Your book is already written somewhere. Bring it home.
Docs tabs. A Scrivener compile. A folder of chapters named FINAL_v7. Typewriter import turns that into a manuscript with a binder you can actually live in.
The mess
The draft is never the hard part of switching tools
The hard part is losing structure, or spending a weekend copy-pasting chapter by chapter like it is 2009.
- Google Docs with 40 headings pretending to be a binder
- A Scrivener project you do not want to abandon mid-series
- PDF exports that look fine until you try to edit them
- Chat history full of prose you do not trust as the master file
What you get
Import once. Draft where the book lives.
Get the words in. Fix the tree. Keep writing. Continuity tools and CoAuthor can wait until you need them.
- DOCX, PDF, EPUB, and TXT
- Chapter detection you can override in a minute
- Free forever for the core desk. No card to import.
- Export back out when an agent or storefront needs a file
How
Do this in order
Not a feature tour. The actual path.
- 1
Open a workspace and a book
Sign up or log in. Create a manuscript or open one you already started. Free desk is enough. You are not unlocking import behind a paywall.
Name the book what you will still call it in six months. Future you will thank present you.
- 2
Run Import and pick a format
Choose DOCX or EPUB when you can. They usually preserve chapter cues better than a scanned PDF. TXT works when the file is already clean prose.
From Scrivener: compile or export to DOCX first. We do not swallow .scriv packages in v1 on purpose. Chapters matter more than the package format.
- 3
Fix the binder, not the prose
Review how chapters landed. Rename. Merge. Split. Spend five minutes on the tree so the next fifty writing sessions feel like a book, not a dump.
- 4
Write on the paper page
Open chapter one that actually needs work. Autosave runs. The binder stays visible. This is the desk, not a chat window with a file attachment.
- 5
Add depth when the draft earns it
Story bible and map open when continuity starts to break (Typewriter Pro or the free full-tools trial). CoAuthor only if you want proposals that wait for a yes.
Positioning
Import is not a feature. It is a promise.
Most AI writing tools
- Paste into a box and pray the context window remembers
- Your book lives in the chat transcript
- Switch tools = lose the thread
Typewriter
- Import into a real chapter binder
- Manuscript is the source of truth
- Export when someone else needs a file
Questions
Straight answers
Can I import a full Scrivener project?
Export or compile to DOCX or TXT, then import. Full .scriv import is not the v1 path. Dual-wield is fine if you still Compile in Scrivener.
Is import free?
Yes. Free desk includes import and writing. Bible, map, and advanced craft tools are Pro ($4.99/mo) or Typewriter 1.0. CoAuthor is separate.
Do you train AI on what I import?
We do not train our models on your private manuscripts for other customers. CoAuthor only uses context when you run AI. See Privacy.