How do I keep ebook and paperback files in sync?
- Maintain a single master manuscript as the source of truth.
- Generate ebook and print files from the master, never edit them separately.
- Log every correction with the date and the formats regenerated.
- Re-export all formats together when the master changes.
- Format-specific tweaks (page breaks) belong downstream of the master.
Keep one master manuscript as the single source of truth and generate both the ebook and print files from it; never fix an error in just one format. When you correct the master, re-export every format together and log the change with its date. Format-specific adjustments like page breaks live downstream of the master, not in it. This master-first discipline is what stops the ebook and paperback from quietly diverging over time.
Chapter i·Why it matters
The fastest way to end up with a paperback and ebook that say different things is to fix a typo in one and forget the other. Each separate edit widens the gap until readers notice. A master-manuscript workflow with a correction log removes the failure mode entirely: there is one place to make changes and a record of which formats reflect them, so the editions stay identical no matter how many small fixes accumulate.
Chapter ii·What to include
- A designated master manuscript file.
- A generation step that produces all formats from the master.
- A rule against editing exported format files directly.
- A correction log with dates and affected formats.
- A re-export-everything step whenever the master changes.
- Downstream-only handling of format-specific layout tweaks.
Chapter iii·Example
An author finds a continuity error after publishing. Instead of patching the ebook, she fixes the master manuscript, regenerates both the EPUB and the print PDF, and logs the change. Six months and a dozen small corrections later, her paperback and ebook are still word-for-word identical — because every fix went through the master and out to both formats at once.
WriteLoom keeps a single master manuscript and generates your formats from it, so ebook and print never drift apart.
Keep formats in sync