Do most of you write separate documents for each chapter or write in one large file? What is your favorite writing software? At the moment I am using Open Office to write a series of "How To" books. I will be incorporating a large number of pictures and graphics in order to clarify assembly processes. Are there any templates available for such work or should I just arrange each page layout by hand ? Thanks DAve
If you know the chapter division from the outset, it may be easier to work with separate chapter files, However, for fiction, you often don't decide on where to place chapter breaks until after the first draft is complete. For a nonfiction with figures and tables, you should submit a text-only manuscript, and a separate document with the tables and figures. The layout is the job of the publisher. When you submit, you should plan on merging all the chapters into a single manuscript file and a single figures file.
No, I write my chapters in smaller subsections which are separate documents and all of which get kept in a folder which is itself the actual chapter. This helps me to have more control over the chapter content and length.
I should probably have noted that I am planning on self publishing through a site/service called lulu.com which prints and ships books as they are ordered from files I provide them. A friend of mine has used the service a few times and is quite satisfied with it. Since I am writing a series of How to books about a field I work within and am easily able to market to, I don't really have a need for an Agent or publisher to do my marketing for me. The only difficult part is my having to lay out all the text and graphics myself or hire someone else to do it for me. Since I am pretty handy at learning new things and art is part of my job description I figured I would just start asking around. So far, I already know to break up my chapters into separate files. Now to figure out how to get those graphics sized and placed correctly. DAve
