Every few months, an author posts in a forum about losing access to their work. A cloud service went down. An account was suspended. A sync conflict corrupted a manuscript. The responses are always sympathetic, but the advice is always the same: keep local backups.
We think the advice should be different. The tool itself should keep your files local.
The Cloud Assumption
Many modern writing tools keep the primary working copy behind an account or synchronize it through a remote service. That model can be valuable when several people need simultaneous access, automatic cross-device sync, or centralized administration.
Many book projects also spend long stretches with one author revising, structuring, formatting, and exporting. Editors and early readers may exchange files or comments asynchronously. For that workflow, a local project can be a useful primary source, provided the author maintains backups.
Local and cloud-backed systems make different tradeoffs. Cloud services can simplify collaboration and recovery; local projects give the author direct control over storage and can keep the core production workflow available without a continuous connection. Cambric chooses the latter model for working manuscripts.
What You Give Up
When the primary copy depends on a remote account, consider these operational questions:
- What works without a connection? Some cloud-backed applications have robust offline modes and others do not. Test the exact actions you need before relying on them while travelling.
- How do you export a complete copy? Know which source files, comments, metadata, and versions remain available if you leave the service.
- Who controls retention and access? Read the service’s current terms, privacy policy, recovery process, and account controls rather than assuming either safety or misuse.
- Where is the independent backup? Sync is useful, but it is not automatically a versioned backup. Keep another recoverable copy of important manuscripts.
What Local-First Gives You
In Cambric, the desktop application and working project live on your machine. The core writing, formatting, preview, and export workflow is local. Purchasing, downloading installers, and license-related services require internet access. This model has several consequences:
- Local interaction. Editing and page composition do not wait for a network round trip; actual performance still depends on the machine and manuscript.
- Offline core workflow. After installation and activation, you can work on the manuscript and create exports without a continuous connection.
- Storage control. Working projects live on your computer, so you choose the backup location, retention schedule, and whether a third-party sync service is involved.
- Independent outputs. Exported PDF and EPUB files remain on your disk. Keep copies of the project and outputs because local control also makes backup your responsibility.
Why We Built a Desktop App
Cambric is an installable desktop application for Windows and Mac. The working project is not a browser-only document, and the core production interface runs on the author’s computer.
Page composition happens on your machine and export writes the PDF and EPUB to local storage. Cambric does not upload the working manuscript to a Cambric cloud editor or synchronize it through a Cambric manuscript service.
This is a deliberate choice with tradeoffs. We can't offer real-time collaboration. We can't show you your manuscript on your phone without building a separate app. We can't do automatic cloud backup without you choosing a sync service.
We think those tradeoffs are correct for this use case. The book you're writing is the most important file on your computer. It should act like it.
Your manuscript is not content to be managed. It's a file to be owned. The tool that handles it should respect that distinction.