Tutorial: Typeset your MS in LaTeX

[starscape]

Moderator edit: poll is related to this thread:

latex or word? (i.e. LaTeX typesetting system or MS Word)
http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=127717
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After studying those submission guidelines, and the MS format thread here. I share a neat template here.

Beforehand, my system: OS X 10.4, BasicTex, and TexShop

Here is the general template I use. C&P it yourself.



%!TEX TS-program = xelatex
\documentclass[12pt, a4paper]{article}
\usepackage[margin=1in]{geometry}
\usepackage{fontspec}
\setromanfont[Mapping=tex-text]{Times New Roman}
\linespread{2}
\raggedright
\setlength{\parindent}{.5in}

\usepackage{fancyheadings}
\pagestyle{fancy}
\lhead{}
\chead{}
\rhead{"Put your name here" / "TITLE" / \thepage}
\lfoot{}
\cfoot{}
\rfoot{}

\begin{document}
\title{"Chapter number and title"}
\author{}
\date{}
\maketitle
\thispagestyle{fancy}

Your story here. An extra line-break after each paragraph. for example.

para A (enter)
(enter)
para B (enter)
(enter)
para c (enter)
\end{document}


About general formats,


italics:
\textit{bla bla}

footnote:
bla bla\footnote{bla bla}

quote:
\begin{quote}bla bla\end{quote}

align center:
\begin{cener}bla bla\end{center}




Use ` & ', or `` & " to close dialogues.

That's all. It will do the job fine for general novel writers. If you had other special needs, check http://www.andy-roberts.net/misc/latex/latextutorial7.html


Forget about Word. lol

[Namatu]

A word of caution: Typesetting software serves a certain purpose. That purpose is not, in my ten+ years experience as a book editor, well suited for reading or editing manuscript. Submitting a manuscript to an agent or editor in LaTeX format, with all those tags, will not win you any points. If you like it and it works well for you, that's great, but it's not necessary for submission and I know of no publishing company that wants submissions from authors in that format.

Manuscript is often converted into LaTeX or some another format, such as SGML or XML, just prior to typesetting. Which format is used depends on the publisher or the vendor doing the typesetting.

Submit what an agent asks for, in the format they request. If it's Word, use Word. If it's LaTeX, submit in LaTeX. For your own purposes, use what works best for you. Just make sure you can convert it as necessary to meet agent and editor needs.

[RJK]

I don't see any benefit to switching to LaTeX. Is it easier to use? Is it bug free? Does it provide automatic spellcheck? grammarcheck? punctuation assistance? Document view? Do 90% of the agents on the planet use it for reading electronic text?