--- title: "Book writing software for a novel in Estonian" description: "Write and typeset an Estonian novel: „low-high quotes“ as you type, hyphenation for long compounds, õ ä ö ü intact through export, and a print-ready PDF." source: https://usegalley.com/book-writing-software-estonian --- # Book writing software for writing a novel in Estonian TL;DR Estonian builds long compounds and needs hyphenation to justify cleanly, and it needs a font that carries õ instead of approximating it. Galley does both, types the Estonian quote pair, and gives you a print PDF any printer will take. Eesti ## Kuidas kirjutada romaani eesti keeles Galley on koht, kus kirjutad romaani ja kus teed sellest raamatu. Kirjutad esimesest lausest peale päris raamatuleheküljel: sinu formaat, sinu veerised, trükitud raamatu kirjatüüp. Jutumärgid on eestikeelsed, poolitus järgib eesti reegleid, ja valida on viieteistkümne raamatukirja vahel, kõik vaba litsentsiga. Lõpuks on sul trükivalmis PDF ja korrektne EPUB. Kasutajaliides on inglise keeles; raamat on eesti keeles. ## Why Galley is the right book writing software for a novel in Estonian Estonian is Finnic, so it builds compounds the way Finnish does, and a justified Estonian line without hyphenation opens the same holes. Galley carries Estonian hyphenation patterns and applies them in the print PDF when you justify. Justification is off by default and ragged right never needs them. The letter to watch is õ. It is a distinct Estonian vowel and a font with shallow coverage either drops it or fakes it with a tilde borrowed from somewhere else. Every face on the Estonian shelf carries it properly, and it survives typing, search, sorting, both exports and the download filename. The quote pair is „low, then high“, which Galley picks from the book’s language rather than handing you the English one. And **Amazon does not list Estonian in any format**, so the print-ready PDF and the valid EPUB are the whole product. 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 Estonian gets typeset **Hyphenation follows Estonian rules**, in the justified print PDF only. **Õ ä ö ü go all the way through**, including into the download filename. **Sorting is Estonian**, which is not the same as sorting Finnish or German: õ, ä, ö and ü come at the end, in that order. **Italics work**, on a drawn italic in every one of the fifteen faces. ## The typefaces you get for Estonian 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) **Gentium Book Plus** has wide diacritic coverage and sets a calm page. ![Sample sentence in Gentium Book Plus](https://usegalley.com/images/specimens/gentium-book-en.png) **Literata** reads well at small sizes, which helps when the words are long. ![Sample sentence in Literata](https://usegalley.com/images/specimens/literata-en.png) The rest of the shelf: Crimson Pro, Cormorant, Lora, Libre Baskerville, Source Serif 4, Spectral, Alegreya, Vollkorn, Cardo, Newsreader, Libre Caslon Text and Charis SIL. The [typeface documentation](https://usegalley.com/docs/book-design#typeface) lists every face by language. ## Exports for an Estonian novel - **Print-ready PDF** at your trim, mirrored margins, real gutter, font embedded. - **EPUB 3** with your cover, tagged `et`. - **Store-ready EPUBs** for Kobo and Apple Books. - **Word and Markdown** for a toimetaja 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**. ## Estonian punctuation The quote pair you get automatically. Estonian dialogue is set with a dash at the head of the line, which 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 an Estonian novel is Estonian publishers quote length in authors’ sheets and in printed pages. Like Finnish, Estonian is compact in word count and long in characters, so a manuscript can read short by word count and set to the same extent as an English one. Galley counts words and projects the page count at your trim. The [word count to page count converter](https://usegalley.com/resources/word-count-to-page-count) should be a helpful resource for you. ## Trim sizes for an Estonian book Six standards, from mass market at 4.25×6.87 inches to Royal at 6.14×9.21. Estonian trade fiction is commonly issued around 13×20cm, close to the Digest at 5.5×8.5 inches. 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. An Estonian ISBN comes from the Eesti Rahvusraamatukogu. ## Translating into or out of Estonian 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, with the editor split so the original sits read-only beside what you write. There are pages on [writing a novel in Finnish](https://usegalley.com/book-writing-software-finnish), [writing a novel in Latvian](https://usegalley.com/book-writing-software-latvian) and [writing a novel in Lithuanian](https://usegalley.com/book-writing-software-lithuanian). 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 Estonian **Self-publishing.** Amazon is closed, so print goes through an Estonian printer or IngramSpark and the ebook goes to Google Play, Apple Books, Kobo or an Estonian store. **Traditional publishing.** Estonian houses read submissions directly, and Kultuurkapital support is part of how literary fiction gets published. 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 Estonian ### Which quote marks does an Estonian book get? The low-then-high pair, „like this“, which is the Estonian convention. The rule follows the book's language. ### Does Galley hyphenate Estonian? Yes, on Estonian patterns, and only in the print PDF when you justify. Estonian compounds are long enough that it makes a visible difference. ### Can I sell an Estonian book on Amazon KDP? No. Amazon does not list Estonian in any format. The print PDF goes to an Estonian printer or IngramSpark, and the EPUB goes to any store that sells Estonian. ### Does õ survive export? Yes, along with ä, ö and ü, through typing, autosave, search, sorting, both exports and the download filename. ## Other languages - [Book writing software for Finnish](https://usegalley.com/book-writing-software-finnish)Write and typeset a Finnish novel: the right quote pair as you type, hyphenation that copes with agglutination, fifteen book faces and a print-ready PDF for Amazon or a Finnish printer. - [Book writing software for Latvian](https://usegalley.com/book-writing-software-latvian)Write and typeset a Latvian novel: macrons and comma-below letters intact through every export, „low-high quotes“ as you type, Latvian hyphenation and a print-ready PDF. - [Book writing software for Lithuanian](https://usegalley.com/book-writing-software-lithuanian)Write and typeset a Lithuanian novel: ogonek and dotted vowels intact through every export, „low-high quotes“ as you type, Lithuanian hyphenation and a print-ready PDF. Start the book. Galley sets it in Estonian from the first sentence to the print PDF. [Launch Galley](https://app.usegalley.com)