July 5th, 2026
This one is for the long game: the threads you plant early and pay off books later.
A series seed is a promise you make to a reader and keep much later: a buried prophecy, a hidden heir, an object that only matters three books on. Now you can plant a seed in any chapter and mark where it grows and where it finally pays off, even in a different book. Track it right from the chapter you're drafting in the Promises sidecar, or open the Seed Tracker to see every seed across the whole series at a glance, each with its own roomy notes to hold the thread for as long as the series runs.
Italics and bold you've written into your chapters now come through correctly in your EPUB, Web, and print PDF exports instead of flattening to plain text. Long chapter titles also wrap neatly in print instead of running off the edge of the page.
Deleting a chapter now spells out exactly what goes with it (its outline materials and linked promises) and points you to Move to Stash, which keeps everything and just tucks it out of the manuscript. And the reload keyboard shortcut can no longer discard unsaved work by accident.
June 30th, 2026
This update is about keeping your tool entries tidy as your story grows.
Your Character, Setting, Canon, and Plot menus now work like your chapter list: make folders, name and color them, and drag your tools inside. Keep everything about one character, place, or plot thread together so a big story bible stays easy to navigate.
The Outline has a new Nesting view. Group your chapters and scenes into Parts (acts) and step back to take in the whole book, rearrange Parts and chapters independently, and flip through each Part as a card.
Side Characters and Minor Locations hold lots of small entries. Now each one is linkable on its own. Pick a specific minor character or location wherever you link (the Outline grid and columns, Mind Maps, Sticky Notes), exactly as if it had its own sheet.
Sending a character, setting, or canon sheet to the Wiki now carries over everything you've filled in, formatted to match its pop-out view. Build a few sheets for the same character—say a Bio and a Backstory—and they merge into one tidy Wiki entry.
As you write, the first letter of a sentence now capitalizes itself, and three dots become a proper ellipsis (…).
Promise and change badges now read clearly in every theme (Sepia included), the Outline's view switcher tucks into icons when space is tight, and assorted smaller fixes.
June 30th, 2026
This one is for everyone who writes in British or Australian English (and anyone who simply prefers grey over gray): OpusWriter now writes in your English.
Head to Workspace Settings and pick your spelling under the new Language & Region section. Spell-check follows your choice across the whole app, so colour, organise, and travelled are right at home in British and Australian English, while color, organize, and traveled stay correct in American.
When a word gets flagged, the suggestion that fits your dialect now leads the list. Flag gray in British English and grey is the first correction offered, instead of buried at the bottom.
Whatever English you choose travels into your finished book. Word, EPUB, PDF, and web exports all carry the matching language, so e-readers, Word's proofing, and the web all know which English your book is written in.
June 26th, 2026
A quick follow-up to 1.0: a more dependable updater and a reworked Story Compass.
A small number of Windows users had updates get stuck because the app wasn't always closing all the way in the background. Updates now install cleanly, and there's a new 'Restart & Install' button so you can apply an update the moment it's ready instead of waiting until the next time you close the app.
The Story Compass is now a Want vs Need premise builder. Alongside your logline it helps you shape a full premise paragraph and a thematic statement, working from your character's false belief, the opposition, the stakes, and the truth they need to reach. Anything you already started carries over, with your existing premise kept intact.
June 26th, 2026
It's finally here: OpusWriter 1.0, and I can't thank all of you early-access members enough. The bug reports and the feature ideas have been instrumental in getting us here. So thank you, thank you, thank you!!! Where a lot of the other updates packed in lots of new functionality, 0.9.9 → 1.0.0 has been mostly about stability improvements, fixes, and subtle changes. But here are a few recent additions:
We already had Typewriter and Focus modes and a Dual Screen option. Now a Continuous mode flows all your chapters and scenes into one scroll, so you can read and edit the whole book at once.
A new Compact option (Workspace Settings → Display) slims down the top header and the workflow bar to give more of the screen to your manuscript.
Don't worry, there's a long list of features planned, and y'all are adding to it almost every day. LOL.
If you're enjoying OpusWriter and would be up for a short testimonial that could go on the website, I'd be grateful. Please reach out to me at wesley@opuswriter.app. Feel free to include an attribution like "[your name], author of [your book or series]," or however you'd like to word it. Thank you all again! ~Wesley Watts
June 26th, 2026
Thank you all for being Early Access members and helping to shape OpusWriter. We're one step closer to version 1.0. Early access is ending on June 22nd, so if you know anyone who would enjoy what OpusWriter has to offer, let them know while they can still get the discounted price!
I did a deep pass on saving and recovery. A brand-new project you haven't saved yet no longer comes back empty after a restart, the app now keeps a backup of your previous save, and if it ever crashes it offers to restore your unsaved work the next time you open it. Saves that don't go through now show a clear warning instead of failing quietly. Image-heavy projects also save smoothly without stalling.
The Grid, Sketch, and Column views got a cleaner, more consistent design. Jot notes right on chapter cards, jump around long books with the new navigator rail, double-click to rename a chapter, and reach settings, stash, and delete from a gear menu in every view. Your chapter color tags now show up everywhere, and Grid cards keep a tidy index-card shape.
Your timelines, mind maps, sticky notes and mood boards can now open in their own windows. Keep a reference up beside your manuscript while you write, with live pan and zoom.
The change and promise badges in the chapter list are tidier, premium themes now note that they're best kept out of the Publish workflow, and assorted smaller fixes.
