From Typesetting to Tools: Why Verkilo Exists
I didn't build Verkilo because I wanted to be a software developer. I built it because I’m a novelist with a lifetime goal of 100 books, and I realized my existing tools couldn't guarantee they'd be there for the finish line.— Ben Wilson, Founder & Author
The Evolution of a Workflow
My journey began in a high school typesetting class and carried through graduate school, where the chaos of standard word processors drove me toward the precision of LaTeX. I craved that typesetter-like
accuracy, but as my projects grew, I found myself managing a fragmented mess of files instead of writing.
When I turned to novels, I migrated to Scrivener. It offered the organization I needed, but it came with a Mac tax,
an aging interface, and a steep learning curve that still required external tools like Pandoc to reach professional typeset quality. I tried drafting in Markdown editors like Obsidian and Typora, but I was back to the same problem: managing files instead of finishing scenes.
The Problem with Other People’s Servers
I initially envisioned a SaaS solution, but as I watched the industry evolve, I saw the inherent flaws in the Online-First
model. SaaS providers offer convenience, but they can't offer a Forever Guarantee.
- The Business Risk: Many providers start with great promises but break them—or vanish entirely—when the venture capital runs out.
- The Access Risk: I've spent days camping with zero cell signal. In those moments,
cloud-based
tools are just expensive bricks. - The Privacy Risk: Cloud data is vulnerable to outages, compromises, and the ever-shifting terms of service that may eventually lead to data mining.
I chose to build Verkilo as an offline-first application because Word and Scrivener had one thing right: Your data belongs on your hardware.
Built by a Novelist, Not a Fan
There is a cliché in this industry: software developers claiming they are one of you
despite never having finished a manuscript.
I wrote my first novel three times, eventually finishing at 105,000 words. I’ve written over 500,000 words across six of my first seven finished books within the very tools I eventually outgrew. I know the middle-of-the-book
grind. I know the pain of a tool that misses typos or lacks the API support to help me build my own style guides.
The Verkilo Manifesto
I started this project over a decade ago. It waited while technology and my own skills caught up to the vision. Today, Verkilo is built on a bullet-proof, non-proprietary data storage solution—ensuring that your life's work isn't trapped in a black box
or a proprietary format that might not exist in twenty years.
- No Kill-Switch: Your software doesn't need a
handshake
from a server to let you write. - Privacy by Design: Write anywhere—from a coffee shop to a remote campsite—with total confidence.
- Professional Grade: A tool designed to handle the complexity of a sprawling series without the clutter of a dated interface.
Verkilo is the result of owning the pain of the process. It’s the tool I need to reach Book 100. I think it’s the tool you need, too.
What happens to your book if we disappear?
It’s a fair question. With SaaS, the answer is usually a frantic 30-day window to export a flat file before the servers go dark and your project history vanishes. With Verkilo, the answer is nothing.
Because your manuscript is stored in a bullet-proof, non-proprietary format on your own machine, you don’t need our permission, our servers, or a Wi-Fi signal to finish your own 100-book journey. Your data is an asset you own, not a subscription you rent.
To ensure your work remains truly portable, Verkilo supports industry-standard exports at any time:
- Markdown: For long-term, future-proof plain text archiving.
- DOCX (Word/Google Docs): For seamless collaboration with editors and beta readers.
- Rich Text: For quick transfers into any standard word processor.