Booktype is an open source platform for writing and publishing print and digital books. The goal is to make it easier for people and organisations to collaborate on and publish books, using a variety of different outputs. Booktype can output to print-ready PDF files, epub files for eReaders like Kindle or Kobo, word processing (LibreOffice) files or HTML webpages. You can host the software yourself on a server, or set up a free Booktype Pro account, where Sourcefabric can install, host and update Booktype for you.
A grassroots organisation without the resources to meet up (or pay for editors/designers) can use Booktype to collaborate on a publication remotely.
International organisations can use it to create training resources or course materials in many open formats.
More accessible for collaborative writing (compared to wikis).
Allows for a better working practice (compared to emailing endless Word files between authors and editors).
Some specialist adaptation using CSS code is needed if you want to deviate from a standard print output.
Not as easy to track changes in documents (compared to MS Word).