Funny Font Fury!

[Paul Whybrow]

We've previously discussed which fonts are acceptable when formatting your manuscript for querying, but I came across this amusing article about how furious some folk become over fonts. Comic Sans usually creates the most ire, but Saturday Night Live lampoons Papyrus:

In Defense of Papyrus: Your Guide for When to Use Despised Fonts

If you're unsure of how to format your manuscript, there's some basic advice here.

Most literary agents and publishers with open submissions windows specify Times New Roman or Arial, though one start-up agency I queried insisted on Garamond—stating that they'd reject work submitted in any other font!

I find it hard to get worked up about fonts. My priority is that any written form of language needs to communicate clearly, so legible fonts cooperate in the process of getting the message across.

As with anything creative, there are some people who make a living from devising new typefaces.

How to Make Money Marketing Your Font | JUST™ Creative

Are there any fonts that drive you mad?

 

[Amber]

Yes. But then I'm a pain in the a$$.

I participate in a few critique groups and I have been for a while. I get stupid angry about people who choose smaller fonts (smaller size as well as less generous kerning) so they can get more into a 10 page submission. It makes me furious when they change the spacing between lines so that instead of two lines it's 18 pt or something like it. I loathe it when they change the margins from 1 inch to .75 or even .5. I despise it when they put headings in fancy script at the top of the page. And -- I really hate it when they submit a file in .pdf because please, I'm just going to put it into Word.

Then I get over it because it's just a critique group.

But I can imagine how people who have to look at manuscripts all day long every day would want things to be as uniform as possible.

 

[Robinne Weiss]

The only time fonts really irritate me is when my students mess around with fonts instead of actually doing their writing--they turn in half a paragraph in pink Curlz. I tell them they're not allowed to use anything except the default font until I've approved the final draft.

As an entomologist, I have, of course, purchased the Infestia font. The letters are made of insect legs--cute eh? Damn thing is virtually useless. Every time I try to use it, I end up removing it because it looks awful--it's legible, but all unbalanced and ugly. Fortunately, it comes with Insectile--each 'letter' is a beautiful insect line drawing--which I use a lot.

The whole font-hating thing seems weird to me. The most hated fonts are ones that gain popularity, but aren't the old standards--strikes me as a problem with the hater, not with the font.