Hadley Hendrix

Hadley House: A blog on book design, typesetting, and publishing

On my substack Hadley House, I share tips on editorial design and typesetting, InDesign tricks, how-tos, case studies, resources, and more. 

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Book Design Made Simple Archives

The beloved and essential book design resource is closing—but its blog and video archives will remain accessible on Hadley House!

How to Organize Project Files

See how I organize my project files to maintain version control and make handoffs to printers and clients smooth. This file system reduces confusion over final versions and streamlines typesetting and production workflows.

How to Be Slow: Recovering from Freelance Designer Burnout

An honest and reflective article on trying to be slower and more deliberate in what I do.

What a Book Designer Needs to Know Before Starting Your Project

A checklist-style guide for authors and publishers who want to know exactly what information to prepare before hiring a book designer.

How to Optimize Text for Typesetting in InDesign: 6 Easy Steps

Follow these steps to prepare manuscripts in InDesign so typesetting is faster, more consistent, and easier to manage. Reduce manual revisions, apply styles globally, and optimize your workflow for print and digital formats.

Typesetting a Novel with Multiple Design Elements

A behind-the-scenes look at the interior design and typesetting of A Harvest of Furies, a gothic novel with section pages, chapter openings, and multiple POVs. I share how typographic choices and layout decisions support tone, readability, and printing costs.

My Go-To Tools for Design, Publishing, & Creative Work: Fonts, Images, Website Design, & More

A curated list of essential tools and resources for book designers, freelancers, and creatives—covering everything from typography and image sourcing to ebook formatting and project management.

3 GREP expressions for faster typesetting (+ a List of Publishers & Magazines)

Clean up your layouts, automate repetitive tasks, and streamline your InDesign workflow with my go-to GREP expressions.

The design and layout process behind Little Engines' first book ARCHIVE

Get a behind-the-scenes look at the design and layout process (from the mood board to the sample pages to the meetings to printing) – a little inside scoop!

6 Guidelines to Follow When Typesetting

Learn how to typeset your book, magazine, or other publication to be readable and accessible. It’s so important in crafting a great reading experience!

Happy new year! <3

Reflections on the past, plans for the future, + advice and inspiration to guide you through your own journey.

5 Things I Wish I'd Known About InDesign

This article explains why you should apply character styles before paragraph styles, how to automate and customize your table of contents, and take advantage of InDesign’s Preferences.

The process of designing the cover of Baby Cerberus

A behind-the-scenes walkthrough of how I designed the cover for Natasha Ramoutar’s poetry collection Baby Cerberus, from brief to mood board to concepts. 

Making a business card

A case study & look inside my creative process of creating my own business card.

A publication design mood board montage

Find inspiration through typography, album covers, book and magazine covers, and interior layout.

Editorial Design Resources

Some of the best resources I’ve found for book design and typesetting.

A little bit about me & this newsletter

A little introduction to Hadley House and why I decided to make this newsletter.