--- title: "Book writing software for a novel in Latvian" description: "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." source: https://usegalley.com/book-writing-software-latvian --- # Book writing software for writing a novel in Latvian TL;DR Latvian needs macrons on four vowels and commas under four consonants, which is more diacritic load than most fonts carry. Every face on Galley's shelf covers the set, the quote pair is Latvian, and the print PDF hyphenates on Latvian patterns. Latviešu ## Kā uzrakstīt romānu latviski Galley ir vieta, kur uzraksti romānu un kur no tā izveido grāmatu. Raksti no pirmā teikuma uz īstas grāmatas lappuses: tavs formāts, tavas malas, iespiestās grāmatas burtveidols. Pēdiņas ir latviskas, vārdu dalīšana seko latviešu likumiem, un izvēlē ir piecpadsmit grāmatu burtveidoli, visi ar brīvu licenci. Beigās tev ir tipogrāfijai gatavs PDF un derīgs EPUB. Saskarne ir angliski; grāmata ir latviski. ## Why Galley is the right book writing software for a novel in Latvian Latvian carries more diacritic load than almost any language on this shelf: a macron over four vowels, a caron over three consonants, and a comma under four more. That is a lot of marks, and a font either has them all or your book has holes in it. The comma-below letters are the real test. Ģ, ķ, ļ and ņ take a comma below, which several fonts substitute with a cedilla and several more lack entirely. Uppercase Ģ is worse, because the comma sits above the letter instead of below it. Every face on Galley’s Latvian shelf carries the full set, and they survive typing, search, sorting, both exports and the download filename. The quote pair is „low, then high“, picked from the book’s language instead of defaulted to English. And **Amazon does not list Latvian 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 Latvian gets typeset **The whole diacritic set goes all the way through**, including into the download filename. **Hyphenation follows Latvian rules**, in the justified print PDF only. **Sorting is Latvian**, so ā, č, ē, ģ, ī, ķ, ļ, ņ, š, ū and ž land where a Latvian reader expects them, not folded into their base letters. **Italics work.** The italic in each of these faces was drawn, not computed. ## The typefaces you get for Latvian Fifteen faces, all under the [SIL Open Font License](https://openfontlicense.org/). Diacritic depth is what to want here. **Charis SIL** and **Gentium Book Plus** both come from SIL, which exists to cover the characters other foundries skip. They are the two safest choices for Latvian. ![Sample sentence in Charis SIL](https://usegalley.com/images/specimens/charis-sil-en.png) ![Sample sentence in Gentium Book Plus](https://usegalley.com/images/specimens/gentium-book-en.png) **EB Garamond** is the classic if you want a Garamond instead of a workhorse. ![Sample sentence in EB Garamond](https://usegalley.com/images/specimens/eb-garamond-en.png) The rest of the shelf: Crimson Pro, Cormorant, Lora, Libre Baskerville, Literata, Source Serif 4, Spectral, Alegreya, Vollkorn, Cardo, Newsreader and Libre Caslon Text. The [typeface documentation](https://usegalley.com/docs/book-design#typeface) lists every face by language. ## Exports for a Latvian novel - **Print-ready PDF** at your trim, mirrored margins, real gutter, font embedded. - **EPUB 3** with your cover, tagged `lv`. - **Store-ready EPUBs** for Kobo and Apple Books. - **Word and Markdown** for a redaktors 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**. ## Latvian punctuation The quote pair you get automatically. Latvian 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 a Latvian novel is Latvian publishers quote length in authors’ sheets and printed pages. Galley counts words and projects a page count at your trim, which is the number the printer works from. 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 a Latvian book Six standards, from mass market at 4.25×6.87 inches to Royal at 6.14×9.21. Latvian 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. A Latvian ISBN comes from the Latvijas Nacionālā bibliotēka. ## Translating into or out of Latvian 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 Lithuanian](https://usegalley.com/book-writing-software-lithuanian), [writing a novel in Estonian](https://usegalley.com/book-writing-software-estonian) and [writing a novel in Polish](https://usegalley.com/book-writing-software-polish). 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 Latvian **Self-publishing.** Amazon is closed, so print goes through a Latvian printer or IngramSpark and the ebook goes to Google Play, Apple Books, Kobo or a Latvian store. **Traditional publishing.** Latvian houses read submissions directly, and support from the Valsts kultūrkapitāla fonds 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. - [From manuscript to published book](https://usegalley.com/blog/manuscript-to-published-book) is the whole route. ## Questions people ask about writing a novel in Latvian ### Do the macrons and comma-below letters survive export? Yes. Ā ē ī ū and ģ ķ ļ ņ come through typing, autosave, search, sorting, both exports and the download filename. Every face on the shelf carries them. ### Which quote marks does a Latvian book get? The low-then-high pair, „like this“, which is the Latvian convention. The rule follows the book's language. ### Can I sell a Latvian book on Amazon KDP? No. Amazon does not list Latvian in any format. The print PDF goes to a Latvian printer or IngramSpark, and the EPUB goes to any store that sells Latvian. ### Does Galley hyphenate Latvian? Yes, on Latvian patterns, and only in the print PDF when you justify. ## Other languages - [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. - [Book writing software for Estonian](https://usegalley.com/book-writing-software-estonian)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. - [Book writing software for Polish](https://usegalley.com/book-writing-software-polish)Write and typeset a Polish novel: „low-high quotes“ as you type, hyphenation by Polish rules, fifteen book faces and a print-ready PDF. Including the Amazon rule that catches Polish writers out. Start the book. Galley sets it in Latvian from the first sentence to the print PDF. [Launch Galley](https://app.usegalley.com)