Reedsy Chapters and Pages

How to Add Chapters and Pages in the Reedsy Writing App

Last Updated on by Michael Brockbank

The Reedsy writing app has a lot of functionality as a free platform. Although most of it is pretty easy to manage, there are a few tricks and tips for adding certain elements. Today, we’ll look at how to add pages and chapters in Reedsy.

Now, when you’re writing your manuscript, you don’t need to add pages for the actual storyline. The formatting process when publishing your book will automatically add the necessary pages for you.

What we’ll be looking at today is how to add certain types of front and back matter that aren’t part of Reedsy’s default layout.

How to Add Chapters in Reedsy

Adding chapters to Reedsy is relatively straightforward. When you start your manuscript, you can add them at any time.

On the left side of your screen, click the “Add +” button.

Click to Add a Chapter

A new option window will open.

Click the “New Chapter” option to add a new chapter to your manuscript. You can also use “New Part” if you plan on separating your book into parts.

Create New Chapter

Once you click “New Chapter,” Reedsy will add it under the chapter you have selected in your manuscript. The writing app will also change the focus from the current page to the new one so you can immediately start writing.

New Chapters in Reedsy

Titling Your Chapters in Reedsy

To label your chapters, click on the default chapter title of the manuscript.

Default Chapter Label

Change the name of the chapter to anything you wish.

Label or Title the Chapter

The Reedsy writing app will automatically edit the chapters as you type them into the manuscript.

Changing Chapters in Reedsy

You’re now ready to start typing away on the newest chapter of your book.

Moving the Chapter or Page

What if you created a chapter in the wrong place? Reedsy has a built-in drag-and-drop feature to help you move those elements around in your book.

Click and hold the six-dot icon on the chapter (the drag icon).

Moving a Chapter or Page

Drag the chapter or page anywhere you wish in Reedsy and drop it into place.

Drop the Chapter or Page

This is helpful if you’re like me and write scenes and parts out of order. Or, perhaps you want to add something that happens in between chapters during one of your drafts.

In any case, it’s quite simple to create and move chapters and pages around.

Splitting the Manuscript into New Chapters

What if you’re writing your manuscript and decide a chapter is too long and that half of it can stand on its own?

Click the scissor icon on the right of the Reedsy toolbar to “Split chapter.”

Split the Chapter

A dotted line function will appear in the Reedsy book editor screen. From here, move the cursor to the segment of the current chapter that you want to separate.

Note that where you select is where the current chapter will end and the new one will begin.

Position the Split

Once you’re sure where you want the separation to occur, click the “confirm split” option.

Confirm the Split Location

Reedsy will launch a pop-up window to confirm the creation of new chapters. From here, you can give the chapter a new label or title if you wish.

Reedsy will automatically add the correct chapter number once you confirm the split if you leave this blank.

Once you’re ready, click the “Split chapter” button.

Split the Chapter Button

Now, your chapter has been split and a new one created for the content.

Undoing a Chapter Split

What if you made an accident and want to undo the split? You have a couple of ways to do this. You can either copy and paste the content from the new chapter back to where it was. Or, you can revert to an earlier version of your manuscript.

Today, let’s revert to a previous version of the book to restore the chapters back to normal.

On the right toolbar, click the “Writing Timeline” tool. It’s the one that looks like a small clock.

Writing Timeline in Reedsy

Reedsy may take a few moments as it pulls information from the database. The longer you have been working on your book, the more time this may take.

From here, you can see all of the different changes that have been made in the manuscript. Reedsy will show these according to the date and timestamp of the major changes.

Click on a version earlier than the most current version. Because we want to undo a chapter split, we’re just going to click on the version just under when that happened.

Choose Earlier Reedsy Version

Once Reedsy pulls up the correct information and layout for that particular version, you’ll see an option on the top for restoring the manuscript.

Click the “Restore this version” button.

Restore Old Version of Manuscript

After a few moments, Reedsy will confirm that the manuscript has been restored to the selected version. You can continue to work on your book from this point.

Reedsy Book Restored Message

Deleting Chapters in Reedsy

What if you created a chapter but decided that you no longer need it? Removing a chapter in Reedsy is quite easy.

Make sure the chapter you want to delete is selected by clicking it.

On the right toolbar of Reedsy, click the icon for “Delete chapter.”

Delete Chapters in Reedsy

A confirmation pop-up will show. Click the “Delete” button to remove the chapter.

Delete the Chapter

If you need to retrieve a chapter that you accidentally deleted, you can always use the Timeline tool to revert the manuscript.

Differences Between Chapters and Parts in Reedsy

Chapters and parts are a bit different when it comes to writing your book. Chapters are a method to separate certain scenes or situations from one another.

Parts are kind of like chapters but are more centered around separating major elements of a story. You’ll sometimes see parts of a manuscript that can work as their own book.

In fact, collector’s editions will often combine a series of books into one and separate each with a “part.”

You don’t need to add individual parts to your book, however. It’s more of a cosmetic element or to keep individual story parts organized from one another.

