Book authoring software

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This page covers software and techniques for authoring Books and in particular eBooks.

Contents

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[edit] Introduction

These days most everyone writing books are using computer tools to help with the job. In some cases computers are being used simply as replacements for the old typewriter with simple editing capability but others are using features way beyond just entering text. If you are an author please add your own ideas and techniques to this page.

The focus of this article is eBook creation and not just conversion of eBooks from one format to another. Please check Creation conversion software for information on converting documents. Note that many of the conversion tools permit editing the source document or even simple file creation but they typically lack the more specialized features needed for true book authoring.

[edit] The task

Book writing consists of the composing, composition, proofing, editing, illustration generation, page layout, TOC generation, indexing, bibliography generation, and publishing. Not all books require all of these tasks. Some writers develop an outline and some books require significant research. All of the tasks are iterative and require some sort of version management and control. Software tools can help to automate many of these tasks.

Editing is a particular task that broadens the scope of the book to include other people. A good editor is essential to avoid errors in the final document. Some books have two different editors, one to verify the technical content and one to verify the grammar and composition. The method of communicating these changes back to the author can be greatly influenced by the tools being used. Tracking these changes should include a method of being able to check point the documents themselves.

Authors work different ways but some things that can be useful are ways to capture notes and ideals to incorporate into the book. Breaking the task down can be useful to some authors, outlines, scenes, overall descriptions of what is to be communicated are all items that can make a project easier. Progress measures can also be important when there are deadlines to meet. Even demographic analysis can have a role in some books such as measuring the grade level of the book.

Authors are not necessarily computer experts so the tools need to be integrated and easy to use or they may not be useful.

[edit] Software Tools

This section includes applications that run on multiple platforms. Typical platforms include Windows, MacOS X, and Linux. Some will even work on SunOS. The tools listed here may not work on all platforms but will generally work on at least two.

[edit] Mac OS X specific

[edit] Windows specific

[edit] Linux (Unix) tools

Unix has long been a choice for publishing. As a matter of fact the original justification for Unix development was for a word processor. A few of the tools currently available for Linux (and/or other Unix systems) include: (many of these are also shown under Software Tools as they also work on other platforms.)

[edit] Web based tools

See also: Web based tools on the software conversion page.

[edit] Publishing

This section will contain a list of publishing houses for authors and services for publishers and publishing software.

Often publishing will require multiple eBook formats. For example ePUB is supported as a format for most platforms but the Amazon Kindle does not support this. Thus some sort of eBook conversion software may be needed. There are some tips at eBook Architects. The industry of creating quality eBooks is often called E-Production.

[edit] For More Information

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