Bindup

npm i -g bindup

A CLI for rendering markdown directories into epub files. This readme will be fleshed out further in time.

Read the full docs at

• https://benjaminaugust.github.io/BindUp

Configure your book

To properly configure your book for Bindup:

• Keep your book in a manuscript folder
• Order your folders and files by prepending a number, then the ~ symbol to the front of their titles
• Create a json configuration file

Organize your book in a manuscript folder

An example of how your manuscript directory might look is:

• manuscript
  • 1~ Dedication.md
  • 2~ Chapter 1.md
  • 3~ Chapter 2.md

The number and ~ will be removed when the book is rendered to an epub.

It works the same for nested folders:

• manuscript
  • 1~ Dedication.md
  • 2~ Chapter 1 (Folder)
    • 1~ Section A.md
    • 2~ Section B.md
  • 3~ Chapter 2 (Folder)
    • 1~ Part 1.md
    • 2~ Part 2.md

Create a json config file

You must customize settings for your book by creating a JSON file with valid properties.

Example book-config.json:

{
  "author": "Benjamin August",
  "title": "Book 1: Welcome to the Multiverse",
  "manuscript": "./myBookDirectory",
  "formats": [
      "epub"
  ]
}

Check the spec for a full list of valid properties.

Required properties:

• "title" - string The title of the book
• "author" - string | string[] Author(s) of the book. Can be a single string or array of strings if multiple
• "formats" - string[] The formats to export your book to. Only "epub" is a valid value for now. More formats potentially coming in the future
• "manuscript" - string The relative path to the manuscript directory, where your book should be stored

Examples of optional properties include:

• "description" - string The description of the book
• "date" - string The publication date
• "lang" - string The book's language as an ISO language code

Render epubs

Use bindup render book_config_path_here

That will render an epub to the directory the command is being run from.

For example:

bindup render my-book-config.json

Use Frontmatter

You can also use frontmatter within your markdown files to explicitly set options. Doing so allows you to overcome the limitations of what files can be named in Unix, Mac or Windows systems.

For example, say want to use periods in your chapter title:

"Chapter 1.5"

This would not be possible using just the file name because periods are not allowed in file names. Instead, you can add frontmatter to the top of the file where you specify the chapter:

---
title: Chapter 1.5
---

The title in the frontmatter overrides the filename title, meaning even if your file is called:

1~ Chapter 1-5.md

its title in your ebook will be "Chapter 1.5".

Valid frontmatter options

• title: string (optional, default Chapter [number]) Chapter title
• author: string | string[] (optional) Chapter author, generates info below chapter title
• content: string HTML String of the chapter content, image sources are downloaded
• excludeFromToc: boolean (optional, default false) Don't list chapter in Table of Contents
• beforeToc: boolean (optional, default false) List chapter before Table of Contents heading
• filename: string (optional) Custom name for chapter file
• url: string (optional) External link below chapter title

Use bindup in node

You can use bindup in your Node.js projects

import { generateBook } from 'bindup';

export default async () => {
  try {
    const epub = await generateBook(configPath);
    //generateBook returns a Buffer if successful, void if not.
    // Do whatever you want with it from here. You can
    // pass it directly to fs.writeFile for example
  } catch (error) {
    throw new Error(error)
  }
}