The file library: one place for every file

Every file in your workspace lives in one library: the Assets page. A book cover, a manuscript, an author photo — each is stored once in that library. Wherever it’s needed, it’s shown from there. This page explains how the library thinks. For click-by-click tasks, see the Assets guide.

One file, shown everywhere

A file is stored once. Attach it to a book, and the book page shows it. Put it on your website, and the website serves it. Replace it, and it changes in every one of those places at once. There’s no separate copy to update.

Every file has a category

The Category on a file decides how it behaves. Front Cover files get book-shaped thumbnails and may appear on your public website. Manuscript files feed conversions and never leave the workspace. Contract files can only be opened by admins. File it under the right category, and the right screens will offer it.

A file can be listed under extra categories too — the Also filed under row on the file’s details panel. The primary category decides thumbnails and behaviour. Confidentiality counts every category the file is filed under: if any one of them is confidential, the file is.

A file with no obvious home lands in Uncategorized. That category is confidential on purpose. An unidentified file might be anything, so the library treats it as private until you file it correctly.

Attached to one record

A file can be attached to one thing — a book, a person, a series. The Attached to row on the details panel names it. A file belongs to one record. Detach it there before filing it somewhere else.

Uploading without attaching is fine. Drop files onto the Assets page and each is filed automatically, ready to attach later. The entity filter’s Unattached option lists every file not yet attached to anything.

Confidential files

Some categories are confidential: files in them cannot be sent out of the workspace. A picker shows such a file greyed out, with a note saying it cannot be sent. Manuscript and Uncategorized files are confidential. The four business categories — Contract, Tax Forms, Banking, Correspondence — are confidential and also hidden from editors. The full rules are in Access levels: who can do what.

Replace never loses the old file

Replace on the details panel swaps in a new file. The old one moves to Previous versions, where you can download it again. Old versions stay until you click Delete old versions.

How files come in

  • Drag files onto the Assets page — each is filed automatically.
  • Upload boxes on book and person pages — those attach and file in one step.
  • Conversions — every finished EPUB or PDF is filed under Edition Files automatically.

Edition Files carry a status

A file in Edition Files has a Status: Draft, Proof or Final. It is the same file at different stages, not a different kind of file. The status controls sending. A reader magnet (a free book offered for a mailing-list signup) will only send a Final file. A beta round shares a Proof, because beta readers expect to see unfinished work. Files in other categories carry no status.

How files go out

  • Download on any file; select several and use Download ZIP.
  • Your public website serves covers and author photos straight from the library.
  • Beta rounds and reader magnets email files to readers, with the confidentiality and status checks above applied first.