What is Booktype?

With Booktype you can create books. Real paper books that look good and you can hold in your hands. You can also use Booktype to produce books in the form of epub (electronic books), PDF, OpenOffice files, web pages and more...

Booktype is a web based software which means you do not install it on your computer, rather you access it through a browser. Your organisation can install its own copy of Booktype on a server. Access is then made through a url provided by your organisation.

Once installed Booktype supports any individual or group that wishes to write a book. All you need is a browser. Some typical uses of the platform might be :

• Writing books - e.g. a fiction, manuals, cookbooks etc.
• Producing printed books
• Producing ebooks
• Writing any content as an individual
• Collaboratively authoring content
• Rapidly developing content in Book Sprints
• Customising existing content to apply to a very specific context
• Translating a book into another language

Booktype is designed to help you produce books, either by yourself or with others. Booktype is also a social environment where you can also discuss your views about producing books, seek assistance from others, look for projects to contribute to, seek others to help you, translate content and publish completed works.

Booktype supports the rapid development of content. You can use Booktype to develop content in intensive 'Book Sprints'. Book Sprints are intensive collaborative events where 6-10 people focus on writing a book in 3-5 days. These collaborators might be in the same room or located around the net, in either case they work together simultaneously to produce a book rapidly.

While you can use Booktype to support very traditional book authoring processes, Booktype was also developed to facilitate the accelerated production models enabled by Book Sprints. Hence the feature set matches the rapid pace of publishing possible in the modern era of print on demand. Using Booktype, a book can be created in 2-5 days and then print ready source (book formatted PDF) can be generated in another 2-5 minutes, and then uploaded to your favourite print-on-demand service.

Whether you are collaborating, writing in solo, rapidly developing books, or taking your time - when you have worked with Booktype you will never think of publishing the same way again.

Booktype is Free Software. This means that it can be freely downloaded, re-used and customised.