NOWODU  I'm willing to give this a try, but I'd a like a little more info before downloading.

1.) Is there a trial period? If so, what are the terms?

2.) Can the developer tell us more about their "PhD team working on a new way of searching".   
(Version 1.0.3)

NOWODU  With Yojimbo, you can find your notes with Spotlight, including when Yojimbo is not open. You can make a note quickly with a hot key (mine is set to F13).  
(Version 7.0.1)

NOWODU  Sorry that I keep thinking of things- I wish one could edit one's comments.

A 277 page manual comes with the application. The book is separate.  
(Version 4.1)

NOWODU  Here's a page with a discussion of writing

http://eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Using/Writing.html

The amount of documentation has built up quite a bit in the last few years.  
(Version 4.1)

NOWODU  If you are writing books or articles now, presumably you gather and organize your writing somehow, and then put it in a publishable form with a word processor.

So the short answer is, you gather and organize your information with Tinderbox, export it to text or HTML, and "dress it up" with a word processor.

Try gathering information for an article using the number of notes you can create in the demo, and take a look at it in the different views available- Map, Outline, Nakakoji (text). See what questions you have.

The longer answer has to come in a conversation. People will want know what you do now, and what you would like to do.

Try going to the wiki

http://eastgate.com/wiki2/wiki.cgi?TinderboxWiki

or the forum

http://eastgate.com/Tinderbox/forum/

There are novelists, academics, and other friendly people there who are already having this conversation.  
(Version 4.1)