Questions authors ask about StoryWith AI

Software that reads a scene or chapter as a simulated reader and reports how it landed: engagement, clarity, emotional impact and genre fit. It is a quick first pass before human beta readers, not a replacement for them.

Yes. StoryWith AI's free plan includes reader personas with a small one-time AI allowance, and it needs no card. For a quick check with no account at all, the free Story Rater scores one chapter or short story.

Another name for the same idea: an AI that reads your writing as a stand-in for a reader. StoryWith AI calls them reader personas, and you can run several on the same excerpt to compare their reactions.

No. It can spot where attention drops or something is unclear, but it cannot tell you whether a real person cared. Use personas to fix the structural problems first, then spend your human readers on what only they can judge.

No. Personas report on what they read. Your manuscript changes only when you edit it, or accept a suggestion you asked for.

Three to five gives the most useful comparison. You can add up to eight to a panel, but more personas make the comparison noisier.

No. Your manuscript is private to you and the people you invite, and it is not used to train AI models.

Software that reviews a manuscript and suggests what to change. Some rewrite text for you, some correct grammar and style, and some, like StoryWith AI, analyze the whole book for structure, pacing, continuity and dialogue.

It has a free plan with every tool and a small one-time AI allowance, and no card is needed. Author, Pro and Studio add a monthly AI allowance and full scans.

No. Analysis produces findings, not new text. If you ask for help with a passage, the result is a suggestion, and your text changes only when you accept it.

Not for judgment and taste. It is a strong first pass that catches structural and continuity problems quickly, so a human editor can spend their time on the questions only a person can answer.

Yes. Structure and readability checks apply to any book, and non-fiction adds argument mapping, fact-check support, citations and a book proposal generator.

.docx, .md, .txt and .pdf. A scanned PDF with no selectable text has to be saved as .docx or .md first.

Yes. It works in any modern mobile browser, and there is an Android app on Google Play that uses the same account.

It can do much of the first pass: structure, pacing, continuity, setups and payoffs, character arcs and scene purpose across the whole book. It cannot replace an editor's judgment about voice, market and whether the book moves a reader.

Look for one that reads the whole manuscript rather than a chapter at a time, links each finding to its passage, and lets you check again after you revise. StoryWith AI does all three and adds reader feedback. Try any tool on your own draft before you pay.

On the EFA's 2026 rate chart, fiction developmental editing runs 3-3.5 cents a word, about $2,700-$3,150 for a 90,000-word novel. The free calculator works it out for your word count.

No. It is the pass you run before a human one, so the editor works on a stronger draft and spends their time on judgment.

No. It reads and diagnoses. Nothing it produces goes into your manuscript unless you choose to put it there.

Yes. Structure checks apply to any book, and non-fiction adds argument mapping and soundness checks.

No. It is private to you and the people you invite, and it is not used to train AI models.

A tool for sharing an unpublished manuscript with beta readers and collecting their feedback in one place, instead of emailing files and chasing replies.

Each session collects 3 to 20 responses. You set the cap, and collection stops when it is reached.

Not if you allow anonymous responses. You can also ask for an email address before someone reads.

No file is sent. Readers read the excerpts you choose in the browser through a private link, and you can set the link to expire.

Specific ones: where did you stop reading, what confused you, what did you expect to happen next. Three to five questions get the best completion, and our beta reader questionnaire has examples to start from.

An AI beta reader simulates readers. A reader session collects reactions from real people. StoryWith AI does both, so you can test a chapter on personas first and then compare with what real readers said.

Yes. Only you, your collaborators and the readers you share a session link with can see it, and it is not used to train AI models.

AI can do a useful first pass on structure, readability, unsupported claims and missing counter-arguments across the whole manuscript. Judgment about your field and your reader stays with you and your editor.

It points you to claims worth checking against the sources you added. It does not replace your own verification, and it does not add sources for you.

APA, MLA and Chicago.

It drafts one from your manuscript: overview, market analysis, chapter outline, sample chapters and author platform. Rewrite it in your own words before you send it.

Yes. Memoir and narrative non-fiction get the structural checks, reader personas and real reader sessions.

No. It analyzes and advises. Your text changes only when you edit it, or accept a suggestion you asked for.

No. Your manuscript is private to you and the people you invite, and it is not used to train AI models.

It can do a useful first pass on structure, pacing, timeline, consistency and readability across the whole manuscript. Judgment about what your story means stays with you and, if you hire one, your editor.

No. It analyzes and advises. Your text changes only when you edit it, or accept a suggestion you asked for.

Writer's Digest puts the target at 80,000 to 89,999 words, the same as most adult novels, with the 70,000s acceptable. The free word count checker shows where your draft sits.

It depends on the edit and the length, and a developmental edit of a full memoir usually costs the most. The free editing cost calculator estimates each type of edit from the Editorial Freelancers Association's published rates.

Yes. Your manuscript is private to you and the people you invite, and it is not used to train AI models.

