Historical fiction, alternate history, period mystery — the workshop that holds both archive and narrative.
Real timeline aligned with narrative timeline, primary-source bibliography, period glossary, separate sheets for attested historical figures and fictional characters, AI that catches anachronisms. Everything you need to deliver a manuscript that Hilary Mantel, Bernard Cornwell or a Picador editor wouldn't close on page 12.
Structure
Free outline or classic narrative plan, doubled by an event timeline distinct from the storyline.
A historical novel runs on two clocks: History's, and your plot's.
On one side the real chronology (1812 Russia campaign, the Coronation, Marie Antoinette's execution); on the other your fictional protagonist's path. Both speak without merging, and you immediately see collisions: your hero can't be at Wagram and in Paris in the same week.
From your first archive sweep to your submission letter.
Choose the era, read the sources, build the timeline, separate the real from the invented, write without anachronism, export to spec — without burning out on documentation logistics.
Historical manuscripts don't die for lack of erudition.
They die because documentation is scattered, the timeline is approximate, and the anachronism slipped past unnoticed until the first hostile review.
Three promises, atop a stack of features.
Hold the archive without losing it, separate the attested from the fictional, deliver a manuscript that meets the spec of major historical-fiction publishers.
Your sources live in the project, not in Dropbox.
Built-in bibliography, clean scholarly citations, attachments for facsimiles and archives, period glossary for technical vocabulary.
Attested and fictional, never confused.
Typed character sheets (real historical figures with dates and sources / fictional characters), narrative elements for places and events, visual timeline.
From finished manuscript to publisher — no patch-up job.
Publisher-spec DOCX (Picador, HarperCollins Historical, Penguin), EPUB for beta reading, book-quality PDF, bibliography exported cleanly, title page with contact.
Give your project a real reading address.
Once the text is ready, you don't have to leave Extypis to find your first readers. Publish in one click on the public catalog and give your book a clean, readable, shareable page.
Published directly on Extypis — no fees, no middleman.
Publishing opens a dedicated page for your project: cover, title page, chapters, table of contents. The content is frozen at publication, so your readers always see a stable version while you keep working. You decide when to push a new version.
A reading page for each project
Customizable URL, title page, cover, table of contents and chapter-by-chapter navigation.
A catalog that helps readers find your book
Your project can appear in the public catalog, categories, subcategories and trending page — or stay accessible only through the direct link.
Readers who can actually react
Readers can comment chapter by chapter, mention a specific paragraph, and you get notified for every feedback.
A stable version without breaking your work
The text is frozen at publication time. You keep writing on your side, then decide when to push an update.
Everything Extypis unlocks for you
Hold your story, from outline to final page.
Narrative tools you won't find elsewhere — turn a tangle of ideas into a structure that holds.
AI that suggests, never replaces
The AI permanently sees your whole project — outline, sheets, scenes already written. Every rewrite, every completion, every suggestion, every cover stays consistent with your entire work, and at no extra cost or setup. You approve every word.
Estimates if you only use this feature. Credits are shared across every AI tool.
Daily writing comfort
Everything that makes long-form writing sustainable: shortcuts, templates, anchored notes, versions, goals.
Ship a book, not a file.
From manuscript to finished book: professional exports, academic citations, direct publishing.
Analyse and refine your prose
Style tools that go beyond the spell-checker: readability, poetic meter, repetitions, connectors, passive voice.
Lifetime updates
Every future Extypis innovation included, no extra cost, no paywall.
Backing an indie project
Extypis is an independent, self-funded project — no ads, no venture capital.
Human support
Got a question? You talk directly to the creator, never a chatbot.
Free to begin, even to finish. Serious when you need to go deeper.
Research, structure and writing are entirely yours. The subscription gives you a thoughtful editorial co-pilot, systematic anachronism spotting, and an objective reader on period consistency.
Frequent questions, plain answers (still friendly).
How does Extypis handle sources and bibliography for a historical novel ?
Built-in bibliography, with clean scholarly citations. Reference your primary sources (memoirs, letters, departmental archives, doctoral theses, articles from leading historians) and secondary sources in one place. Attach facsimiles, archive transcriptions, your reading notes. When exporting to publisher DOCX, the bibliography renders at the end of the volume to standard publishing specs.
Does Extypis's AI really catch anachronisms ?
Yes — it's one of the most useful uses for a historical writing software. Declare your period (17th century, First Empire, Belle Époque), the AI reads that context and flags anachronistic details: objects (a fork in 1620, coffee in 1490, a wristwatch in the Middle Ages), modern expressions slipped into dialogue, colonial foodstuffs before the great voyages, premature technologies. It doesn't replace the historian's work — it catches the lapses.
Can I submit my manuscript to Picador, HarperCollins Historical or Penguin from Extypis ?
The publisher DOCX exported by Extypis follows the standard spec major historical-fiction publishers expect: 12pt font, double spacing, title page with contact, pagination, end-of-volume bibliography. You can submit directly to Picador, HarperCollins Historical, Penguin Historical, Bloomsbury, Pegasus, Sourcebooks Landmark — or apply to the Walter Scott Prize, the HWA Crown Awards, the Langum Prize.
How do I separate real historical figures from fictional characters ?
Character sheets are tagged by type. An « attested historical » tag for real figures (Mazarin, Marie Antoinette, Vidocq, Talleyrand) with birth dates, documented facts, reference sources. A « fiction » tag for your creations. Extypis's AI then knows it can't put arbitrary words in Louis XIV's mouth, but has full liberty with your imaginary count. No confusion possible.
Can Extypis help me hold the consistency of period language ?
Yes — via the dedicated period glossary. Note era-specific vocabulary (titles and social hierarchies, garments, transport, currencies, customs, foodstuffs). Once a term is set, the AI respects it across all continuations and rewrites. You avoid the two classic traps: dialogue too modern (« OK » in the 16th century) and archaism so pedantic it rings false. The tone of Mantel, Cornwell or Follett rests on that balance.
What does this historical writing software cost to start ?
Free, no credit card. 50 AI credits offered for life + a generous daily cap. The subscription extends AI usage and analysis depth when your project becomes more demanding — typically once you hold more than 1,500 words a day, manage a bibliography of more than 50 sources, or run multiple historical manuscripts in parallel.
What does « Extypis » mean ?
« Ex typis » is a Latin formula that appeared on the frontispieces of printed books from the 16th to 18th centuries, right before the printer's name — literally « from the presses of… ». The word derives from the Greek τύπος (typos): imprint, model, mark left behind. That's exactly the lineage we claim: a digital workshop that prepares your manuscripts in the great European typographic tradition, until they're worthy of being printed.
I built the writing app I'd always wished for.
Having finished a novel after several attempts, and built up years of poetry — kept right here, on Extypis — I saw firsthand how many writing blocks are really method problems, easy to move past once you give yourself the right tools. Technique doesn't replace erudition — it carries it. If you write serious historical fiction, Extypis is for you too.