Thursday, August 24, 2017

So, You Want to Write A Ladies Class Book?

One of my favorite things to write is ladies class books. This is because while I'm writing it, I get to really dig into the study, and that is something I love. There are a few standard formatting things I've learned in the last few years, that are extremely important for class books. Things I didn't know when I first started out. So, for a few minutes, I'm going to share those with you.

Guess what! There is a standard length for a class book --or at least a standard chapter length. Class books should have thirteen chapters. My first few class books only had ten chapters. That's too short to use in a quarter long study, but thirteen chapters are just right. If you have already written books with less than thirteen chapters, never fear. They can still be used for a quarterly study, as long as a couple of chapters can be broken up into two class sessions.

The standard ladies Bible class book size is 6x9. This size book is easily used for study, and taking notes in the margins. It's more substantial than smaller books, but not so big that it is too bulky for the student.

I suggest that line-spacing is set to 1.5 instead of single-spaced, or double-spaced, for ease of reading. Really, that line spacing looks great on the page, too. And, it makes it easier for the student to highlight, or underline important facts within the book.

Ladies class books should have discussion questions. I like to write ten to twelve questions for each chapter. I try to find the most important facts in each chapter and make sure to ask those questions. Occasionally, I like to have students write out important verses within the study questions as well.

Book cover design is kind of tricky. I'm just now getting somewhat of a hang of it. I have started using book cover designs that emphasize something I want the reader to know about the book or something that just catches the eye.

For my book, Life Lessons From the Book of Ruth, I decided to use a picture of a boat on the shore as the cover. I often think of life and the direction my life is going when I see a river or boat, so I thought the imagery was good. I also decided to use the pink font because it stood out against the blue. The Sherlock font I used because it kind of gives the idea of a castaway and a note in a bottle. All these things I wanted to tell the reader. I wanted her to know that the Book or Ruth will help her pilot her down the stream of life and keep her from being a castaway.

Hopefully, you can see that there are only a few things you need to know for writing a ladies class book. I want to encourage you to write one. You can do it!


--Susan

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