diff --git a/publish.cabal b/publish.cabal
--- a/publish.cabal
+++ b/publish.cabal
@@ -1,13 +1,13 @@
 cabal-version: 1.12
 
--- This file has been generated from package.yaml by hpack version 0.33.0.
+-- This file has been generated from package.yaml by hpack version 0.34.4.
 --
 -- see: https://github.com/sol/hpack
 --
--- hash: aef6f603b6208e83923b38b0844890f9251c6b38c650d7bb264a4e66083493ad
+-- hash: a4cc52f72afe6fb6f773a9c3b2fc7579f2146eb3a1367a22926f2c3519f6f897
 
 name:           publish
-version:        2.1.6
+version:        2.2.2
 synopsis:       Publishing tools for papers, books, and presentations
 description:    Tools for rendering markdown-centric documents into PDFs.
                 .
@@ -24,7 +24,8 @@
 copyright:      © 2016-2021 Athae Eredh Siniath and Others
 license:        MIT
 license-file:   LICENSE
-tested-with:    GHC == 8.10
+tested-with:
+    GHC == 8.10
 build-type:     Simple
 
 source-repository head
diff --git a/src/PandocToMarkdown.hs b/src/PandocToMarkdown.hs
--- a/src/PandocToMarkdown.hs
+++ b/src/PandocToMarkdown.hs
@@ -372,9 +372,20 @@
 -}
 stringToMarkdown :: T.Text -> Rope
 stringToMarkdown =
-    mconcat . intersperse "\\ " . breakPieces isNonBreaking . intoRope
+    escapeSpecialWith '\x00a0' ' '
+        . escapeSpecial '['
+        . escapeSpecial ']'
+        . escapeSpecial '_'
+        . intoRope
+
+escapeSpecial :: Char -> Rope -> Rope
+escapeSpecial c = escapeSpecialWith c c
+
+escapeSpecialWith :: Char -> Char -> Rope -> Rope
+escapeSpecialWith needle replacement =
+    mconcat . intersperse (singletonRope '\\' <> singletonRope replacement) . breakPieces isNeedle . intoRope
   where
-    isNonBreaking c = c == '\x00a0'
+    isNeedle c = c == needle
 
 imageToMarkdown :: Attr -> [Inline] -> (T.Text, T.Text) -> Rope
 imageToMarkdown attr inlines (url, title) =
diff --git a/src/RenderDocument.hs b/src/RenderDocument.hs
--- a/src/RenderDocument.hs
+++ b/src/RenderDocument.hs
@@ -70,11 +70,10 @@
             void (renderDocument (mode, copy) bookfile)
         Cycle -> do
             -- use inotify to rebuild on changes
-            forever (renderDocument (mode, copy) bookfile >>= waitForChange)
+            forever (renderDocument (mode, copy) bookfile >>= waitForChange >> resetTimer)
 
 renderDocument :: (Mode, Copy) -> FilePath -> Program Env [FilePath]
 renderDocument (mode, copy) file = do
-    resetTimer
     event "Read .book file"
     book <- processBookFile file