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> Why are you typesetting them if it’s a hobby? Why not just write? Long answer: Good question. I typeset the print version of the one book I've self-published

> Why are you typesetting them if it’s a hobby? Why not just write? Long answer: Good question. I typeset the print version of the one book I've self-published in LaTeX, because I love books and didn't want to contribute to the abysmal typesetting of KDP and bulk self-publishers. Converting to LaTeX is not that hard, the problem is that unless you write everything in Markdown or Orgmode in the first place, you'll you have to maintain two sources - one for the ebook and a LaTeX version. I'm using some special word processing software, though, so I cannot write in Markdown. My biggest conundrum is that of many hobby authors, I presume. I don't like Amazon and don't want to aid them in destroying the print book market. At the same time, for German self-publishers there are not many realistic alternatives to Amazon. So thanks a lot for the links. I am definitely looking for ways to distribute my works (for free) in alternative ways. Short answer: Yes, in the future I'll probably not typeset my books by hand if I self-publish them. It's too much work. But the decline in typesetting quality caused by self-publishers bothers me a lot. And don't even get me started on book binding, cover design, etc.

MakeUsersWant 8y ago
Lyx can produce both latex and ebooks from the same source document. You don't have to worry about latex technicalities while writing, and you can version it with git. (I'm not affiliated with www.Lyx.org. But I wrote my PhD and masters with it.)
pasabagi 8y ago
I can't really see Amazon as anything but a boon for obscure writers, to be honest. I don't like them as a company, but as publishers, they beat traditional houses on every scale. Getting published via traditional means essentially works through networking, luck, and a bit of skill - and the amount of support the book receives is also predicated mostly on the first two. Amazon, on the other hand, offers great discoverability, especially if you write something people really like. A lot of great writers had trouble getting published using the traditional system. Nietzsche, or HP Lovecraft, or Marechera, for instance. The traditional publishing industry had a purpose - to turn manuscripts into print, with a side of helping people discover good books. They're now irrelevant for printing, and they were always terrible at the discovery thing.
sharedfrog 8y ago
In my experience, converting to LaTex is hard, but writing in LaTex from the start is trivial. That's how I write my novels, and I don't need more than the occasional \emph{}, \ldots and \chapter{}, and remembering to use `` when opening dialogue. Could you do that from Papyrus Autor? The printed book you have self-published but without KDP or bulk self-publishers, can I ask how you went about it? Did you take your LaTex / pdf file to a book printer, use some other self-publishing service...?
- jonathanstrange 8y ago
  No, I published it with KDP and Createspace as usual. I just wasn't very happy with it, including Createspace print quality.
  - sharedfrog 8y ago
    I see. Thanks!

MakeUsersWant 8y ago

Lyx can produce both latex and ebooks from the same source document. You don't have to worry about latex technicalities while writing, and you can version it with git. (I'm not affiliated with www.Lyx.org. But I wrote my PhD and masters with it.)

pasabagi 8y ago

I can't really see Amazon as anything but a boon for obscure writers, to be honest. I don't like them as a company, but as publishers, they beat traditional houses on every scale. Getting published via traditional means essentially works through networking, luck, and a bit of skill - and the amount of support the book receives is also predicated mostly on the first two. Amazon, on the other hand, offers great discoverability, especially if you write something people really like. A lot of great writers had trouble getting published using the traditional system. Nietzsche, or HP Lovecraft, or Marechera, for instance. The traditional publishing industry had a purpose - to turn manuscripts into print, with a side of helping people discover good books. They're now irrelevant for printing, and they were always terrible at the discovery thing.

sharedfrog 8y ago

In my experience, converting to LaTex is hard, but writing in LaTex from the start is trivial. That's how I write my novels, and I don't need more than the occasional \emph{}, \ldots and \chapter{}, and remembering to use `` when opening dialogue. Could you do that from Papyrus Autor? The printed book you have self-published but without KDP or bulk self-publishers, can I ask how you went about it? Did you take your LaTex / pdf file to a book printer, use some other self-publishing service...?

jonathanstrange 8y ago
No, I published it with KDP and Createspace as usual. I just wasn't very happy with it, including Createspace print quality.
- sharedfrog 8y ago
  I see. Thanks!