: Using LaTeX with publishers? Background: Im working on a rather long instructional book, and have just started trying to use LaTeX. The book doesn't have any scientific notation in it, and most

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You can use LaTeX to create PDFs for publishers who accept submissions in that file format. Otherwise, don't use LaTeX --edit-- (unless they instructed you to use a specific LaTeX class for your document, a specialized situation)

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I believe there are a few scientific journals that accept LaTeX code as submittals, but they usually require you to use their specific LaTeX Class (document type) rather than the "standard" LaTeX classes (book, report, article, letter etc.)

More than any other file format, LaTeX is used to generate pdf files, which many, if not most, accept. Publishers won't accept LaTeX code because the code is heavily dependent on the TeX Distribution and additional macro "packages" called for from an uncompiled LaTeX document. For example, if you had an indie publishing company, a writer could submit a LaTeX file to you, that called for a font package that you don't have installed, and the result would be that the LaTeX document wouldn't compile.

Since LaTeX is an entire System of Software, more so than a single code recipe, like html, publishers can't expect the LaTeX code they receive will compile. And, publishers don't want to have to ask you how to compile it, they just want a working fully formatted document, which LaTeX does with pdf as well as any software out there.

For self-publishers, knowing LaTeX is fantastic, because Lulu and Createspace both accept pdf, and you only have to generate true to size pdf page sizes, which is easy.

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LaTeX is fine as it will deliver a printable .pdf for initial approval to a publisher and many templates from scientific publishers, freely available from a basic web search can be loaded, including Springer and many others

LaTeX templates

Springer

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