Ishmael
Novel Writer
A distraction-free prose editor—beautiful typography, chapter management, and smart editing. Export to an agent-ready manuscript or EPUB.
“”Call me Ishmael. I am software. You are a writer. I can give you a sublime distraction-free prose editor with gorgeous typography. You build worlds. I can help you manage your chapters. You create a plot that keeps the reader guessing. I can export your manuscript to an agent-ready Word document or format it for an e-reader. You create compelling characters. I can show you how your novel will look when it hits the shelves. You create a satisfying ending.
Requires an Apple Silicon Mac, macOS 11 Big Sur or later
Launch offer
Finally a writing app that understands writers and books.
Try Ishmael in your browser
Click the button to open a preview of Ishmael's editor—just enough features to whet your appetite. Download the app to test all the features free for 14 days.
Bespoke Editing
Your Writing Surface
Ishmael takes full advantage of your Mac's Retina screen to display crisp text in a selection of fonts. Adjust text size, column width, line spacing, paragraph indent, toolbar or no toolbar, for your reading and writing comfort. We call it your writing surface. Make it yours.
Focus highlighting keeps the paragraph and sentence you are working on clearly visible at-a-glance. Typewriter mode means you will never lose your cursor again.
Enable zen-mode for an ultra-minimal writing surface for when you really want to disappear into the work.
Screenshots
Chapter Management
The Entire Novel
Ishmael understands that you aren't creating a flyer or a brochure. Novels contain chapters, parts, front-matter, and back-matter.
Say goodbye to monolithic documents and chaotic chapter files with the chapter pane. Switch between chapters instantly and Ishmael keeps your place. Drag a chapter title to change the order—Ishmael will renumber them for you.
Set bookmarks so you can find those pivotal scenes easily. Write just-for-you notes directly in the manuscript. View the shape of your novel from the Outline view.
Managing ChaptersSmart Editing
Prose is not Lines
Traditional word processors treat prose as a series of lines. Ishmael knows that writers think in words, sentences, paragraphs, and scenes. Never lines.
Ishmael's innovative editing and navigation features reflect this. Navigate your sentences with a keypress. Select a word, sentence, or paragraph with the tap of a key. Move content forwards or backwards a word, a sentence, or a paragraph at a time—without ever reaching for the trackpad or mouse.
Save time with prose healing which automatically fixes editing errors.
What is Prose Healing?
Export
Publish Anywhere
Reach your audience on e-reader or the printed page with Ishmael's export system. Use the defaults or tune the output—whatever your readers, editor, or publisher expects.
For the self-publishers, export direct to EPUB, the universal format for e-readers. Going the traditional publishing route? Export to a .docx file formatted to the Shunn standard—exactly what literary agents expect. Ishmael also supports HTML for the bloggers, and Markdown for maximum compatibility with other software.
Already have a project you are working on? Don't worry—Ishmael is equally good at importing. Import your novel and carry on working from where you left off.
Reader Mode
Words in Print
Step out of the editor and into the book it will become. Reader mode lays your manuscript out as a two-page spread—drop or raised caps, page headers, page numbers, justified prose—so you can read each chapter the way your readers will.
Ishmael can't yet make your manuscript smell like a book, but it can make it look like a book.
Read Ishmael's manual online—naturally it was written in Ishmael.
Read the Manual
Questions
Is Ishmael a subscription?
No. Ishmael is a one-time purchase—pay once and it's yours, with updates included.
Can I try it before I buy?
Yes. Download from the App Store and enjoy a free 14-day trial with all features unlocked. I am confident Ishmael will be the best writing app you have ever used.
Will it run on my Mac?
Ishmael runs on any Apple Silicon Mac (M1 or later) with macOS 11 Big Sur or newer.
Is my writing private?
Completely. Ishmael works entirely on your Mac—your manuscript never leaves your device, is never sent to a server, and is never used to train AI.
Can I bring a manuscript I've already started?
Yes. Import your existing manuscript in Word or Markdown format and carry on from where you left off.
What can I export to?
Word (.docx, formatted to the Shunn manuscript standard), EPUB for e-readers, plus HTML and Markdown.
Write your novel in Ishmael
Try it free for 14 days.
Requires an Apple Silicon Mac, macOS 11 Big Sur or later
Works entirely on your Mac—your words never leave your device, and are never used to train AI.
Launch offer