How do I create a book?
Book Creation
The first and most important thing to remember about books is that they are designed to allow one or more users create a long, coherent storyline using their blog posts. Book pages themselves are meant only as a "base" on which to build.
Books are somewhat complex, but easy once you understand the parent and weight systems. Please read this FAQ carefully before beginning, it can save a lot of headaches!
Starting Out
Create a title page for your book. Many users like to create a catchy "splash" page containing a graphic, "teaser" paragraph, poem or song lyrics, or the like, that attracts the interest of the reader. If there is more than one user collaborating on the book, it's best to use the "Create Book Page" function: otherwise, you can simply use your blog to create it.
After you have submitted your blog for publication on the site, you will be forwarded to the published page. At the top of your new blog, you will see tabs entitled "Edit" "Outline" and "Track" Choose the "Outline" tab.
There are two pull-down menus and a text entry box here. The first pull-down menu allows you to set the "parent" of your post. For the main title page of the book, select <Top-level> to show in the menu box. This means that this book will be listed in the main menu of book pages.
Chapters and Dividers
When possible, it is best to divide the entire story into smaller thematic chunks, or "chapters." This is both because it is easier for readers to digest smaller blocks of a story and because it is easier to organize, using the Book function.
Simply use the blog function to create a new splash page with the title of the chapter or part on it. Then, use the weight function to place it properly beneath the title page.
Weights
Again, after creating your chapter page, choose the "Outline" tab. Since this is a chapter page, the parent entry will be the main title page of the book. Select the main title page of the book as your parent page so that it appears in the window when you release the menu.
The second pull-down menu is "weight" and contains 31 numbers, from -15 to 15. This is the function that puts your pages in the order you want them. Any page weighted "0" will appear AFTER a page weighted "-1" and BEFORE a page weighted "1."
Without being weighted, pages will sort themselves, first by numbers if they appear first (01, 02, 03.. 10, 11 or 1, 10, 11, 12... 2, 20, 21) or alphabetically by the first word if no numbers appear first.
Chapters with numerical titles
If your chapter title is something like "Chapter 1: The Beginning" then you only need to weight every nine pages. Chapter 1 through Chapter 9 can be weighted "0" and then Chapters 10 through Chapter 19 can be weighted "1" and so forth, and they will sort themselves into the proper order.
Chapters without numerical titles
The book will automatically sort non-numeric titles alphabetically, which is rarely the order in which the author wishes them to appear. In this case, simply weight the chapter that you wish to stand first as "-15", then wieight the second chapter as "-14" and so forth. This will sort them into the proper order.
Pages
The actual story will (usually) consist of individual blog entries from one or more users. Like chapter headinsgs, they simply need to be placed beneath the appropriate parent page and then weighted in the order the user wishes them to appear. Directions are identical to the chapter headers instructions, but instead of placing the pages beneath the book's title page, you make the parent the appropriate chapter heading.
Example Book Structure
Title Page: Bob's Book (<Top-level> no parent, no weight)
Chapter 1: Chapter 1: Bob's Beginnings ("Bob's Book" is the parent page, weighted "-15" )
Page 1: Starting Out ("Chapter 1: Bob's Beginnings" is the parent page, weighted "-15")
Page 2: Running Away ("Chapter 1: Bob's Beginnings" is the parent page, weighted "-14")
Page 3: New Friends ("Chapter 1: Bob's Beginnings" is the parent page, weighted "-13")
Chapter 2: Chapter 2: Bob Does Goldshire ("Bob's Book" is the parent page, weighted "-15")
