diff --git a/html_constants.py b/html_constants.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c698e8f4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/html_constants.py
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+XHTML_START = '''
+
+
+
+${title} by ${author}
+
+
+
+
+
${title} by ${author}
+${body}
+
+'''
+
+XHTML_CHAPTER_START = '''${chapter}
'''
+
+XHTML_END = ''''''