What a series bible is
If you are writing more than one book in the same world, you already have a bible — even if it is a notebook, a pile of character docs, or a comment you left yourself in chapter four. The job is the same: a place you trust when the next scene asks a question the last book already answered.
A useful bible is small enough to maintain. Characters, places, lore, and a short plot line for the promises you have already made. It is not a second novel, and it is not a dump of every research tab. If a fact will matter again — an age, an alias, a street, a rule of the magic — it belongs on the sheet.
Standalone books still benefit. One book can have a cast, a town, and a set of rules. On Maldric a standalone still gets its own bible workspace, so you are not forced to invent a series before you need one.
How to keep one
I lost my own series in documents that lived next to the draft, not with it. The method that works is dull, and that is why it holds:
- One sheet per person, place, or lore entry — not three files for the same character under different names.
- Aliases on the sheet, so “Jordan” and “Hale” still mean the same person.
- What you mean, in your own words. Appearance, background, and voice stay on the sheet you wrote.
- When something happens in the world, pin it on the series timeline. The bible is who and where; the timeline is when.
- Review the draft against the bible when you want a second look — then decide. A note is not a rewrite.
Do not wait until book two to start. The cheapest time to write a character’s age is the chapter where you first decide it.
What the chapters already claimed
The sheet is what you sat down to record. The chapters are full of other things you stated once and then wrote past: an age, a scar, a promise, who told whom. I used to find those again by searching the draft. Facts is that search, kept.
You ask the desk to read a chapter, or the book. It lists the claims that would matter later, each one with the passage it came from, and you can open that chapter from the entry. You do not have to confirm every line. Confirm the ones you trust. If a read got the wording wrong, correct it — your wording is what stays. Reject a claim, or remove it. A possible clash is a question you can dismiss. A reveal you intended is not a mistake.
That page does not rewrite the chapter, and it does not fill the sheets for you. A character or a place can show the claims that mention them, beside the fields you already keep. The bible is still who and where. The timeline is when. Facts is what the prose already said.
On the Maldric desk
Maldric keeps the series as the continuity workspace. Characters sit as profile cards with a long sheet behind them. Places and lore live on World. Plot is a chapter grid for lines and beats — planning only; it does not generate a chapter. A name in the manuscript can open the matching sheet. It does not change the prose.
When you ask, Maldric can discuss the cast, propose a merge if two cards are the same person, or review the book against the bible. Nothing is folded or written into a chapter until you accept it. That is the product rule I built for myself: assist, do not generate the book.
You write the manuscript. The series bible sits beside it. A suggestion stays pending until you apply it.
If you already keep the bible in a folder of documents, that is a fair starting point. The comparison page is honest about what a binder still does well.
Start with the book you have
Import Word, EPUB, PDF or a markdown zip, review the chapters, then add the people and places you already know. You do not have to fill every sheet on day one. Empty sheets are fine; a name and one fact is enough to start.
Signup is open. New authors get 30 days on the full desk, then £2.99 a month. Creating a desk does not start a subscription. You can download a local working copy of the live draft whenever you like — including during the trial.
Questions: the FAQ, or write to me directly.