How to Keep Your Book Safe: Autosave, Google Drive, Your Computer and Privacy
See how autosave protects your writing, connect Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive or a folder on your computer, and learn what the AI tools send.
Your writing saves as you type, and you can keep an extra copy in storage you own. This tutorial walks through each option.
Step 1: How Autosave Works
Everything you type saves automatically about half a second after you stop typing. You never need to click Save. Save to Your Cloud is a separate button that puts an extra backup copy in your own storage.
How Does Autosave Work?
Your typing saves into the app's own database, tied to your account. Nothing is kept only in your browser. You never need to click Save, and your book is there when you come back on any device.
The bar along the bottom of the writing area shows the status:
- Auto-saved
- Saving…
- ✓ All changes saved
This happens whether or not you've connected Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive or a folder on your computer.
What Does Save to Your Cloud Do?
It makes a backup copy of your whole book in your own storage: the Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive or computer folder you connected. It's not our database. Your typing is already saved to our database automatically. On a phone, it shows as a cloud icon.
Connecting your own storage adds an extra backup copy. It's made in the background, and again whenever you press Save to Your Cloud. It doesn't replace the automatic save. The automatic save to our database always happens first, so typing stays instant.
Why Does the App Ask Me to Connect Storage?
The first time you click + Create New Book or + Import External Book, a "Choose your storage platform" screen appears with Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive and Save to This Computer. When you connect your own storage, a real backup copy of your book lives somewhere that's truly yours, not just inside the app. You connect once, and the app remembers it for every future new or imported book.
If you pick Google Drive, you're also asked to choose or create a folder in your own Drive right after connecting. You can change it later in Account Settings → Connected Services → Change folder. That only redirects future backups. Anything already saved stays where it is. Dropbox and OneDrive create their app folder automatically.
If you close the "Choose your storage platform" window instead of connecting, no book is created and nothing is saved for that try. Click + Create New Book or Import again and connect a provider. A book you already have open keeps autosaving no matter what.
See How to Connect Cloud Storage.
What If I See "Not saved — retry"?
If a save to our database fails, the bar says "Not saved — retry." Do this:
- Keep the page open.
- Copy any unsaved text somewhere safe.
- Use the retry.
See also My Changes Did Not Save.
What If It Says the Book Changed in Another Session?
That happens when the same book is open on two devices. Keep the page open, copy any unsaved text, and reload before you edit.
Do I Need to Save Before I Export?
PDF and ePub downloads and word counts read your latest saved manuscript sections. If a save fails, fix the save error before you export, so your download is current.
Can I Keep a Copy on My Own Computer or in iCloud?
Yes. Pick Save to This Computer on the storage screen. In Chrome or Edge, you pick or create a folder once, and every future save writes there automatically. To get your book into iCloud, point Save to This Computer at a folder inside your Mac's iCloud Drive, and iCloud's own sync takes it from there. There's no separate iCloud button.
In Safari, Firefox and Brave, Save to This Computer still works, but it asks you to choose a save location every time instead of remembering one.
The Export button at the top right of the Writing Studio is always there too. It downloads a real PDF or ePub copy straight to your computer.
Is There a Version History I Can Open?
Every save is automatically kept as a permanent snapshot in the background, so a mistake or an accidental change is never lost for good. There's no button in the app yet to browse and restore an old version yourself. Need an earlier version? Email contact@goldenbestseller.com with roughly when the content was right, and we can find it in that saved history and put it back for you. See Is My Book Safe?.
Step 2: Connect Google Drive
Google Drive is the easiest way to keep a backup copy of your book. Have a Gmail address? Then you already have Google Drive, and there's nothing new to sign up for.
How Do I Connect Google Drive?
- The first time you create or import a book, the app shows a Choose your storage platform screen. Pick Google Drive.
- You're sent to Google to sign in and allow the connection.
- Right after, you choose or create a folder in your own Drive. You can't skip this step.
How Do I Choose My Google Drive Folder?
After you connect, a screen gives you two options:
- Click 📁 Choose a folder to browse your real Drive one level at a time and pick any existing folder, including subfolders.
- Or type a name and click ＋ Create to make a brand-new folder.
What Does the App Put in My Drive?
An extra backup copy of your whole book. Your typing always saves to your account first. Your Drive copy is made in the background and whenever you click Save to Your Cloud. See Autosave and Save to Your Cloud.
How Do I Change My Drive Folder Later?
Click your profile picture, then Connected Services, then Change folder. That only redirects future backups. Anything already saved to the old folder stays right where it is.
Do I Need to Pay for This?
No. It's free to connect and use. See How to Connect Cloud Storage.
Where Do My Audiobook Files Go?
Into your own Google Drive, Dropbox or OneDrive too, never onto our servers. See The Audiobook Creator and Your Manuscript.
Step 3: Connect Dropbox or OneDrive
Use Dropbox or OneDrive? Pick it on the Choose your storage platform screen and sign in. The app creates its own folder for you.
How Do I Connect Dropbox or OneDrive?
- The first time you create or import a book, the Choose your storage platform screen appears.
