Writing online using the Manuscript Editor

With NOOK Press, you can start writing your Manuscript straight away! To start, go to your Projects page and click Create New Project. Choose a Project Name (this does not have to be the Title of your NOOK Book) and click Create New Project.  You’ll be taken to the Manuscript page, where you can manage your Manuscript, including editing and inviting collaborators. Click Start Writing to be taken to the Manuscript Editor (if you already have a manuscript file that you’ve created, you can learn how to upload it here).

The Manuscript Editor is where you will write your Manuscript. We have created the first chapter for you already so that you can start writing immediately!  

To create additional chapters, use the Quick Outline section on the left-hand side of the screen. Type the name of new chapter in the Chapter Name field, and click Add Chapter. The chapter will be created and you can click the chapter name on the left-hand side to navigate to it.

You can also add pre-formatted front matter to your manuscript. Click Add Front Matterand select the front matter that you’d like to add.  The front matter is automatically added to the start of your Manuscript. Click on the sections to view and personalise the text for your Manuscript.

Once you start typing, the following editing options are available to you:

B, I, U, Size, Colour: Use these to apply Bold, Italics, Size or Colour to highlighted text inside the Manuscript Editor.

Text or Image Alignment: Use these to apply left, right, centre or full justification to selected text inside the Manuscript Editor. You can also use left, right, or centre justification on highlighted images.

Bulleted List: To start creating a bulleted list, click this button. When you press Enter, the second bullet will appear. Once you have finished with your list, press Enter twice. 

Find & Replace: Use this tool to search for text, or to search for and replace text.

Insert Image: Click the image graphic to add an image to your Manuscript at the cursor’s location in the Manuscript Editor. Choose a file from your computer to upload, and click Upload Image. Then, click the image in the list and click Insert Image at Cursor. The image will appear in your Manuscript.

Split Chapter at Cursor: This feature is helpful for splitting one chapter into two separate chapters. Click this button to create a new chapter at the cursor’s location in the Manuscript Editor. Insert the name of the new chapter and click Split.

Add Link: Click this button to insert an internal link into your Manuscript at the cursor’s location. An internal link allows the reader to jump to another location inside your Manuscript, such as an appendix or footnote.

Save: Click Save to save the changes you’ve made in the Manuscript Editor. Note that your Manuscript is automatically saved for you every few minutes so you won’t lose all your edits, even if you don’t click Save.

A note about copy and paste: In addition to importing a manuscript file or starting to write directly in NOOK Press, you can also copy and paste from other documents into the Manuscript Editor. While in many cases the formatting of the original text/images is retained after copying and pasting, you may encounter some differences between the original text/images and the output in the Manuscript Editor. We recommend that you import text using the "Upload Manuscript File" option rather than copy and paste if you are encountering formatting differences..

More information about using the Manuscript Editor:  When chapter headings do not import into the Manuscript Editor as expected, the chapter headings can be edited inside the center panel of the Manuscript Editor. To edit the chapter headings, click the pencil icon next to each chapter heading in the center panel of the Manuscript Editor.

You can also create new chapter headings. Just put the cursor in the center panel of the Manuscript Editor where you'd like a new chapter heading created, click "Split Chapter at Cursor", and then enter the Chapter title.

If you wish to remove an unwanted chapter break, the correct procedure for removing an unwanted chapter break in the Manuscript Editor is to select and copy all the text (and images, if present) below the unwanted chapter break and paste at the bottom of the chapter above it, and then click the 'Save' button. If an image does not appear where it should, put the cursor where the image should be and click the 'Add Image" icon that is between "Find" and "Split Chapter at Cursor" at the top of the Manuscript Editor's center panel. Then select the image from your computer to insert it again into the Manuscript Editor. You can then click the little garbage can icon in the Quick Outline left panel to delete the chapter break. The text and images below the chapter break will also be deleted, but by following the above procedure you have already moved that content to the previous chapter. If the chapter below the chapter break you want to remove is 'empty', meaning there is no text or images below the chapter break, you can safely click the garbage can icon in the Quick Outline left panel to delete the chapter break.

If your Manuscript has footnotes, please create the internal links for footnotes using the "Add Internal Link" button.

If the original manuscript file you uploaded to NOOK Press had a table of contents that was imported into the Manuscript Editor, it is recommended that you delete that table of contents inside the Manuscript Editor and instead insert a Table of Contents using the [+Add Front Matter] button. When you have edited all the existing chapter headings, or created new chapter headings as needed, click the [+Add Front Matter] button in the left panel of the Manuscript Editor and select "Table of Contents". This will insert a clickable Table of Contents near the top of the Manuscript Editor using the chapter headings from the center panel.