--- title: "Book writing software for a novel in Catalan" description: "Write and typeset a Catalan novel: cometes baixes as you type, the punt volat handled as a letter, Catalan hyphenation and a print-ready PDF for Amazon or a Catalan printer." source: https://usegalley.com/book-writing-software-catalan --- # Book writing software for writing a novel in Catalan TL;DR Catalan needs the interpunct in l·l to survive as a character and not punctuation to be swept up, and it needs guillemets rather than the English pair. Galley does both, hyphenates on Catalan patterns, and Amazon takes Catalan in all three formats. Català ## Com escriure una novel·la en català Galley és on escrius la novel·la i on en fas el llibre. Escrius des de la primera frase en una pàgina de llibre de debò: el teu format, els teus marges, la lletra del llibre imprès. Les cometes són catalanes, la partició de mots segueix les regles catalanes, i hi ha quinze lletres de llibre, totes amb llicència lliure per vendre el que imprimeixis. Al final tens un PDF llest per a la impremta i un EPUB vàlid. La interfície és en anglès; el llibre és en català. ## Why Galley is the right book writing software for a novel in Catalan The Catalan-specific thing to check in any tool is the punt volat, the interpunct in words like novel·la and col·legi. It is part of the spelling, not punctuation, and software that treats invisible or unusual characters as debris to be tidied on paste will eat it. Galley keeps it through typing, autosave, search, sorting and both exports, and it goes into the download filename too, so a book called Una Novel·la Curta arrives under its own name. The quotes are the second thing. Catalan sets guillemets, « and », and English-first software gives you the curly pair because its smart-quote rule was written once for English. Galley picks the pair from the book’s language. The third is the good news: **Amazon lists Catalan in all three formats**, Kindle ebook, paperback and hardcover, which is more than it offers Czech, Greek, Turkish or Russian. A Catalan self-publisher has every route open. Everything else is the same app: a [true book page](https://usegalley.com/features/make-the-book) at your trim, the [story bible](https://usegalley.com/features/story-bible) beside the manuscript, a print-ready PDF and a valid EPUB. ## How Catalan gets typeset **The interpunct is a letter here**, and it is treated as one. **Hyphenation follows Catalan rules**, in the justified print PDF only. Catalan hyphenation has to know not to break l·l across a line, which is exactly what language-specific patterns are for. **The accents go all the way through**, both the grave and the acute, along with ç and ï. **Italics work.** Every face here ships a real italic rather than a computed slope. ## The typefaces you get for Catalan Fifteen faces, all under the [SIL Open Font License](https://openfontlicense.org/). **EB Garamond** is the safe first choice for a novel. ![Sample sentence in EB Garamond](https://usegalley.com/images/specimens/eb-garamond-en.png) **Alegreya** was drawn for literature and handles a diacritic-heavy line well. ![Sample sentence in Alegreya](https://usegalley.com/images/specimens/alegreya-en.png) **Lora** is contemporary, with brushed serifs that hold at small sizes. ![Sample sentence in Lora](https://usegalley.com/images/specimens/lora-en.png) The rest of the shelf: Crimson Pro, Cormorant, Libre Baskerville, Literata, Source Serif 4, Spectral, Vollkorn, Cardo, Gentium Book Plus, Newsreader, Libre Caslon Text and Charis SIL. The [typeface documentation](https://usegalley.com/docs/book-design#typeface) lists every face by language. ## Exports for a Catalan novel - **Print-ready PDF** at your trim, mirrored margins, real gutter, font embedded. - **EPUB 3** with your cover, tagged `ca`. - **Store-ready EPUBs** for Kindle, Kobo and Apple Books. - **Word and Markdown** for a corrector or an archive. - **Manuscript format**, double-spaced. - **A proofreading PDF** two pages to a sheet, and a **large print PDF**. - **A watermarked copy per beta reader**. The [KDP preflight](https://usegalley.com/docs/publishing#preflight) checks the file first. ## Catalan punctuation Guillemets you get automatically. Catalan dialogue is set with a guió at the head of the line in a lot of fiction, and that is a character you type. The [dialogue punctuation rules](https://usegalley.com/resources/dialogue-punctuation-rules) and [dashes, hyphens and ellipses](https://usegalley.com/resources/dashes-hyphens-and-ellipses) sheets cover the general cases. ## How long a Catalan novel is Catalan publishers