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Using Web Technologies to Print a Book

richardmavis.info

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Re: Using Web Technologies to Print a Book

#3
Glad the author shared his methods. If you're going to repeat this, I'd suggest you give it a try with the first 10 to 15 pages. Something like a small zine. Then use all the tools and make sure you get the output you're expecting.

I've written several booklets that I sell on Amazon and my website. If you're interested in writing but not ready to commit to a full novel, try publishing a small zine or two. It's a lot of fun.

My latest is a series that teaches JavaScript by creating computer art. Readers learn by copying.

http://splashofcode.com

Re: Using Web Technologies to Print a Book

#4
This doesn't work for Linux, but for folks writing a novel, I can definitely recommend Scrivener (Mac and Windows). In addition to a powerful writing environment, it's "Compile" feature can output flexibly for print and ebooks. I generated hardcover, paperback, mobi, and epub, with enough customizability for me and no scripting required.

Granted this is Hacker News and people here _like_ writing code (myself included), but sometimes you just want to use a tool to make a thing :)

Re: Using Web Technologies to Print a Book

#5
post #4

This doesn't work for Linux, but for folks writing a novel, I can definitely recommend Scrivener (Mac and Windows). In addition to a powerful writing environment, it's "Compile" feature can output flexibly for print and ebooks. I generated hardcover, paperback, mobi, and epub, with enough customizability for me and no scripting required. Granted this is Hacker News and people here _like_ writing code (myself included…

Well, Mac and almost Windows. Windows is still stuck in version 1.x of Scrivener, which is a decent-enough writing environment (bar the now-quite-quaint UI), but it's nowhere near the version 3 that Mac users have access to, especially as regards compilation and output. (I've been waiting for a Windows version update for years and years.)

Re: Using Web Technologies to Print a Book

#7
post #3

Glad the author shared his methods. If you're going to repeat this, I'd suggest you give it a try with the first 10 to 15 pages. Something like a small zine. Then use all the tools and make sure you get the output you're expecting. I've written several booklets that I sell on Amazon and my website. If you're interested in writing but not ready to commit to a full novel, try publishing a small zine or two. It's a lot…

Thanks for sharing this link. I've written a few simple art-making Javascripts as well (http://richardmavis.info/squares, http://richardmavis.info/circles, http://richardmavis.info/stars, http://richardmavis.info/snow, http://richardmavis.info/malevich, http://richardmavis.info/whale-shark-skin) but am definitely interested in other techniques.

Re: Using Web Technologies to Print a Book

#8
post #4

This doesn't work for Linux, but for folks writing a novel, I can definitely recommend Scrivener (Mac and Windows). In addition to a powerful writing environment, it's "Compile" feature can output flexibly for print and ebooks. I generated hardcover, paperback, mobi, and epub, with enough customizability for me and no scripting required. Granted this is Hacker News and people here _like_ writing code (myself included…

Well, Mac and almost Windows. Windows is still stuck in version 1.x of Scrivener, which is a decent-enough writing environment (bar the now-quite-quaint UI), but it's nowhere near the version 3 that Mac users have access to, especially as regards compilation and output. (I've been waiting for a Windows version update for years and years.)

There's a 2.9 beta for Windows. I wonder how close to parity that is compare to the existing 1.x version.

Re: Using Web Technologies to Print a Book

#10
GitBook PressBooks are also very affordable and great options that are built with web technologies and are slightly less manual.

https://www.gitbook.com/

https://pressbooks.com/

GitBook is targeted at people creating technical documentation in Markdown. It has the advantage of git integration so it’s possible to branch & merge your way through a book project. Their GitHub account still hosts the legacy open source editor and cli tools, although the project has moved on to focus on the commercial web-based editor. https://github.com/GitbookIO?tab=repositories

PressBooks is targeted at authors who want to self-publish and has a nice set of book templates (styled by book genre) and a workflow for selling print books on Amazon.

Scrivener (mentioned by dangoor in another comment) is a writing tool with advanced features for different manuscript formats (screen plays, novels, etc) and has cool features for organizing notes, ideas, and references.

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