LaTeX template for Pandoc to create PDFs in standard manuscript format with both short story and novel layouts.

manuscript.latex

%
% manuscript.latex
%
% Copyright (c) 2022 Don Melton
%
% LaTeX template for Pandoc to create PDFs in standard manuscript format
% with both short story and novel layouts.
%
% Version: 2022052301
%
% Usage:
%   pandoc in.md --pdf-engine xelatex --template manuscript.latex -o out.pdf
%
% YAML metadata or Pandoc command line options are used for configuration.
%
% Basic keys:
%   title:      full title (default: Untitled)
%   author:     pen name (default: Unknown)
%   wordcount:  formatted and rounded number string
%   surname:    last name in numbered page header ("author" if defined)
%   keyword:    shortened title in numbered page header ("title" if defined)
%   version:    optional label centered in page footer
%   novel:      boolean to select novel layout instead of default short story
%
% Contact information keys:
%   name:       full name (can be "author" if defined)
%   address:    street address
%   location:   city, state and zip code
%   phone:      telephone number
%   email:      email address
%   extra:      optional extra information
%
% Appearance keys:
%   mainfont:   main document font (default: Times New Roman)
%   monofont:   mono document font (default: Courier New)
%   underline:  boolean to use underline instead of italic for emphasis
%   papername:  document size (default: letterpaper)
%   margin:     document margin on all four sides (default: 1.1in)
%   uppercase:  boolean to uppercase all titles
%   subtitles:  boolean to use paired second- and third-level chapter titles
%
% Pandoc "title-meta," "author-meta," "header-includes," "include-before"
% and "include-after" variables are also supported.
%
% Markdown conversion:
%   "# Text"    book part or chapter title
%   "## Text"   chapter title
%   "### Text"  sub-chapter title
%   "***"       scene break rendered as "#" character
%
% Avoid using block quotations, lists, verbatim blocks, tables, footnotes
% or other non-typical fiction manuscript content.
%

% BEGIN PROLOGUE
% configure document to use 12-point text
\documentclass[12pt]{scrartcl}

% configure document fonts
\usepackage{fontspec}
\setmainfont{$if(mainfont)$$mainfont$$else$Times New Roman$endif$}
\setmonofont{$if(monofont)$$monofont$$else$Courier New$endif$}

% dynamically configure allowing strikeout text and/or
% optionally configure using underline instead of italic text for emphasis
$if(strikeout)$
\usepackage[$if(underline)$$else$normalem$endif$]{ulem}
$elseif(underline)$
\usepackage[ULforem]{ulem}
$endif$

% configure document size and margin
% use 1.41-inch margin for 25 lines of text per page
\usepackage[
  $if(papername)$$papername$$else$letterpaper$endif$,
  margin=$if(margin)$$margin$$else$1.1in$endif$
]{geometry}

% enable fancy header and footer
\usepackage{fancyhdr}
\pagestyle{fancy}

% enable double spacing
\usepackage{setspace}
\doublespacing

% configure all sections to use same font and font size as paragraph text
\usepackage{sectsty}
\allsectionsfont{\normalfont\normalsize\nohang\centering\selectfont
$if(uppercase)$\MakeUppercase$endif$}

% required package for some conditional logic
\usepackage{ifthen}

% use counter to ensure only one chapter is visible per page
\newcounter{chaptercount}

% create alias for starting chapter page
\newcommand{\startchapter}{\clearpage\vspace*{144pt}}

% configure top-level sections ("# Text" in Markdown)
\RedeclareSectionCommand[
  beforeskip=0sp,
  afterskip=24pt,
  font=\ifthenelse{\equal{\thepage}{1}}
    % on first numbered page: start new page if not first chapter
    {\ifthenelse{\equal{\value{chaptercount}}{0}}{}{\startchapter}}
    % on other numbered page: always start chapter on new page
    {\startchapter}
    \normalfont\normalsize\nohang\centering\selectfont
    % increment chapter count
    \stepcounter{chaptercount}
    $if(uppercase)$\MakeUppercase$endif$]{section}

% configure second-level sections ("## Text" in Markdown)
\RedeclareSectionCommand[
  beforeskip=0sp,
  afterskip=$if(subtitles)$1sp$else$24pt$endif$,
  font=\ifthenelse{\equal{\thepage}{1}}
    % on first numbered page: start new page if not first chapter
    {\ifthenelse{\equal{\value{chaptercount}}{0}}{}{\startchapter}}
    % on other numbered page: always start chapter on new page
    {\startchapter}
    \normalfont\normalsize\nohang\centering\selectfont
    % increment chapter count
    \stepcounter{chaptercount}
    $if(uppercase)$\MakeUppercase$endif$]{subsection}

