The Abridged Elements of Typographic Style
1.2.1 Read the text before designing it.
You need to know the vibe of the story before you can start designing it. Even if you're confident that you're familiar with the text, it's still worth reading again specifically with typesetting in mind.
1.2.2 Discover the outer logic of the typography in the inner logic of the text.
When you're reading through the text you want to typeset, you can start to make a map of all the elements you need or want to include. When you're finished typesetting, everything should look beautiful and work together on the page in a consistent and harmonious way. Do all the chapters have really long names? Are there a ton of footnotes with references the author used? How are you going to notate speech vs. thoughts? It's important to think about every element on the page and how you want those elements to appear in your finished work. The best typographic work should basically be invisible! You want the content to appear at its best.