Yes, on Author, Pro or Studio. Share chapters in a private reader session through a link. Readers answer your questions in the browser, and you see where each one stopped reading.

Yes. Set a personal essay or narrative non-fiction up the same way as a memoir to get the narrative checks. For a book of ideas, set it up as Non-fiction to get argument mapping and source checks.

Yes. There's no card and no signup. Free tools share a fair-use limit of 6 runs every 12 hours, so everyone gets a turn.

Up to about 10,000 words, roughly your first three chapters. Many agents' submission guidelines ask for an opening sample of about that size. To check the whole manuscript, start a free StoryWith AI account and upgrade when you're ready to analyze the whole book.

No. Your text is sent to our AI provider to produce the score and isn't saved by StoryWith AI. We don't use it to train AI models.

No. Agents weigh the market, their list and their own taste, and no tool can predict that. The score tells you whether your opening pages have the problems that most often get a manuscript rejected early.

The ratings come from an AI reading, so a rerun can move by a few points. Look at which findings repeat across runs: those are the ones to fix.

It reads your chapters in the language they're written in and answers in that language.

This tool reads a sample in one pass. The full analysis in StoryWith AI reads the whole book scene by scene, tracks continuity, maps your structure and links every finding to its passage, and you can rescan after each revision.

Yes, with no signup. Free tools share a fair-use limit of 6 runs every 12 hours.

Your first page, or a little more. It reads up to about 2,000 words, which covers the opening scene of most novels. For the first chapters, use the readiness score.

No. It's sent to our AI provider to produce the critique and isn't saved by StoryWith AI. We don't use it to train AI models.

The single line where a reader browsing your opening would most likely put the book down, with the reason. If the page would hold them to the end, the critique says there is no stop point.

The critique is told to be honest rather than encouraging: a 5 means a competent opening with clear problems, and a 7 means strong. Apply the fixes and run it again.

It helps. Readers of a thriller and readers of literary fiction expect different openings, and the genre tells the critique which expectations to read against. It's optional.

Yes. It reads your page in the language it's written in and answers in that language.

Yes, with no signup. Free tools share a fair-use limit of 6 runs every 12 hours.

A synopsis or a summary of each chapter, up to about 2,000 words, ending included. You can add a short excerpt of a scene you're unsure about.

Not this free tool. It reads a summary, which is enough to test the story's logic but not every line. StoryWith AI checks continuity across the full manuscript.

No. It's sent to our AI provider to produce the check and isn't saved by StoryWith AI. We don't use it to train AI models.

Because it reads a summary. Your book may already explain something the outline leaves out, so each issue is a place to look, not a verdict.

Then the logic in your summary holds together. It can't see details the summary leaves out, so a careful read of the manuscript is still worth doing.

Yes. It reads your outline in the language it's written in and answers in that language.

Yes, with no signup. Free tools share a fair-use limit of 6 runs every 12 hours.

Up to about 5,000 words, which covers most chapters and many short stories. For a whole novel, use the full manuscript analysis.

No. It's sent to our AI provider to produce the rating and isn't saved by StoryWith AI. We don't use it to train AI models.

It's built for prose fiction, so fan fiction and short stories work well. Screenplays and poetry follow different rules, and the ratings will be less useful.

The rater is told to be honest rather than encouraging: a 5 means a competent draft with clear problems, and a 7 means strong. Apply the three fixes and rate it again.

Yes. It reads your story in the language it's written in and answers in that language.

It means the piece avoids the problems readers notice most often. Whether it's good is up to readers, so use the rating to find what to revise, then get feedback from people too.

Yes, with no signup. The instant checks are unlimited because they run in your browser. The AI review shares the free tools' fair-use limit of 6 runs every 12 hours.

The instant checks are written for English query letters. The AI review reads the letter in the language it's written in and answers in that language.

The usual advice is about one page: 250 to 400 words. A letter that runs long risks losing the reader before it reaches the stakes.

Yes, if you can find good ones: one or two books from the last few years that share your book's readers. Avoid huge bestsellers and classics, which say more about your hopes than your market.

No. For the AI review it's sent to our AI provider and isn't saved by StoryWith AI. We don't use it to train AI models.

Our free query letter generator drafts one from six answers about your book. Then bring the draft back here to grade it.

Yes, with no signup. Free tools share a fair-use limit of 6 runs every 12 hours.

They might, if you send the draft as it is. Use it for structure and a starting point, then rewrite it in your own voice. That's what makes a query stand out.

It's built for novels and memoir. Nonfiction books are usually sold with a proposal instead, and StoryWith AI's Pro plan includes a nonfiction proposal generator.

Agents use comps to see where your book sits on the shelf and who will buy it. One or two recent titles are enough. If you leave the field empty, the draft leaves a placeholder for you to fill.

No. It's sent to our AI provider to write the draft and isn't saved by StoryWith AI. We don't use it to train AI models.

Not this tool. StoryWith AI's pitch kit drafts a query letter, a back-cover blurb and title alternatives from your actual manuscript, so they match the book you wrote.

