On Tuesday 29 January 2008 13:21, Ed Nisley - [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > If somebody else will do the book's layout & editing, then > don't duplicate that effort; just pour flat text into > chapters and heave it over the transom. If you're going to > it all yourself, then I -highly- recommend not applying a > word processor to a book-sized problem. > > Been there, done that, won't make that mistake again! > > FWIW, when you're evaluating book preparation software, > remember that tech books have much different requirements > than coffee-table books. The latter have complex layout and > styling requirements, but tend to be light on cross > references and indexing. Scribus, for example, can do > coffee-table books just fine, but isn't so hot for tech > books. At least as of the last time I looked, anyway.
I agree with Ed. I published a couple of books. The first one was done in MS Word at the insistence of the publisher. It was a production nightmare. Word might be fine for novels, but when you have a tech manual, it doesn't cut it. The second book, at a different publisher, was done in LaTeX using a template supplied by the editor. It went like a charm. The PS files were sent on time to the printer and the quality was excellent. LaTeX has a learning curve, but it works and is very well documented. --Fred _______________________________________________ Mid-Hudson Valley Linux Users Group http://mhvlug.org http://mhvlug.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mhvlug Upcoming Meetings (6pm - 8pm) MHVLS Auditorium Feb 6 - DBUS Mar 5 - Setting up a platform-independent home/small office network using Linux
