All Collections
Author Help
How do I add a footnote to a Leanpub book?
How do I add a footnote to a Leanpub book?

Keywords: add, create, footnote, footnotes

Leanpub Support avatar
Written by Leanpub Support
Updated over a week ago
How do I add a footnote to a Leanpub book?

Here is the section of the Markua manual with instructions for making footnotes:

Here's an example of how to do it:

# Chapter One

There is a footnote at the end of this line.[^footnote]

[^footnote]: This is a footnote.


This will produce the following result (this example is from a PDF version):

In the PDF, the footnote text ("This is a footnote." in the example above) appears at the bottom of the page where you would see the footnote number in the sentence in the main body of the text.

In EPUB, the footnote appears at the end of the book, but you can also click the footnote number to "jump" to the footnote, text, and then "jump" back to the main body text.

So, for example, you could type:

[^footnote]: This is a footnote.

...at the very end of your text file, and it will work properly.

Please note that you don't have to type [^footnote]; this "anchor" can be anything you like, but it needs to be be different for each footnote.

Also, no matter what you choose for the "anchors", the footnotes will be numbered sequentially.

For example, you might do:

# Chapter One

This has a footnote[^1]. Here is a second footnote[^2].

[^1]: This is the footnote.

[^2]: This is a second footnote.

or:

# Chapter One

This has a footnote[^a]. Here is a second footnote[^b].

[^a]: This is the footnote.

[^b]: This is a second footnote.

Just to be clear, the footnote "anchors" are not visible to readers. So, you can use numbers in the footnote "anchors" if you want to, but they will not affect the displayed footnote numbering in the book, which just happens in the order the footnotes appear in your manuscript.

You can see the footnote settings for your book on your book's Theme page here:

leanpub.com/YOUR_BOOK/settings/theme

...making sure to replace YOUR_BOOK with your book's unique web address.

For more information about book Themes, please see this article.

For information about how footnotes work in Asides, please see this article.

OK, that's it!

If you have any feedback or questions about this article, please email the Leanpub team about it at hello@leanpub.com!

If you have any questions or thoughts on writing and self-publishing with Leanpub, please join our global community of authors in our Authors Forum here!

Are you interested in self-publishing, and creating your first Leanpub book? Here are some quick tutorials for our most popular writing modes: http://help.leanpub.com/en/articles/3088382-quick-walkthroughs-for-getting-started-on-a-leanpub-book

Are you looking for great deals on Leanpub ebooks, ebook bundles, and courses? Sign up for our Weekly and Monthly newsletter sales here!

Subscribe to our YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/leanpub

Please subscribe to our YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/leanpub

You can also follow Leanpub in lots of other places!

Did this answer your question?