6 formatting mistakes that make your book (layout) look self-published

A photo of multiple books opened on random pages.

The goal of correctly formatting a book is giving your reader a comfortable reading experience… but sometimes, you’re faced with a choice of “what will make the reader the least uncomfortable” (because fixing one thing will make other, worse mistakes pop up two pages later). When you’re not a professional, it’s not that easy to make the call and decide what to keep, and what absolutely needs to be fixed. Here’s a list of 6 mistakes that you should definitely avoid if you want to make your book look presentable.