Prepare your manuscript for import

When you import a book, Bunsho has to work out where one chapter ends and the next begins. It cannot guess from how the page looks. It looks for headings. This guide explains what that means in plain words and what to do about it.

The one idea to remember

Every chapter title in your file should be marked as a heading. A heading is not just big or bold text. It is a label the program stores, which tells every other program "this line is a title". In Word it is called a style, such as Heading 1.

A quick test: in your file, click on a chapter title. If the style box at the top of Word says Heading 1 (or Heading 2), you are set. If it says Normal, the title only looks like a title, and Bunsho will not see it.

Your options, by file type

Word (.docx)

Bunsho starts a new chapter at every heading style, Heading 1 through Heading 6. Apply Heading 1 to each chapter title. The full steps are in fix chapter headings in Word.

Bunsho names the book after your file. To use your real title, put it as the very first line, styled as Heading 1, with your first chapter heading straight after it and no text in between. Bunsho then reads that line as the book's name, and it does not become a page. You can rename the book at any time.

Markdown (.md or .markdown)

In Markdown, a heading is a line that starts with # and a space. One # is the biggest heading. Put one on its own line before each chapter:

• # The Night Train starts a chapter called "The Night Train".
• ## Part One also starts a page. Every level of heading starts a new page, so use headings for chapter titles only.
• Leave a blank line between paragraphs.

Files saved by Typora, Obsidian or iA Writer work as they are. If your file begins with a block of settings between two --- lines (called front matter), Bunsho skips it.

Plain text (.txt)

Plain text has no headings, so the whole file comes in as one page. Blank lines mark new paragraphs. This is fine for a short piece. For a book, use Word or Markdown instead, or split the chapters by hand in the Binder after you import.

Fountain (.fountain)

For screenplays. Bunsho reads your scene headings and gives each scene its own page, and the project opens as a screenplay. No preparation is needed beyond writing in Fountain format.

Google Docs, Scrivener, Pages

These need to be saved as a Word document first. See import from Google Docs and import from Scrivener or Pages.

What a book with no headings does

It does not fail. Bunsho imports the whole thing as one long page, and the review box says "Imported as one page." You can then split it by hand in the Binder, or fix the file and import again. The second way is quicker for a long book.

What carries over, and what to keep

• Every word and paragraph arrives, and so do your italics and bold.
• Images, tables, footnotes and comments do not come through. Keep your original file safe.
• Tracked changes in a Word file are accepted as if you had clicked Accept All. Resolve them yourself first if you want a say in each one.

Checklist before you import

1. 1Optional: the first line is your book's title, styled as Heading 1, with the first chapter heading straight after it. Without it, the book is named after the file.
2. 2Every chapter title is a real heading (Heading 1 or Heading 2).
3. 3Nothing else in the book uses a heading style, unless you want it to be its own page.
4. 4Any tracked changes are resolved the way you want.
5. 5You have saved a copy of the original file somewhere safe.

Then follow import a manuscript. If a file still imports badly, that is on us, and we want to hear about it: support@bunsho.io.