Re: lout to xyz converters?

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The problem I'm trying to solve is this.
For all my previous books I got the publisher to agree to accept a
camera-ready PDF and this I produced using lout.
But nowadays publishers are "e-book" first and seem hardly to care about
typesetting -- at least for books that won't be bestsellers.

So now I need to write in a format that will output what publishers want
(typically Word, i.e., docx), but also PDF (for me to preview and check),
and epub and mobi (in case publishers will accept or if I decided to
self-publish).

I did try LyX but I prefer plain text + markup.

I really don't like LaTeX and at the opposite end of the scale find
pandoc's markdown too primitive.
I'm experimenting with ascciidoctor and ascciidoctor-pdf (there's also an
ascciidoctor-epub extension), but have pretty mixed feelings about it.

I'd love to use lout as _source_ (not target), but I really need good lout
to xxx where xxx is tractable for this to work.

So I'm still searching for a plain text markup (not docbook or other heavy
XML-based) that will give me the output formats I need...

On Mon, 28 Dec 2020 at 09:13, Mark Summerfield <[email protected]> wrote:

> Thanks for the suggestions.
>
> I'd have been tempted by Skribilo if it was written in Racket and used
> Racket's #lang feature to provide a less Lisp-y markup (like Scribble
> does).
>
> At the moment I've decided to evaluate LyX.
>
> Best wishes,
>
> On Sun, 27 Dec 2020 22:06:50 +0100
> Martin Michel <[email protected]> wrote:
> > Hi Mark,
> >
> > this is not directly what you are looking for, but there are markup
> > languages which are capable to produce Lout output.  So if you are
> > open to write your documents in one of those languages, you can render
> > it in Lout (for printing) or HTML and others.
> >
> > * [Skribilo](https://www.nongnu.org/skribilo/)
> > * [txt2tags](https://txt2tags.org/)
> >
> > Kind regards,
> > Martin
> >
>
>
>
> --
> Mark Summerfield, Qtrac Ltd.
>     DiffPDF - easy to use PDF comparison application
>         http://www.qtrac.eu/diffpdf.html
>


-- 
Mark Summerfield, Qtrac Ltd., www.qtrac.eu

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<div dir=3D"ltr"><div>The problem I&#39;m trying to solve is this.</div><di=
v>For all my previous books I got the publisher to agree to accept a camera=
-ready PDF and this I produced using lout.</div><div>But nowadays publisher=
s are &quot;e-book&quot; first and seem hardly to care about typesetting --=
 at least for books that won&#39;t be bestsellers.</div><div><br></div><div=
>So now I need to write in a format that will output what publishers want (=
typically Word, i.e., docx), but also PDF (for me to preview and check), an=
d epub and mobi (in case publishers will accept or if I decided to self-pub=
lish).</div><div><br></div><div>I did try LyX but I prefer plain text + mar=
kup.</div><div><br></div><div>I really don&#39;t like LaTeX and at the oppo=
site end of the scale find pandoc&#39;s markdown too primitive.</div><div>I=
&#39;m experimenting with ascciidoctor and ascciidoctor-pdf (there&#39;s al=
so an ascciidoctor-epub extension), but have pretty mixed feelings about it=
.</div><div><br></div><div>I&#39;d love to use lout as _source_ (not target=
), but I really need good lout to xxx where xxx is tractable for this to wo=
rk.</div><div><br></div><div>So I&#39;m still searching for a plain text ma=
rkup (not docbook or other heavy XML-based) that will give me the output fo=
rmats I need...<br></div></div><br><div class=3D"gmail_quote"><div dir=3D"l=
tr" class=3D"gmail_attr">On Mon, 28 Dec 2020 at 09:13, Mark Summerfield &lt=
;<a href=3D"mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a>&gt; wrote:<br></div><bl=
ockquote class=3D"gmail_quote" style=3D"margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-lef=
t:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">Thanks for the suggestions.<=
br>
<br>
I&#39;d have been tempted by Skribilo if it was written in Racket and used<=
br>
Racket&#39;s #lang feature to provide a less Lisp-y markup (like Scribble<b=
r>
does).<br>
<br>
At the moment I&#39;ve decided to evaluate LyX.<br>
<br>
Best wishes,<br>
<br>
On Sun, 27 Dec 2020 22:06:50 +0100<br>
Martin Michel &lt;<a href=3D"mailto:[email protected]" target=3D"_blank">mart=
[email protected]</a>&gt; wrote:<br>
&gt; Hi Mark,<br>
&gt; <br>
&gt; this is not directly what you are looking for, but there are markup<br=
>
&gt; languages which are capable to produce Lout output.=C2=A0 So if you ar=
e<br>
&gt; open to write your documents in one of those languages, you can render=
<br>
&gt; it in Lout (for printing) or HTML and others.<br>
&gt; <br>
&gt; * [Skribilo](<a href=3D"https://www.nongnu.org/skribilo/" rel=3D"noref=
errer" target=3D"_blank">https://www.nongnu.org/skribilo/</a>)<br>
&gt; * [txt2tags](<a href=3D"https://txt2tags.org/" rel=3D"noreferrer" targ=
et=3D"_blank">https://txt2tags.org/</a>)<br>
&gt; <br>
&gt; Kind regards,<br>
&gt; Martin<br>
&gt; <br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
-- <br>
Mark Summerfield, Qtrac Ltd.<br>
=C2=A0 =C2=A0 DiffPDF - easy to use PDF comparison application<br>
=C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 <a href=3D"http://www.qtrac.eu/diffpdf.html" re=
l=3D"noreferrer" target=3D"_blank">http://www.qtrac.eu/diffpdf.html</a><br>
</blockquote></div><br clear=3D"all"><br>-- <br><div dir=3D"ltr" class=3D"g=
mail_signature">Mark Summerfield, Qtrac Ltd., <a href=3D"http://www.qtrac.e=
u" target=3D"_blank">www.qtrac.eu</a></div>

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