How to write a book in Emacs

ARANK

By Mickey PetersenWriting a book is a time consuming process, and if you’re going to dedicate a year, or more, of your life to it, it makes sense to pick the best tool for the job. If you’re technically inclined – and if you use Emacs – then the choice is obvious.As I recently finished writing a book on Mastering Emacs I figured I would share my thoughts, and ideas, on how to write a book – specifically my own book – in Emacs.The traditional wayThe traditional model of publishing involves a Publisher; a Writer (that’s you); an Editor (a real human being); and, more often than not, Microsoft Word. There are many good reasons why a non-technical person would want to write a book in Word:It’s ubiquitousSo sharing documents is easy and so is finding a computer with any version of Word installed on it.Publishers and Editors expect itIt’s What Everyone Uses. So even though you really, really prefer your dinky old copy of WordSTAR — well, tough luck. They want your manuscript in Wo…