Want to try a different direction — a new ending, a darker tone, a reworked middle act — without risking the version you already love? Create an alternate draft. It's a full, independent copy of your project that you can develop side by side with the original, then merge back if you decide it's the one.

This works in both Writer (text) and Graphic modes.

Create an alternate draft

From inside the editor, open the draft menu in the sidebar header — it shows the current version, e.g. Main Story — and choose to create a new draft. Give it a descriptive name like "Alternate Ending" or "Darker Tone". You can also press Ctrl + Shift + S (Cmd + Shift + S on Mac) to open the create-draft dialog; if your browser intercepts that combination, Ctrl + Alt + S (Cmd + Option + S) does the same — see Keyboard shortcuts.

BookZeta makes a complete, deep copy of the project so your original is left untouched — including:

• all chapters and their text,
• page and canvas layout settings (for Graphic mode),
• character and setting assets,
• uploaded illustrations and generated images.

Because it's a true copy, you can rewrite, reorder or delete anything in the draft with no effect on your main story.

Switch between versions

The same draft menu lists your main story and every alternate draft. Pick one to open and edit it. Each draft is fully independent — changes in a draft don't touch the main story or any other draft. You can also jump straight to it with the version switcher shortcut Ctrl + Shift + V (Cmd + Shift + V).

To keep things tidy, alternate drafts don't appear as separate projects on your Writer dashboard or in your Creations list. You reach them only through the draft menu inside the editor, so your dashboard stays focused on your real projects.

Merge a draft into the main story

Happy with a draft? Merge it into the main story. This replaces the main story's content with the draft's version and records a new content version, so your exports and any published files reflect the change. Merging also kicks off fresh export generation in the background so your downloadable files stay current.

Merging is significant — it overwrites the main story's current content — so review the draft carefully before you commit to it.

Delete a draft

Done experimenting with a branch you won't use? Delete it. Deleting a draft never affects your main story or any other draft, so you can clear out abandoned experiments freely.

Drafts vs. other tools

• To roll a single chapter back to an earlier save, use version history instead — it's finer-grained than branching the whole project.
• To start a genuinely new book that continues the same world (rather than an alternate take on the same book), create a sequel, prequel or spin-off.

Common pitfalls

• Merging overwrites. Always review a draft before merging — the main story's current content is replaced by it.
• Can't find your draft on the dashboard? That's expected. Open the project and use the draft menu in the sidebar header.
• Small fix, not a new direction? A full draft is overkill for tweaking one chapter — reach for version history.