Deckle, the all-in-one writing and publishing app for independent authors, today released its biggest update yet. Version 1.3 makes it easier to write without distractions, keep track of characters and locations as a story grows, and hand a manuscript off to an editor or designer without wrestling with file formats. As always, the update is free for everyone who already owns Deckle — no subscriptions, no upgrade fees.
“Every one of these came from authors who were already using Deckle and told us what was missing — a place to write in their own font, a way to keep their characters straight across a 100,000-word draft, and a smoother way to work with an editor. This update is us listening and shipping.”
Ezzy, co-founder, Deckle
Authors who already have a favourite font — or a set bought specifically for their book’s branding — can now bring it straight into Deckle. Drop in a font folder or a handful of files, and Deckle automatically sorts out the regular, bold, and italic versions and adds them to the Styler, ready to use in the manuscript and the finished book.
One click hides everything but the manuscript — no sidebar, no panels, nothing pulling the eye away from the sentence being written. Pressing Escape brings everything back. For writers who want the simplicity of a typewriter with none of the limitations, this is that.
For those who like their current line to stay put in the middle of the screen rather than creeping toward the bottom as they type, Deckle now offers typewriter-style scrolling. It’s entirely optional, turned on in Preferences → Writing for anyone who wants it.
Long projects mean a lot to keep straight — eye colour, who knows what secret, which town has the bakery. The Codex is a new built-in reference for characters and places, with room for appearance, personality, motivations, flaws, backstory, and more, plus photos or images for each entry. Best of all, Deckle automatically shows where every character appears throughout the manuscript, so continuity checks take seconds instead of an afternoon of searching.
A new stats view shows a full year of writing activity as a heatmap, plus today’s word count, current and longest streaks, and averages for the past week and month. For anyone trying to build — or just see — a consistent writing habit, it’s all in one place from the sidebar.
Deckle now exports two kinds of Word documents built for different people. One is set up with proper manuscript formatting (chapter headings, verse, attributions, and more) so an editor or agent can open it and start reading and marking up right away. The other is built for book designers working in Adobe InDesign, with every paragraph labelled so layout can begin almost immediately — no time lost reformatting.
Working with an editor often means going back and forth in Word — and now those comments don’t get lost. Open a Word file with existing comments and they come into Deckle exactly as they were, with who wrote them and when. Export back to Word, and Deckle’s comments appear the same way for the editor. When a note has been addressed, it can be marked resolved with one click, so it’s easy to see what’s left to deal with.
Version 1.3 is available now as a free update for everyone who owns Deckle. New writers can get early access for $107 (a one-time payment, rising to $197 at full launch), which includes every feature above and all future updates, forever. Deckle works on Windows and Mac, runs fully offline, and comes with a 30-day, no-questions-asked refund.
Deckle is a desktop writing and publishing app built for independent authors — one place to write, organise, format, and publish a book, for one price, with no subscription. deckle.studio
Ezzy, co-founder
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