Max line width for readability

[marlene]

I'm doing a book layout for a client who's given me a template designed by someone else.

Page size is 8.5" x 11", the body text is 10.5/13 Slimbach, and it's a one-column format -- 41 picas wide.

I'm trying to convince the client that it's too wide, and the pages should be done in a two-column format. It'll be more work for me, but I want a good result (even though I didn't design the thing).

I'll send the client some sample pages done both ways (one and two-column formats), but I'm not sure that'll be enough to convince them. Their last book used the 41-pica line width, and nobody saw anything wrong with that.

Should I try to convince them to use two columns if they want to stick with one column even after seeing sample pages?

mxh