Wiktionary
make a book
vb. (cx horseracing English) To lay bets (recorded in a pocketbook) against the success of every horse, so that the bookmaker wins on all the unsuccessful horses and loses only on the winning horse or horses.
Usage examples of "make a book".
Someday, after the war, it'll make a book: one of a million war memoirs that will clog libraries from Novosibirsk to Gander to Sequim to Batavia.