quote length in words and printed pages, and Catalan fiction sits broadly where Spanish does. Galley counts words and projects a page count at your trim. The [word count to page count converter](https://usegalley.com/resources/word-count-to-page-count) and [novel word counts by genre](https://usegalley.com/resources/novel-word-count-by-genre) do the sums. ## Trim sizes for a Catalan book Six standards, from mass market at 4.25×6.87 inches to Royal at 6.14×9.21. Catalan trade fiction is commonly issued around 14×21cm, between the Digest at 5.5×8.5 inches and Royal. The [spine width calculator](https://usegalley.com/resources/book-spine-width-calculator) and the [trim size comparison](https://usegalley.com/resources/book-trim-size-comparison) would be helpful here. ## Metadata and the copyright page The [copyright page](https://usegalley.com/docs/publishing#copyright-page) writes itself from the metadata you filled in. A Catalan book takes a Spanish ISBN, because the agency is national, not by language. ## Translating into or out of Catalan A translation in Galley is its own book: its own language, its own typeface shelf, its own ISBN, its own cover, still linked to the original. A Spanish edition of a Catalan novel is exactly that case, and it keeps its own quote marks, its own hyphenation and its own tag. There are pages on [writing a novel in Spanish](https://usegalley.com/book-writing-software-spanish), [writing a novel in Galician](https://usegalley.com/book-writing-software-galician) and [writing a novel in Basque](https://usegalley.com/book-writing-software-basque). No machine touches the prose. Galley has [no AI anywhere near your writing](https://usegalley.com/blog/no-ai-in-your-prose). ## Self-publishing and traditional publishing in Catalan **Self-publishing.** Amazon takes Catalan in all three formats, and the same print PDF goes to a Catalan printer or IngramSpark. **Traditional publishing.** Catalan publishing is a real trade with its own houses, its own prizes and its own institutional support, and it reads submissions directly and through agents. The [submission package](https://usegalley.com/docs/publishing#where-it-goes) assembles the synopsis, the bio and the opening chapters. The same book exports both. The longer arguments are in [Galley for self-publishing](https://usegalley.com/blog/galley-for-self-publishing) and [Galley for traditional publishing](https://usegalley.com/blog/galley-for-traditional-publishing). ## Where to go next - [Writing software for novelists who don’t write in English](https://usegalley.com/blog/write-a-novel-in-your-language) covers every script Galley sets. - [Book design and typefaces](https://usegalley.com/docs/book-design#typeface) lists every face by language. - [Series and translations](https://usegalley.com/docs/series-and-translations) covers the full language list. - [Book typography basics](https://usegalley.com/blog/book-typography-basics) is the set of rules that makes a page look made. ## Questions people ask about writing a novel in Catalan ### Does the punt volat in l·l survive? Yes. The interpunct is a character in Catalan spelling and not punctuation, and it comes through typing, autosave, search, sorting, both exports and the download filename. ### Which quote marks does a Catalan book get? Guillemets, « and », which is what Catalan sets. The rule follows the book's language. ### Can I sell a Catalan book on Amazon KDP? Yes, in all three formats: Kindle ebook, paperback and hardcover. Catalan is on Amazon's list where several larger languages are not. ### Does Galley hyphenate Catalan? Yes, on Catalan patterns, and only in the print PDF when you justify. ## Other languages - [Book writing software for Spanish](https://usegalley.com/book-writing-software-spanish)Write and typeset a Spanish novel: comillas latinas as you type, hyphenation by Spanish rules, fifteen book faces, and a print-ready PDF for Amazon, a Spanish printer or a Latin American one. - [Book writing software for Galician](https://usegalley.com/book-writing-software-galician)Write and typeset a Galician novel: guillemets as you type, Galician hyphenation, fifteen book faces licensed for sale, and a print-ready PDF for Amazon or a Galician printer. - [Book writing software for Basque](https://usegalley.com/book-writing-software-basque)Write and typeset a Basque novel: its own hyphenation and EPUB tag instead of a fallback to Spanish, guillemets as you type, fifteen book faces and a print-ready PDF. Start the book. Galley sets it in Catalan from the first sentence to the print PDF. [Launch Galley](https://app.usegalley.com)