- Pick Dropbox or OneDrive.
- You're sent to Dropbox or Microsoft to sign in and allow the connection.
Do I Need to Choose a Folder?
No. Dropbox and OneDrive don't have the extra folder step that Google Drive has. Their app folder is created automatically, and a brand-new empty account is the easiest case.
What Is Saved There?
An extra backup copy of your book, and your audiobook files. Your typing always saves to your account first. See Autosave and Save to Your Cloud.
Step 4: Save to Your Own Computer
Want your backups on your own computer? Pick Save to This Computer, choose a folder, and every future save writes there. It needs Chrome, Edge or Opera.
How Do I Set Up Save to This Computer?
- On the Choose your storage platform screen, pick Save to This Computer.
- Choose a folder on your computer, or create one in the same window.
- That's it. Future saves go to that folder.
Which Browsers Work?
It works in Chrome, Edge and Opera. Those browsers can remember the folder you picked.
What About Safari, Firefox and Brave?
They can't remember a folder. In those browsers, a save becomes a normal download, and you choose where it goes each time. Brave blocks folder saving on purpose, for privacy, even though it's built on Chrome's technology. If you want the one-time folder, use Chrome.
Is My Folder Stored on Your Servers?
No. Your browser keeps the folder choice for itself. It's meaningless outside the browser you picked it in. So use the same browser next time, and pick the folder again on another computer.
Does This Replace Autosave?
No. Everything you type still saves to your account automatically. Your computer folder is an extra copy. See Autosave and Save to Your Cloud.
Can I Use iCloud?
Yes, in a roundabout way. See How to Keep Your Book in iCloud.
Step 5: Keep Your Book in iCloud
There's no separate iCloud button, because Apple doesn't offer a way to connect to it. But there's an easy way: save to a folder that lives inside your iCloud Drive.
How Do I Keep My Book in iCloud?
- On your Mac, make a folder inside iCloud Drive, for example "My Book Backups."
- In the Writing Studio, choose Save to This Computer and pick that folder.
- iCloud's own sync carries the copies to the cloud and to your other Apple devices.
Which Browser Do I Need?
Chrome, Edge or Opera, so the folder can be remembered. See How to Save Your Book to Your Own Computer.
Step 6: Manage Your Connected Services
Connected Services is one card in your profile that shows everything you've connected with your own account or key, all in one place.
What Is in Connected Services?
The card lists:
- Cloud Storage: shows what you connected, like Google Drive. It has Change folder and Disconnect.
- Gemini (Site wide generator use).
- Claude (Writing Coach & Editor).
- ChatGPT (Writing Coach & Editor).
- ElevenLabs: for the Audiobook Creator.
- Scraper (Category Scout).
Each one shows Connected or Not connected. A service that isn't connected has a Connect button.
How Do I Open Connected Services?
Click your profile picture at the top right, then choose Connected Services.
How Do I Change My Google Drive Folder?
Click Change folder next to Cloud Storage. It only redirects future backups. Anything already saved stays where it is.
How Do I Connect or Disconnect a Service?
Click Connect to add it, or Disconnect to remove it. Connecting an API key is super easy. It takes a few seconds, and the app guides you step by step.
Step 7: Know What Is Private and Safe
Your book saves to your own account as you type. Backup copies and audiobook files go to storage you choose. The AI tools send your text only to the provider whose key you connected.
Where Is My Book Saved?
In the app's own database, tied to your account, shortly after you stop typing. Nothing is kept only in your browser. See Autosave and Save to Your Cloud.
Can I Lose My Writing?
Every save is also kept as a permanent snapshot, so a mistake isn't lost for good. If you need an earlier version, email contact@goldenbestseller.com. See Is My Book Safe? Versions and Backups.
Where Does My Backup Copy Go?
To storage you own: Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive or a folder on your computer. See How to Connect Cloud Storage.
Where Do My Audiobook Files Go?
Into your own Google Drive, Dropbox or OneDrive, never onto our servers. The app creates a "Golden Bestseller Empire" folder, then a folder for that book, then an "Audio" folder.
What Do the AI Tools Send?
They use your own API key, and they send text to the provider you picked (Claude, Gemini or ChatGPT):
- The Writing Coach sees your current section and its Writer's Prompt.
- The Section Editor works on the section you're in.
- The Final Editor sends your complete current draft each time you run it.
Each provider has its own privacy rules, so check your provider's policy if you want the details.
Who Can See My API Key?
Your key is saved with your account and used through the app's server to call the provider you picked. Never paste a secret key, a password or your whole private manuscript into the Course Coach chat or into an email. The Course Coach will never ask you for a key.
What If I Still Have a Privacy Question?
Email contact@goldenbestseller.com, and say what you'd like to know.
What Comes Next?
Read Is My Book Safe? Versions and Backups. Not sure where to start? The Course Coach inside the app guides you through every step, so you're never stuck on a button. Back to Step 4 · WRITE.
Related Tutorials
Last checked in the app: October 14, 2026.
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Inside the app, the Course Coach answers your questions and guides you step by step. You can also write to us and we will get back to you.
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