I have written a long, 160,000 word creative writing piece that I want to have Scrivener make into an epub ebook with a linked table of contents. Is a linked ToC possible?
In the Compile settings you simply choose html toc.
Thanks. I’ll try that.
If you are referring to a ToC in which you can click/tap on an item (a chapter as an example) and cause the e-reader app to jump you to that location in the work, yes.
To oversimplify, you’ll need to import your work into a Scrivener project and split it up, then use the File > Compile to specify which things or levels of things appear in the ToC and to compile the work out as an .epub
I suppose you could import (File > Import) the work as a single document within th Scrivener project and then go through and manually split it up, though that might prove sluggish given the length of the work. There is a File > Import > Import and Split option that one can use to split the incoming work into multiple documents. It requires a bit of preparation (insertion of text strings in a copy of the original work indicating where to split during import).
There are a variety of ways and levels of complexities involved in this. I would suggest reading up in the manual and elsewhere (the forums, various books about Scrivener (Scrivener for Dummies), etc.) about table of contents, importing and splitting, binder/outline hierarchies, etc. to get a preliminary sense of things and then experimenting. Be sure you have plenty of safe backup copies of the original work. Be prepared to do some quick throw-away experiments to get a feel for how to do and how best to do this. You might create a small version of the original work (some subset or an small approximation thrown together using boilerplate text) to use as a test/practice case, before tackling importing the full work.
You can download and try Scrivener (full featured, time limited) for free, before committing and purchasing.
I hope that is of some assistance.
SpringfieldMH, thanks for your long post. At present my book is in Scrivener and I am giving it another edit. I have one of the six chapters yet to edit, then I will create a ToC using the Manuel for guidance. You have answered my question in any case. A linked ToC can be done. That was what I wanted to know. I have purchased Scrivener, by the was. I used it to produce an epub version of a new book I’working on, and I was very happy with the output. Thanks again.
I used the “blank” template, instead of the “novel” template, when I imported my book into Scrivener. Had I used the “novel” template, I think Scrivener would have compiled the six parts of my book as numbered chapters for an e-book output, and these chapters would be listed in a linked table of contents. That would give 6 links to positions inside this long e-book. The problem is that many more links are needed. Each of the 6 “Parts” of this long e-book contains a number smaller parts, which are not named as chapters but are simply given a centered heading with bold letters. Each of these smaller parts should have a link in a ToC. However this would amount to 65 links! I don’t think the Windows version of Scrivener can do this. I believe that in the Mac version you could create “scrivener links” and then compile them in a way that turned these “scrivener links” into active links in an e-book output. But the Windows version lacks this ability to turn scrivener links into active links in an e-book outbook, it would seem. Anyhow I am learning. I have purchased some e-books about Scrivener. I am definitely going to give this program a try. What I like best about it is that I can produce my own e-books, which I can freely distribute. I am just finishing up doing this with my long (165,000 words) autobiographical fiction “work,” entitled, Why Is Marijuans Illegal? I am producing a free e-pub edition of this e-book. I am almost finished with this. It will lack a linked ToC but it will have a printed ToC that the reader can use to make searches. The lack of a linked ToC is not the end f the world. I am very happy with the output I’m getting I am at present glad I bought this program, and I intend to spend some time learning how to use it.