You probably don’t give it a thought but your enjoyment of a book is enhanced or diminished by the look of the letters that form the words that form the phrases that lead you through the pages. The design of those letters is a craft that has developed over centuries.

In traditional typography, the specific size, style and weight of a typeface is referred to as a “font”. This harkens back to the casting of metal dies for seals and currency in ancient times and, later, to the development of movable type when letters were molded in metal. A typeface comprises an assortment of fonts that share an overall design. With today’s digital technology, the terms “font” and “typeface” are often interchanged.

Most of the common, classic typefaces we use today – including Roman, Italic, Garamond, Caslon, Fleischmann, Bodoni, Baskerville – were created before the 1800s. Fewer typefaces were created in the 19th and 20th centuries but industrialization of the printing industry brought major advances in print technology. Computer digitization of typography in recent decades resulted in countless new typefaces, including such contemporary type designs as Times, Helvetica and Futura, as well as variations of the classic styles. Today, there are thousands of different typefaces, and new ones continue to be developed.

Quantity equals quandary for the self-publishing author. Being familiar with typefaces and their effect on the reader’s experience is one more opportunity to soar or sink. Fortunately, someone decided to create a list of the most popular book fonts, based on the Top Ten Typefaces Used by Book Design Winners.

If you look at older books, especially those produced by major publishing houses, you are likely to find a note about the typeface that was chosen. That lovely piece of information is rarely mentioned in contemporary books, especially those that are self-published. It’s a pity. Not that you would choose to buy or read a book based on the typeface of the text; simply to appreciate the art in the creation and the selection. It’s worth another look.