June 26th, 2026
A scene can carry all the same outlining goodies as a chapter. The chapter list now shows what each item is (chapter, scene, prologue, epilogue) with a running position number, and the new + button lets you choose what you're adding. Scenes carry all the way through to every export — print PDF, EPUB, Word, and web.
Uploading a custom chapter ornament or scene-break image now actually takes effect — in the preview and in every export (print, EPUB, and web), not just on individual chapters. A book-wide ornament you set in Style now shows up everywhere it should.
Add, replace, or remove a chapter's opener, drop-cap background, or ornament right where it sits — no separate gallery to wade through. Each slot holds one image and a new upload replaces it, with size tips so your artwork prints crisp.
Dropping in a high-resolution full-page or two-page-spread image no longer bogs the preview down. The screen now uses a lightweight preview copy while your export keeps the full-resolution original.
⌘/Ctrl+B bolds and ⌘/Ctrl+I italicizes again (a recent change had B toggling the sidebar by mistake). Show/hide the side panels with ⌘/Ctrl+[ (left) and ⌘/Ctrl+] (right).
A bug could drop a properly activated license into a locked, read-only state, causing the inconvenience of having to reinput your license code.
More of what you set now survives a restart: writing goals and streaks are tracked per book, daily/weekly word counts no longer reset if you reopen mid-day, Publisher submission and audiobook settings persist, and the app reopens to the workflow and tab you left off in. Chapter artwork also no longer carries over between books in a series.
Clearer update notifications with a manual 'Check for updates', the critique Word preview now matches the exported file, 'Copy settings from another format' now brings your chapter formatting (openers, ornaments, drop caps) along too, and assorted smaller fixes.
June 26th, 2026
Thank you to everyone sending in the bugs you find and the features you dream up. It genuinely shapes the app. Keep them coming!
I'm starting a series of walkthroughs on the ins and outs of OpusWriter, plus sneak previews of features-in-progress before they ship. If that sounds useful, subscribe at youtube.com/@OpusWriter.
Early-access pricing is now open through June 22. If you've got friends who want in at this price, let them know.
The most-requested feature has arrived. They look like they should've been simple, but with how tightly OpusWriter links every tool together, getting folders right was a real challenge. Group your chapters however you like, nesting included.
Bring the marked-up Word document your editor sends back straight into OpusWriter. Their tracked changes and margin comments arrive as reviewable edits you can accept or reject, without bouncing between Word and the app.
Every piece of feedback now collects in one place. Your editor's comments (from External Edits) sit alongside the AI's Feedback and Polish suggestions, unified per chapter, so you work through a single list instead of chasing notes across tools.
The entire Publish workflow runs on a brand-new layout engine, a big step up in quality and responsiveness, with far more control over how your book looks.
Drop a full-page or two-page spread image behind the opening of your chapters, with a built-in image editor that includes opacity control. You can also set the chapter's opening page of text to white so it stays readable over a dark image.
Place an image behind your drop-cap initial (opacity control included), and upload your own ornaments for chapter openings and scene breaks.
Lay out front- and back-matter pages with a new grid editor. Want your author photo side-by-side with your bio? Now you can. (Still ironing out a few quirks, but it works.)
Formatting buttons (bold, italic, and friends) now update to match wherever your cursor is, instead of lagging a keystroke behind. Chapter drag-to-reorder is smoother. And you can now drag the + (new chapter) or New Folder button to drop it anywhere in the list, or just click to add it at the end, as before.
A batch of smaller bugs squashed along the way.
A packaging issue could make the installed app forget your theme and preferences — and re-run first-time setup — every time you reopened it. That's fixed. Your settings now stick.
June 26th, 2026
A fast follow-up to 0.9.5: a packaging issue could make the installed app forget your theme and preferences — and re-run first-time setup — every time you reopened it. That's fixed. Your settings now stick.
June 26th, 2026
Thank you to everyone sending in the bugs you find and the features you dream up. It genuinely shapes the app. Keep them coming!
I'm starting a series of walkthroughs on the ins and outs of OpusWriter, plus sneak previews of features-in-progress before they ship. If that sounds useful, subscribe at youtube.com/@OpusWriter.
Early-access pricing is now open through June 22. If you've got friends who want in at this price, let them know.
The most-requested feature has arrived. They look like they should've been simple, but with how tightly OpusWriter links every tool together, getting folders right was a real challenge. Group your chapters however you like, nesting included.
Bring the marked-up Word document your editor sends back straight into OpusWriter. Their tracked changes and margin comments arrive as reviewable edits you can accept or reject, without bouncing between Word and the app.
Every piece of feedback now collects in one place. Your editor's comments (from External Edits) sit alongside the AI's Feedback and Polish suggestions, unified per chapter, so you work through a single list instead of chasing notes across tools.
The entire Publish workflow runs on a brand-new layout engine, a big step up in quality and responsiveness, with far more control over how your book looks.
Drop a full-page or two-page spread image behind the opening of your chapters, with a built-in image editor that includes opacity control. You can also set the chapter's opening page of text to white so it stays readable over a dark image.
Place an image behind your drop-cap initial (opacity control included), and upload your own ornaments for chapter openings and scene breaks.
Lay out front- and back-matter pages with a new grid editor. Want your author photo side-by-side with your bio? Now you can. (Still ironing out a few quirks, but it works.)
Formatting buttons (bold, italic, and friends) now update to match wherever your cursor is, instead of lagging a keystroke behind. Chapter drag-to-reorder is smoother. And you can now drag the + (new chapter) or New Folder button to drop it anywhere in the list, or just click to add it at the end, as before.
A batch of smaller bugs squashed along the way.