6 Pressbooks: Starting Your New Book

If you want to create a book from scratch, follow these steps.

1. Click on the Create Book button in the top right of the Pressbooks dashboard.
2. Fill in the Create a New Book Form.
3. Customize your webbook URL. URLs can only be used once.
4. Type in your web book’s title.
5. Click the Create Book button.

You can create a book by importing an existing document from the following file types: EPUBs, Word docs, XMLs, or URLs.

1. Complete the Create a New Book steps listed above.
2. Select Import from the left menu in the Pressbooks dashboard.
3. Select the appropriate file type that matches the document you will be importing.
4. Locate the file on your computer OR import from a URL.
5. Click the Begin Import button.
6. Depending on the size of the file, this may take some time.

Tip: When importing a Microsoft Word document, ensure your document is formatted as simply as possible and ensure that appropriate heading styles have been applied to chapters/sections.

Watch Importing a Word File into Pressbooks (1:51) to learn how to import a Word document.

Pressbooks. (2022, April 1). Importing a Word File into Pressbooks [Video file]. YouTube.

If you are adapting or updating an existing Pressbook, use the Clone function to copy the Pressbook into your account for customization.

1. Click on the Clone Book button in the top right of the Pressbooks dashboard.
2. Enter the original book’s URL.
3. Enter your book’s custom URL and title. URLs can only be used once.
4. Click the Clone Book button.

Figure: “Clone a Book interface” from Pressbooks User Guide by Pressbooks, licensed under CC BY 4.0.

You can keep your book private until it is complete so it isn’t visible to the public. You can also control privacy at the chapter level.

Book-level (Global) Privacy

1. Click on the Dashboard button.
2. Click on the Organize button.
3. Select Private or Public at the top of the page. You can change this at any time.
4. Any book with a public status will eventually be displayed in the Pressbooks Directory.

Chapter-level Privacy

You can control chapter-level privacy from the book’s dashboard or chapter editor interface. For more information, visit the Control Your Book’s Privacy Settings chapter in the Pressbooks User Guide.

To access the Dashboard:

1. Click on the Organize button.
2. Check or uncheck the Show in Web check box to make that part/chapter public or private, respectively.

To access the Chapter Editor Interface:

1. Access the chapter/part you are interested in editing.
2. Check or uncheck the Show in Web check box to make that part public or private, respectively. This is found in the Status & Visibility box on the right side of the editing interface.
3. Click Save.