Mariner Software has announced plans to republish Return Self Software’s Avenir as StoryMill. The company will release StoryMill in January, 2008, and it will cost $49.95.
StoryMill/Avenir is a novel-writing application that helps writers track, tag and filter characters, scenes, locations, research and more using dynamic outlining tools. It includes word frequency counting capabilities, progress meter and other tools useful to fiction writers. You can annotate and bookmark any text in your chapters and use “Smart Views” to filter content.
Avenir is currently at version 2.3. Mariner Software’s republication of the new StoryMill will begin with 3.0, which is described as a “major update” to the software.
Todd Ransom, president of Self Return Software, said in his Web site forum that the republishing deal will let Mariner handle branding, marketing and some support of the software in the future, while Ransom maintains “complete creative control,” along with bug reporting, feature requests and user support.
Avenir users will be able to be involved in beta testing for the new 3.0 version; the upgrade will cost $15. StoryMill will require Mac OS X v10.4 or later.
Currently, Avenir is at version 2.3.7. The newest release features Leopard fixes.