Did you know that page numbering in books had a standard? I didn’t, until the printer kicked back my order with the message “Page numbering should be even on the left, and odd on the right. Yours is the opposite.” In my mind, the first page with content would be page 1. In the case of my books, that was the page on the left side. It made sense to me, but I am brand new to the publishing world. Upon further research, this is common knowledge. According to Formax printing solutions “When a book is opened, pages on the right hand side (known as recto) should always have an odd page number (1, 67, 213)…whereas pages on the left hand side (known as verso) should always have an even page number (2, 68, 214). Not adhering to this standard will have a negative impact on the appearance of the book.”
What did that mean for me? It meant another reformat! I have lost count at this point but it is probably my fifth or sixth revision. All these little hiccups really slow down the process of getting a book into peoples hands but I wanted my books to be as perfect as possible in terms of looks, durability, and format. I think I’ve finally accomplished that task and the first batch of books are now on their way to my doorstep.