of experience with typesetting and have (too) many fonts in my collection. I have all those recommended except for Janson and Bembo, which I’m tempted to buy, but as this is just for my personal esthetics and writing motivation, I’ll resist and go with what I already own.
I really appreciate the time you all took to help me out. I’m certainly glad I found Scrivener and this forum!
SparkyD
P.S. Does anyone have a favorite online source for purchasing fonts?
P.P.S. I couldn’t understand what was wrong with my spelling of “esthetics”, until I realized that the forum spellchecker is on Britspeak (as it should be!). As a UK-born, Canada-raised Oregonian, I should have known better.
I like MyFonts. The account features give you access to all of the fonts you have ever purchased, so it is just another backup of your purchased fonts in case you have a system crash. It’s just an all around good site for fonts; they have an interesting (even for a non-professional) typography monthly newsletter, too.
Yre not gerrin away with that one!! Yre either a Brit, A Canadian, or a Bilge rat!! Which is it? 
I like MyFonts, too, AmberV. It has a lot going for it, plus it’s fun to visit.
I guess I’m a third of each, vic-k. But if Bilge Rat = Yank, I’ve been on the rattier side for many years.
Portlanders are The Good Ship Scrivener`s Bilge Rats
Nope, I’m in southwest Oregon, about four and a half hours from Portland. (I’m in the Umpqua National Forest, so I’m more of a Wood Rat.) But some of my best friends and relatives are Portlandish. How did Portland Scrivenerizers get the Bilge Rat moniker?
