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https://github.com/obskyr/latex-novel-template

Write your fiction in LaTeX and Markdown! PDF and EPUB both supported.
https://github.com/obskyr/latex-novel-template

e-book e-books ebook ebooks epub fiction latex luatex pdf template tex4ebook writing writing-software writing-tool

Last synced: 6 months ago
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Write your fiction in LaTeX and Markdown! PDF and EPUB both supported.

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README 

          
# Want to Write Your Novel in LaTeX?



An utterly deranged\* decision.



So did I.



This repository contains a **template

for writing fiction in LaTeX** (and Markdown!)**, compiling to both PDF and

e-reader-ready EPUB formats,** something for which a whole heap of boilerplate

is required. It sets a reasonable default style, and aims to be customizable.



As an added bonus, it lets you track your writing via Git, the benefits of

which I hardly need to extol if you’ve found your way here!



\* ⁠Though in reality, it turns out to be surprisingly practical!



## How to Use



In preparation, you will need:



* **[Visual Studio Code](https://code.visualstudio.com/)** as your editor.

* The **[LaTeX Workshop](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=James-Yu.latex-workshop)**

  extension for VS Code.

* Though optional, the **[LTeX+](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=ltex-plus.vscode-ltex-plus)**

  extension for VS Code is useful for checking spelling and grammar.

* An installation of LaTeX, specifically **LuaTeX.** There are several LaTeX

  distributions, but the main players are **[MiKTeX](https://miktex.org/)**

  and **[TeX Live](https://www.tug.org/texlive/).** The former is smaller but

  more fussy, while the latter is enormous but has… *everything* included.

* An installation of **Perl.** You may already have it installed – run `perl

  -v` to check. If you’re on Windows, I recommend

  **[Strawberry Perl](https://strawberryperl.com/).**

* A rogues’ gallery of LaTeX packages, but you should either already have those

  included with your distribution, or you should be prompted to install them

  in medias res. The one package you may need to install manually is

  **[tex4ebook](https://ctan.org/pkg/tex4ebook)** – see your distribution’s

  instructions for installing packages.



To begin writing, simply make a copy of `Book/template.tex`, add your new file

to the list of source files in `book.tex`, and start typing away.

…Oh, and you should probably remove the example chapters.



The build flow works as such: Whenever you save a chapter, that chapter will

be automatically built as a PDF, so that you may preview it (semi-)live. To

build the whole book, open `book.tex` (it matters which file is open!), press

Ctrl + Shift + P to open the command palette,

and run Latex Workshop: Build with recipe. In the next menu, select

whether you want to build a PDF or an EPUB. The resulting file will be output

as `book.pdf` or `book.epub`, respectively.



### Customization



You’ll likely want to configure various metadata and typographical options.

They can be added and edited primarily in these places:



* **`configuration/preamble.tex`** contains all the LaTeX code that will appear

  before the document in every LaTeX file. Here’s where you add packages,

  change options, style the PDF, and generally write LaTeX code.

* **`configuration/xhtml-config.cfg`** contains the [TeX4Ht configuration](https://www.kodymirus.cz/tex4ht-doc/Configurations.html#configurations2) –

  i.e. the configuration for EPUB output. Among other things, it lets you

  set metadata (title, contributors, ISBN…) and add fonts.

* **`configuration/xhtml-code.cfg`** contains more TeX4Ht configuration, but is

  intended to contain the more technical side of things – custom HTML code

  certain LaTeX elements are translated into, for example.

* **`configuration/xhtml-style.css`** lets you style the EPUB using CSS.

* Replace **`Images/cover.jpeg`** to set the cover image for the book.

* Out of the box, this template is set to use American English. To change this,

  change the line `\usepackage[USenglish]{babel}` in

  **`configuration/preamble.tex`**, the line `"ltex.language": "en-US",`

  in **`.vscode/settings.json`**, and the line

  `\Configure{DocumentLanguage}{en-US}` in

  **`configuration/xhtml-config.cfg`**. For example, to switch to British

  English, change them to `\usepackage[UKenglish]{babel}`,

  `"ltex.language": "en-GB",`, and `\Configure{DocumentLanguage}{en-GB}`

  respectively.



Note that the styles of the PDF version and the EPUB version are almost

entirely separate – think of it as “LaTeX style goes for the PDF; CSS style

goes for the EPUB.”



The `code/` directory belongs to code inherent to the template – you likely

won’t have to look in there unless you want to contribute to this repository.



## Minutiæ



This template makes some minor typographical decisions – it assumes that you

won’t want linebreaks before en and em dashes, for one, and it sets em dashes

surrounded by two hair spaces (“a ⁠— b” instead of

“a—b”).



What it does *not* do is automate “smart” typography. For [deeply nerdy

reasons,](https://tex.stackexchange.com/a/126315/392788) this template

delegates that to you, the typist: You’ll have to decide if you want to use

spaced en dashes, em dashes, smart quotes, dumb quotes, or what have you.

My suggestion for typing these is a *compose key* (on Windows, that’s

[WinCompose](https://github.com/samhocevar/wincompose)), but of course, you

can also use LaTeX or Babel graphemes such as ` `` `, `''`, `--`, and `---`.



## Contributions



This template can certainly be made better, more user-friendly, and more

versatile. Do you have LaTeX experience and wish to help out your fellow

apex-nerd writers? Feel free to submit issues and pull requests to this repo!

Typographical improvements, accessibility improvements, features, and

ease-of-use improvements are all welcome.



At the moment, it’s made for a build flow centered around VS Code, but that’s

only because it happens to be what I use – if you want to add support for

alternative tooling, be my guest!



---



Go forth ⁠— write righteously and egregiously.  

— ⁠Molly