Re: [libreoffice-users] Book-writing with Writer

Hi :)
The Docs Team have looked into ePub versions and have found some good tools to use.  Annoyingly i 
can't remember what they finally worked out was the best one so it would be really good if someone 
could ask them again.  Anyway, perhaps there is something even better now.  



In my previous posts i have been a bit annoyed that people who don't spend time getting to know the 
tool they are using then blame the tool.  In England there is a saying "A poor workman always 
blames his tools".  Sometimes the square peg trying to fit the round hole is not the tool's fault.  
It's all in the way the workman is misusing the tool.  However, i now see that Virgil has worked 
hard to get to grips with LO and has spent time experimenting and working with it and probably 
knows a lot more about doing larger works than me.  


Writer, Word and WordPerfect and others do seem to be designed for business letters and fairly 
short works.  LaTeX (and the various front-ends (such as LyX) that attempt to make it easier to 
use) do seem to have advantages for larger works but are more difficult to wrestle with in the 
beginning when you are learning how to use them.  Many people try and give up or find them a total 
nightmare.  However, people DO manage to use Writer to do larger books.  Piers Anthony, the famous 
sci-fi writer, mentions it in the preface to most of his books.  Also our Documentation Team.  Our 
Documentation Team have even published an ePub and since found an easier way of doing it.  We 
should be learning from them and gain from their experience.  



On the other hand if you have been able to learn how to use LaTeX then you probably do have a 
significant advantage because it is the right tool for the right job.  If LyX makes LaTeX easier 
then go for it.  

Regards from 
Tom :)  







> ________________________________
> From: Virgil Arrington <cuyfalls@hotmail.com>
> To: users@global.libreoffice.org 
> Sent: Monday, 8 July 2013, 21:58
> Subject: Re: [libreoffice-users] Book-writing with Writer
>
>
> <snip />
>
> trying to write a book with LO Writer is like trying to force a square peg into a round hole. 
>
> <snip />
>
> In my mind, Writer is a business application, useful for letters, memos, legal documents, school 
> reports, and the like. 
>
> <snip />
>
> For organizing a book length document, with parts, chapters, and tables, indexes, and 
> sub-documents, etc, I much prefer LyX and LaTeX, both of which are free and opensource. Yes, the 
> LaTeX learning curve can be steep, but LyX makes it so much easier. 
>
> <snip />
>
> He wrote the original in WordPerfect, and it was a formatting mess, with stray tabs, carriage 
> returns, and inconsistent formatting across chapter and section headings. I began the task of 
> reformatting his 127 page novel using WordPerfect, the original program. It didn't take long for 
> me to realize it would take days and days to wade through all of the formatting codes inserted by 
> WP.
>
> Instead, I  ... <snip /> ...  loaded it into LyX. <snip />  The entire formatting process took 
> about a half hour. I surprised even myself.
>
> I could have done the same thing with LO's styles and master documents, but they're not quite as 
> fully automatic as LyX/LaTeX, so it would have longer.
>
> So far, however, I've found LyX/LaTeX's support for e-books to be a little lacking (but no more so 
> than LO's). 
>
> <snip />
>
> In short, while I love LO, I honestly think there are better tools for the task of book and e-book 
> writing.
>
> Virgil
>
>
>
> 2013.07.08. 7:34 keltezéssel, Pablo Dotro írta:
> > Greetings!
>
> <snip />
>
> > Does anyone know about a tutorial, book or website where I can 
> > specifically learn about creating a book-length document, with chapters 
> > (as subdocuments) and a master document, consistent styling, indexing and 
> > table of contents with LibreOffice?
> >
> > Thank you very much for your time, and best regards,
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