Other Gareth, what's the writing program you recommend?

Discussion in 'Software' started by KayinBlack, 25 Dec 2019.

  1. KayinBlack

    KayinBlack Unrepentant Savage

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    So I have a book published on Wordpress. That was a horrible decision. I'm interested in gathering it for print through a friend's publishing house. I, however, do not have Word, will not get Word, and I don't think LibreOffice is something I can submit with. I need something that I can clean up the formatting, do some edits and expand in a few places, and clean it up for an eventual (small) print run.

    Gareth, you've written books, and you mentioned a program that you used. What was it, and does it have a Windows version?

    I'm posting this here for the people that may be interested in this answer, instead of taking it to PM. I think the answer could be helpful to others.
     
    KayinBlack, 25 Dec 2019
    #1
  2. bawjaws

    bawjaws Multimodder

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    bawjaws, 25 Dec 2019
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  3. Cheapskate

    Cheapskate Insane? or just stupid?

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    Also, I don't think he's a staff member anymore. You might have to bug @Dogbert666 .
     
    Cheapskate, 26 Dec 2019
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  4. RedFlames

    RedFlames ...is not a Belgian football team

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    IIRC he uses LibreOffice for the book stuff.
     
    RedFlames, 26 Dec 2019
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  5. jinq-sea

    jinq-sea 'write that down in your copy book' Super Moderator

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    Gareth was talking about LaTeX, too, but that's generally used for technical writing as I understand it.
     
    jinq-sea, 27 Dec 2019
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  6. ElThomsono

    ElThomsono Multimodder

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    Latex? I always thought Gareth wrote in crayon.
     
    ElThomsono, 27 Dec 2019
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  7. Flibblebot

    Flibblebot Smile with me

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    Almost right. He writes in crayon while wearing latex :eeek:
     
    Flibblebot, 28 Dec 2019
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  8. KayinBlack

    KayinBlack Unrepentant Savage

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    Well, I'm scarred.

    Looked it up, have no idea how it works. Looks more like coding than writing. Thanks all, the search goes on.
     
    KayinBlack, 28 Dec 2019
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  9. Flibblebot

    Flibblebot Smile with me

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    Yes :winking:

    But, back on topic, have you looked at Scrivener?
     
    Last edited: 29 Dec 2019
    Flibblebot, 29 Dec 2019
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  10. GeorgeStorm

    GeorgeStorm Aggressive PC Builder

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    Emacs Org mode exported to latex to pdf? :)

    Used it earlier this year for my thesis and it worked pretty well, lets you ignore most of the faff of latex and just write, but allows you to write explicit latex for bits that it doesn't automatically handle how you want.
     
    GeorgeStorm, 30 Dec 2019
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  11. KayinBlack

    KayinBlack Unrepentant Savage

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    Tell me more. Believe it or not, I'm converting an old WordPress site I wrote into something suitable for print. Scrivener looks awesome, but I don't have the money to pay them (and they deserve it) so that's out for me. If I thought I could finish it in thirty days of work (their trial runs for thirty 24-hour periods) I'd use it for that. I may pre-arrange and work that way.

    Also, thought emacs was a terminal program. I'm certainly open to being disabused of that idea.

    I have access to a publishing house once I get this cleaned up, I just need to get it into a semblance of correct formatting and fix a few loose ends I left dangling since I wrote the whole thing nearly in the hospital with my dying child.

    I'm wondering if LibreOffice can output to PDF for .docx. Just thinking that the simplest solution may be the most correct one. Occam and all.
     
    KayinBlack, 31 Dec 2019
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  12. monkeylove

    monkeylove What's a Dremel?

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    monkeylove, 31 Dec 2019
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  13. Gareth Halfacree

    Gareth Halfacree WIIGII! Lover of bit-tech Administrator Super Moderator Moderator

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    Apologies for the delay, here - ironically, I'm in the middle of a book project myself and haven't been visiting the forums very often!

    As here:
    My previous books have all been written in LibreOffice Writer, one file per chapter. However, the one I'm currently working on is written in Google Docs 'cos the editor likes being able to collaborate as easily as possible. I use it as a half-rich-text half-plain-text editor: bold, italics, monospace and what have you are done in-editor, but the boxouts and stuff are simply indicated via an in-house markup (like [BOXOUT]Stuff[BOXOUT ENDS]) so it's easier for 'em to put what I've written into whatever expensive layout program they're using.

    This:
    I haven't used for a book, 'cos my books don't tend to have the complex mathematical formulae that makes LaTeX shine - but I have used it in other work, particularly for technical documentation for a client who builds programmable radio-frequency ICs. It is, as you say, effectively programming - and, as such, gives you a lovely plain-text file that, when processed, outputs a pixel-perfect layout. Biiiig learning curve, tho'.
    Not sure what you mean, here: LibreOffice prefers the Open Document Format (ODF), though can save as DocX if you'd prefer (with the usual caveat that there's no guarantee Microsoft Office won't screw up the formatting if you load said DocX into it.) I always just submitted my stuff to the editor as ODF, which Microsoft Office opens fine.

    Anything LibreOffice can open can be exported as a PDF - in fact, it now has both external and internal PDF export functions. I doubt your editor will want PDFs, though: they're not easy to edit. General workflow is that the writer submits a draft in an editable format (plain text, ODF, DocX, whatever), the editor edits and returns for feedback, the writer tweaks, back and forth for a bit, then the editable format is sent to layout and turned into whatever the printer requires (PostScript, most likely) and an export (usually in PDF format) given to the writer for final feedback/proofing. The PDF isn't used for print, tho': it's purely a handy way of seeing what it'll look like once printed.
     
    Gareth Halfacree, 29 Jan 2020
    #13
  14. KayinBlack

    KayinBlack Unrepentant Savage

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    Thank you so much for this clarification. Will be downloading LibreOffice to get started. Need to have a talk with the publisher abut what they accept.
     
    KayinBlack, 29 Jan 2020
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  15. adidan

    adidan Guesswork is still work

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    'Collaborate' you say. 'Nag' I say. :lol:
     
    adidan, 29 Jan 2020
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  16. Gareth Halfacree

    Gareth Halfacree WIIGII! Lover of bit-tech Administrator Super Moderator Moderator

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    I couldn't possibly pass comment on a public forum...
     
    Gareth Halfacree, 29 Jan 2020
    #16
  17. adidan

    adidan Guesswork is still work

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    Waaaiiitttt a minute! This is public?!?

    Damn, i best put some clothes on.
     
    adidan, 29 Jan 2020
    #17
  18. David

    David μoʍ ɼouმ qᴉq λon ƨbԍuq ϝʁλᴉuმ ϝo ʁԍɑq ϝμᴉƨ

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    Maybe switch the webcam off while you're at it? ;)
     
    David, 29 Jan 2020
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