Three new book templates

I finally made the time to turn the Latex templates that I found online and adapted for my book writing projects into new/revised templates. For all three, the distinguishing features from their predecessors are more tailoring to make document better adapted to their respective aim, additional options to give it a prettier appearance, and there are more annotations in the respective tex files to make it easier to use. Currently, there are the following three templates:

• Snazzy Textbook: an extended version of Legrand Orange Book with many features geared towards writing textbooks, including environments for learning outcomes, exercises, vocabulary highlights and so on. I used it for the second edition of the ontology engineering textbook and the accompanying workbook. Download zip file or explore on GitHub. Here are two screenshots in double page view to give an impression, having modified the colour scheme and the chapter image:

• Modern Basic Book: simple and elegant book template that is mainly focussed at writing text and where typical dissertation template features are adapted, such as a ‘bio sketch section’ rather than a ‘CV & publications’, placeholders for translation information, footnotes and endnotes, and a modern look-and-feel. I used it for the NVP booklet. Download zip file or explore on GitHub.

• FUBCSguide: an old adaptation of the ILLC template of the UvA to the computer science faculty at the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, with placeholders for content in the three languages of the faculty and a few other tweaks, such as improved presentation and annotations for easier use. It’s extrapolated from my PhD thesis document. Download zip file or explore on GitHub.

They are free to use and adapt, so there’s no excuse to dawdle. Go forth and write 🙂

p.s.: Yes, this was time I probably could/should have been writing. Yet, for my next writing project, I went online to search for potentially suitable book templates for the two next writing projects, as if I hadn’t extensively searched and adapted before. I might just settle for an adaptation to the fancybook template that I used as-is when writing the What & How of Modelling Information and Knowledge book (but that had to be converted into the publisher’s style). First, though, is making the choice between the two writing project ideas that came out on top in the comparison of all my writing ideas.