% configure third-level sections ("### Text" in Markdown)
\RedeclareSectionCommand[
  beforeskip=24pt,
  afterskip=24pt,
  font=\normalfont\normalsize\nohang\centering\selectfont
  $if(uppercase)$\MakeUppercase$endif$]{subsubsection}

% don't number sections
\setcounter{secnumdepth}{0}

% configure PDF metadata
\usepackage{hyperref}
$if(title-meta)$\hypersetup{pdftitle={$title-meta$}}$endif$
$if(author-meta)$\hypersetup{pdfauthor={$author-meta$}}$endif$

% configure lists
\providecommand{\tightlist}{
  \setlength{\itemsep}{0sp}\setlength{\parskip}{0sp}
}

% configure tables
$if(tables)$\usepackage{longtable,booktabs,array}$endif$

% replace any horizonal rule ("***" in Markdown) with "#" character
\renewcommand{\rule}[2]{\#}

% force first line of all sections be indented to match paragraphs
\usepackage{indentfirst}

% disable default header rule
\renewcommand{\headrulewidth}{0sp}

% disable left-side header
\lhead{}

% configure right-side header
% hide it on first page of short stories and title page of novels
\rhead{\ifthenelse{\equal{\thepage}{$if(novel)$0$else$1$endif$}}{}{
  $if(surname)$$surname$$elseif(author)$$author$$else$Unknown$endif$~/~%
  $if(uppercase)$\MakeUppercase$endif$%
  {$if(keyword)$$keyword$$elseif(title)$$title$$else$Untitled$endif$}~/~%
  \thepage
}}

% configure center footer for optional version string
\cfoot{$if(version)$$version$$endif$}

% required for boolean commands
\usepackage{etoolbox}

% insert Pandoc header content here
$for(header-includes)$
$header-includes$
$endfor$

% END PROLOGUE / BEGIN DOCUMENT
\begin{document}

% disable default paragraph indent
\setlength\parindent{0pt}

% temporarily disable double spacing BEFORE minipage
\begin{singlespace}

% begin minipage with rigid height allowing flexible content
\begin{minipage}[c][144pt][t]{\textwidth}

% use "author" as "name" only if another contact information field is defined
\newbool{showauthor}\booltrue{showauthor}
$if(address)$$elseif(location)$$elseif(phone)$$elseif(email)$$elseif(extra)$
$else$\boolfalse{showauthor}$endif$

% insert contact information along with word count for short stories
$if(name)$$name$$elseif(author)$\ifbool{showauthor}{$author$}$endif$
$if(novel)$$elseif(wordcount)$\hfill About $wordcount$ words$endif$

$if(address)$$address$$endif$

$if(location)$$location$$endif$

$if(phone)$$phone$$endif$

$if(email)$$email$$endif$

$if(extra)$$extra$$endif$

% end rigid-height minipage
\end{minipage}

% restore double spacing AFTER minipage
\end{singlespace}

% center everything in title area for short story and entire page for novel
\begin{center}

% insert manuscript title
$if(uppercase)$\MakeUppercase$endif${$if(title)$$title$$else$Untitled$endif$}

% insert author byline
by $if(author)$$author$$else$Unknown$endif$

$if(novel)$ % FOR NOVEL

% fill remainder of page with blank space to position word count at bottom
$if(wordcount)$\vfill About $wordcount$ words$endif$

% change title page number to "0" so next page will be "1"
\setcounter{page}{0}

% force title page completion drawing any headers and footers
\clearpage

% insert vertical space to align with other chapter page titles
\vspace*{132pt}

$else$ % FOR STORY

% insert vertical space before start of story
\vspace{48pt}

$endif$ % FOR BOTH

% titling complete so disable centering
\end{center}

% disable default justification
\raggedright
\raggedbottom

% configure paragraph indent AFTER setting justification
\setlength\parindent{.5in}

% insert Pandoc before-body content here
$for(include-before)$
$include-before$

$endfor$

% insert Pandoc formatted body content here
$body$

% insert Pandoc after-body content here
$for(include-after)$
$include-after$

$endfor$

% END DOCUMENT
\end{document}