Adding and removing “Parts” in Reedsy works identically to how it does for chapters. The only difference is that each part will have its own organization for chapters within them.

How to Add Independent Pages in Reedsy

By default, Reedsy has quite a few pages available for front and back matter. This includes pages such as Copyright, Preface, Dedication, About the Author, and more.

These templates can help you create the pages by having specific fields for your manuscript.

But what if you want to add something that isn’t available?

Let’s go over both methods.

Adding Front and Back Matter Templates

In the Reedsy writing app, you have an “edit” function that lets you add various pages available on the platform.

The front matter templates in Reedsy include:

  • Dedication
  • Epigraph
  • Table of Contents
  • Foreword
  • Preface
  • Acknowledgement

The back matter templates include:

  • About the Author
  • Also by (author name)

Now, there are a few additional pages in Reedsy after the chapters. These are located in the “Body” section and include:

  • Conclusion
  • Epilogue
  • Afterword

To enable any of these pages, click the “edit” function next to the Front matter, Body, or Back matter sections.

Edit Available Pages

Find the page you want to enable and click the corresponding switch.

Enable Page

Now, when you click on the page itself from the left admin bar, you’ll be taken to it as you would with any of the chapters in Reedsy.

Epilogue Page in Reedsy

Then, you can start filling in the pertinent information regarding the page you just added.

When you want to hide the extra pages, just click the “done” option next to the section on the left. They will collapse and you can continue working on the visible pages of your manuscript.

NOTE: Keep in mind that Reedsy will add the Table of Contents to your book by default. This page will automatically adjust for every page you create or delete.

Adding New Front and Back Matter Pages

So, what if Reedsy doesn’t have the front or back matter page that you want to add to your book? Actually, it’s relatively easy to add a new page and then edit it to fit your needs.

Let’s say we want to add a “Sources” page to our book. That way, readers know that your book is based on factual evidence or perhaps you want to give credit or cite statistical sources.

In any case, click the “Add” button on the top left of the Reedsy book editor.

Add to Reedsy Manuscript

For this example, we’re going to select the “New Chapter” option.

Adding Chapters in Reedsy

Now, rename the new chapter to the page you want to create. In this example, I’m creating the Sources page.

Rename Chapter Page

Once creating the page, you can drag and drop it into the back matter section of the book. You can do this by holding down the click on your mouse on the drag icon (six-dot icon to the right of the page’s title).

Drag the Page

You can create as many of these pages as you need while using Reedsy’s editor to make adjustments, add images, bullet lists, or anything else you need.

To add something like a prologue page in Reedsy, you’ll need to create a page as you would a chapter and instead title it “Prologue.” Then, you can use the drag icon to move the prologue to the beginning of the manuscript.

Do You Have to Title Your Chapters?

Titling a chapter is completely up to the author. Some books work exceptionally well with just the basic, “chapter 1” type layout while others add a bit of flair with short descriptors as to what to expect.

For example, in my Wattpad book, VII, each chapter is titled in relation to its “sin.” When you read Gluttony, you have an idea about what to expect.

For the YouTube audiobook, Despair, I titled each episode of the video but combine it into a full chapter on Wattpad.

There are all kinds of ways you can lay out chapters for your book in Reedsy. It all comes down to what you want to present to your readers and the type of story you’re creating.

As such, there really is no right or wrong way to go about doing so.

However, if you’re putting together a series, you’ll want to stick with the same format for the sake of continuity. If your first book has titled chapters, you might want to do that throughout the entire series of books.

Otherwise, it could create a bit of a disconnect between your books and the readers. It’s silly, but something small such as chapter titles can affect someone who is really into your novels.

For the most part, people are reading your story because of your style and personality. If it looks as though that has shifted, your avid readers may begin questioning whether you wrote the series or not.

I’ve had an example of this with a couple of clients on Textbroker many years ago. They thought that someone else wrote consecutive articles because my style and flow changed so much between them.

I thought I was being fancy, but it nearly cost me a client.

Grammarly Grammar Checker

How Many Chapters and Pages Should Your Reedsy Book Have?

The number of chapters and pages in your book are going to vary greatly. Things like the storyline itself, font sizes, and imagery are all going to affect the book’s length.

For instance, I write until I feel that the story has been told. In the case of Kingmaker, it came out to roughly 86,000 words. According to some experts, this could boil down to 287 pages. That’s because some attest to 300 words being shown on the average page in a book.

As I said, though, this could be vastly different depending on the font and the print size.

As for chapters, each one in Kingmaker is a completely separate scene. Overall, there are 20, not including the front and back matter of the book.

This, again, is up to the story you’re writing and how many major segments separate the scenes and plots.

What Pages Are You Including in Your Book?

You don’t need to load your book with front and back matter. As long as you create logical chapters in Reedsy, you’re book has the potential to engage your target audience.

Although there are several pages that are incredibly helpful, it all depends on what you want to provide your readers. Not everyone is going to include preludes, epilogues, or a page of social links.

What kinds of pages do you plan on adding to your book?

Michael Brockbank
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