How-to
How to use Novilot
Follow the editor path from a first manuscript to the next draft, or find the writing guides and screen recordings below. Each guide explains the task and where to begin.
For fiction editors
Complete your first client review
Follow a permitted manuscript from intake to approved feedback and the next draft. Start with a manual review; use AI only when the engagement calls for it.
Read the first-client guide- Request or import a manuscript
Send an email request or import a draft you have permission to review. Confirm the version and chapter split before analysis.
- Read and review a chapter
Select a passage, add a comment, and review highlighted matches in context.
- Keep private notes separate from author feedback
Your private thinking stays private. Your approved queries reach the author.
- Choose a check and see its cost
The author controls AI permission for a shared manuscript. The editor sees a credit quote before running an AI check and pays from their own credits.
- Send feedback to the author
Publish only the feedback you approve. The author can reply and send the next draft for you to accept.
- Review a revised manuscript
A client response is not proof that an issue is fixed. Keep the earlier draft, inspect what changed, and review the query against the new passage before closing it.
Using Novilot
Where to click when you are starting from scratch, switching stages, adding screens to the row, opening tools, pinning favorites, or searching the book.
- Start a blank novel
From the dashboard, create a new project, open it, add your first chapter, and begin typing. The book saves as you write.
Open the full guideSpeedStart a blank novel - Move between Plan, Draft, Revise, and Prepare
The four stages at the top are the main navigation. Each one swaps the screen row below for the screens that suit that kind of work.
Open the full guideSpeedMove between Plan, Draft, Revise, and Prepare - Add a screen to the row
The plus opens every screen, searchable and grouped. Add Continuity, Analysis, or any other screen to this stage's row so it stays one click away.
Open the full guideSpeedAdd a screen to the row - Pin a tool you reuse
On a tool you open often, choose Pin. It appears under Pinned on that grid so you do not hunt for it next time. This is separate from adding a screen to the row.
Open the full guideSpeedPin a tool you reuse - Search the whole book
The magnifier searches your prose across chapters, not just titles. Use Exact words for a phrase, or By meaning when you remember the idea but not the wording.
Open the full guideSpeedSearch the whole book - Build a tool of your own
Open Build a tool, describe what you want to know about your book, review the draft Novilot prepares, and keep it. It then lives in your tool grid like any other check.
Open the full guideSpeedBuild a tool of your own
Writing craft
Practical guides that stay useful even if you never open the app: story bible habits, character consistency, and feedback before an agent sees the draft.
- Organize a novel: Structure acts, chapters, and progress without losing the thread.
- Keep track of characters: Where to record cast details, and which apps are worth it.
- Keep characters consistent: Catch voice, appearance, and fact drift before readers do.
- Create a series bible: Build a living reference for book one and every sequel.
- Get novel feedback: Use structured checks before you send a draft to an agent.