Is there any program designed for writing a book?

Is there any program for writing a book? I tried to find it on some forums and sites, but I really couldn't find any.

Solution 1:

For smaller projects, you should be fine with Libreoffice Writer.

If you are looking for a professional typesetting tool, the most well known and most widely used open source program is called LaTeX. On Ubuntu, the texlive LaTeX distribution is available in the software repository.

Beware, that LaTeX is not a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor, but a WYGIWYW (What You Get Is What You Want) typesetting language, and can in some respects be compared to HTML.

LaTeX files are plain text, which are compiled by the LaTeX program into DVI or PDF files. There exist numerous style templates, and with some knowledge of the LaTeX language one can write them oneself.

Using a style template and only writing plain text spares the user the tedious work with layout, and lets the writer concentrate on what is being written instead on how it might look in the end.

Solution 2:

Try Scribus. Scribus is an Open Source program that brings professional page layout to Linux, it supports professional publishing features, such as color separations, CMYK and spot colors, ICC color management, and versatile PDF creation.

For other ways to install, and Instructions for Debian/Ubuntu

Or Click to install Scribus Install comixcursors-lefthanded

^{Source:Scribus}

Solution 3:

Since no one else has mentioned it: If you want something as predictable as LaTeX, but don't need all of the power (and the complexity that comes with that power), Markdown is a great language. It's what's this website uses for markup.

You write plain text and it gets converted to formatted text:

Input:

# Title

This is a paragraph with *italics* and **bold**.

Output:

Title

This is a paragraph with italics and bold.

Ubuntu has a program called Pandoc, which can convert Markdown to basically any format you could want (including LaTeX, if you decide you want fancier formatting than Markdown can do).

Solution 4:

If you're writing a Fiction novel, this is an answer nobody thought about: Plume Creator.

Find it here: http://sourceforge.net/projects/plume-creator/

It's currently the BEST free alternative Scrivener. I've been using it for many short stories, and currently for writing a novel, and it hasn't failed me yet. Plus, the developer of this software is always open to suggestions to make the tool better. :)

That said, Plume Creator only focuses on only writing, so you aren't bothered by formatting and organizing. It also has an Outliner to plan your plot, as well as Notes for note-taking and Attendance for keeping character / items / settings data. This structure helps you finish your book in no time.

Of course, after finishing your draft, you'll need to "format" the manuscript in LibreOffice or LaTeX. So that said, Plume Creator (like Scrivener) is recommended for writing first drafts, while LibreOffice for the actual formatting, editing and processing.

Solution 5:

Scrivener is an option. There is well-polished beta available for free on the Literature and Latte site . Because it is commercially available, links for download (and support) come from the dedicated forum there.

As Joe points out, "A lot of people on the SE Writers forum are very fond of Scrivener. You may want to take a look there at some of the posts about it - and for all things about writing."

Sigil, an ebook editor, is available via ppa : http://code.google.com/p/sigil/wiki/LinuxDistroPackages

You might also consider a wiki editor. One of the Writing Excuses people recommended wikidpad. I actually prefer Zim, a "graphical text editor based on wiki technologies", which is available from the repositories.

The Caligra Suite, which is associated with KDE (and Kubuntu) and is available in repositories, has a tool which for authoring books and ebooks.

Here's part of the announcement for it:

Calligra Author is a specialized tool for serious writers [....] The application will support a writer in the process of creating an eBook from concept to publication. We have two user categories in particular in mind:

Novelists who produce long texts with complicated plots involving many characters and scenes but with limited formatting. Textbook authors who want to take advantage of the added possibilities in eBooks compared to paper-based textbooks. For the first category Calligra Author will provide tools which are used in different phases of the creative process: Synopsis, writing, reviewing, polishing and publishing.

For the second category Calligra Author will provide interactive content elements like multimedia, 2D and 3D animations, embedded web content and support for javascript scripting. It is our ambition to work with other application developers to make Calligra Author integrate well with other writers tools like e.g Plume Creator.

Note that if you install Calligra Author, you will be pulling in a lot of other KDE and Calligra Suite packages.