About

One tool, from the first idea to sharing on social media.

Calamus is a writing suite built by a small business of software engineers who moonlight by writing novels. It's built to help you think, dream, vibe, draft, build a world, research, publish it, and share it with the world.

What we believe

Writing software should be joyful.

The hours you spend writing are a substantial part of your life, and the writing software you spend hours using should be somewhere you want to be. Calamus is built to work with your creativity and varying needs for focus, so you can enjoy the writing process and the tool you use to write your book.

One continuous process

Your book is a place for writing growth. Calamus is here to foster that growth.

Most writers draft in one program and format in another, then move the manuscript across and repair whatever the move broke. Calamus covers both ends and everything between: drafting, world building, revision, compiling, and the pen names, series and backlist that accumulate around them. Nothing is exported to a second program to be finished.

Capture an idea on your phone; it is on your browser app, iPad, and desktop app waiting for your next writing session
A Binder for chapters and scenes or sections, and a Library for everything you have written—categorized by pen name, standalone and series
A world bible for your characters, locations, factions, lore, timeline and more, linked together and kept consistent across an entire series (the Codex)
Snapshots and proof of authorship with statistical reporting directly from the app, so your authentic writing can be proven to outside sources like editors, agents, and the masses
Compile your finished manuscript into a retailer-ready formatted book
Share quotes from your book directly with readers and social media using the Social module and Calamus Ideas, along with buy links, book title attribution, and images.

See the full suite

Calamus open on The Ferryman's Debt: the Binder down the left listing front matter, six chapters and their scenes, and end matter; a chapter of the manuscript set on paper over a photograph of a river at dusk; the Companion panel showing the book outline with a synopsis under each scene; and the Marginalia panel holding dated notes for individual scenes above a focus timer

Set the vibe

The space and software you write with should feel like yours.

Choose the paper and its texture, the image behind it, the typeface, the width of the page, and how much of the interface you want in view. This is where you'll spend much of your time writing, so we built Calamus so you can tailor the views specific to your ADHD needs, your level of focus, what colors and images you vibe with, or how to inspire your scenes and chapters.

Paper colors and textures, from clean and smooth to linen
Upload images to inspire you, represent the scene or chapter, or backgrounds that help you write well, and control transparency, positioning of the manuscript, and darkness of the background
Typewriter, Focus and Composition Modes to adjust to your ADHD needs, level of focus, or need for intricate details
Each book can be assigned a custom color to reduce confusion about which book you're currently in
Use the moodboard to help you establish a vibe, mood, or look of the story and set the scene

See the Editor

Calamus set up to taste: a chapter on pale paper over a photograph of a ferry crossing, the page width and zoom set at the foot of the window, and the Marginalia panel open on the right showing the characters linked in this scene, a name check, story beats and a focus timer

The name

A calamus is a reed pen.

Cut and split at the tip, it is what people wrote with for 2,000 years before writers adopted a quill feather pen. One tool, one hand, one continuous process from the beginning of having an idea to sharing a written work of art with the world. That is the promise we are keeping: you should only need one system of software (Calamus & Calamus Ideas) that coordinates between devices to get you from the beginning to the reader, and it should be joyful.

Ab initio ad lectorem

From the beginning to the reader

A chapter open in Calamus: the Binder down the left, and the chapter view listing its two scenes with word counts against their goals, the world building entries tagged in it, a numbered timeline of beats, and chapter notes; the manuscript itself open to the right over a photograph of a harbor wall in heavy sea

Who created it

Chad & Melody, co-founders of Calamus.

Software engineers by day, novelists at night. We’re a family of readers who love telling their kids tall tales at bedtime. Calamus is designed, built, and supported by The Calamus Team who now use this tool personally, replacing multiple pieces of software, and that has helped speed up the process of getting a book written and published. We’re super excited about what we built and can’t wait to share it with you.

Where it stands

Currently in early beta.

Calamus is being tested by a curated group of writers under NDA who know their way around several kinds of writing software. Their insight into what frustrated them the most about their current software and their feedback only helped affirm what our own issues were with the process of getting a book to market, so we knew what we created as a solution could be tested and approved by current writers. Join the waitlist and we will tell you the moment the doors open.

Ideas, Writing, Creative Vibing, Compiling, and Marketing: One Tool.

Calamus is in Beta testing; join the waitlist, learn about how Calamus will help you grow as a writer, and be the first to know when you can start writing and publishing with Calamus.