Yes, with no signup. Free tools share a fair-use limit of 6 runs every 12 hours.

Each suggestion is looked up in Google Books and in our own catalog before it's shown, and books neither one has are left out. If the catalog can't be reached, a suggestion is labeled "Check this book exists" instead.

The finder asks for six and shows only the ones it could confirm, each once. A shorter list means some suggestions were left out, which is the point.

Agents quoted in our comp titles guide ask for books from roughly the last two to five years. Books older than 5 years are flagged here.

Yes. A comp tells an agent your book shares its readers, so you need to know it does. Use this list as a starting point for your reading.

No. It's sent to our AI provider to suggest the books, and only the suggested titles are looked up in Google Books. StoryWith AI doesn't save it, and we don't use it to train AI models.

Yes. Write your premise in any language and the reasons come back in that language. Titles are shown as the catalog lists them.

Yes, with no signup. Free tools share a fair-use limit of 6 runs every 12 hours.

Yes. An agent reads a synopsis to see whether the whole story works, so it tells the ending plainly. That's why the generator asks for it.

It depends on the agent, so check their guidelines. The generator aims for about one page, which is a common request and is easier to expand than to cut.

No. Your answers are sent to our AI provider to produce the draft and aren't saved by StoryWith AI. We don't use them to train AI models.

It's told not to. Where something seems to be missing for the story to follow, it leaves a placeholder in square brackets for you to fill in.

Yes. Answer in the language of your book, and the draft comes back in that language.

Yes, with no signup. Free tools share a fair-use limit of 6 runs every 12 hours.

A blurb sells the book to readers and keeps the ending hidden. A synopsis is for agents and editors, tells the whole story and gives the ending away. Use the synopsis generator for that.

Yes. A blurb works as your back-cover copy and as the book description on a retailer page. Edit it first so it sounds like you and matches your book.

No. It's sent to our AI provider to write the blurbs and isn't saved by StoryWith AI. We don't use it to train AI models.

No. It's told to stop at the choice or danger your story builds to, the way a published blurb does.

Yes. Describe your book in its own language, and the blurbs come back in that language.

Yes, with no signup. Free tools share a fair-use limit of 6 runs every 12 hours.

Yes. That's how it works: it reads the premise you write and draws every title from details in it. The more specific your description, the more specific the titles.

In the US, titles generally can't be copyrighted, so a title on its own is often reused. A well-known title can still confuse readers and bury your book in search results, so it's usually better to choose a distinctive one. This isn't legal advice.

No. It's sent to our AI provider to suggest titles and isn't saved by StoryWith AI. We don't use it to train AI models.

The generator is set to be creative, so each run gives a new set. Run it again with a mood or a few keywords to steer it.

Yes. Describe your book in the language you are writing in, and the titles come back in that language.

Using the EFA's 2026 fiction ranges: a developmental edit costs about $2,700-$3,150, a line edit about $2,430-$3,150, a copyedit about $1,800-$2,430 and a proofread about $1,080-$1,800. All four together come to about $8,010-$10,530.

The EFA chart's nonfiction rates are higher at every stage. Nonfiction editing also covers the logic of the argument and the consistency of facts and references, which takes longer per page.

Per word or per project is easiest to budget, because the price is fixed before work starts. Hourly rates are common too: ask for an estimate of the hours and a cap.

Not necessarily. Many authors query after revising with beta readers. A developmental edit helps most when you've revised and know something isn't working but can't see what.

It depends on the editor's schedule more than the word count. The EFA chart lists typical pages per hour for each edit, and the calculator turns that into editor hours, but many editors book weeks or months ahead.

Yes, and it runs entirely in your browser: nothing you enter is sent anywhere.

For an adult novel, agents usually look for 80,000 to 89,999 words, and about 70,000 to 109,999 is generally acceptable, depending on the genre.

For a debut, 100,000 to 115,000 words is the usual target, with 90,000 to 124,000 accepted. Science fiction is the same.

55,000 to 79,999 words is the typical range. The 80,000s can work with a good reason, and fantasy and science fiction YA often run longer.

20,000 to 55,000 words. Upper middle grade sits at the long end, around 40,000 to 55,000.

Both sit with adult fiction: 80,000 to 89,999 words is the target, and 70,000 to 109,999 is usually accepted.

For most genres, yes: it is above the range agents accept for a first novel. For science fiction and fantasy it is on the long side but still inside the accepted range, which runs to about 124,000.

From Chuck Sambuchino's guide for Writer's Digest (2016). Ranges shift a little from agent to agent, so read each agent's guidelines before you query.

A list of a story's turning points, its beats, with roughly where each one falls. Writers use one to plan a draft or to check the pacing of a finished one.

Multiply your total word count by the beat's percentage. In an 88,000-word novel, a beat at 10% falls around word 8,800 and the midpoint around word 44,000. The calculator does every beat at once.

At about 50%, in Save the Cat! and in three-act structure alike: around word 45,000 in a 90,000-word book.

It fits most commercial fiction, from thrillers and mysteries to romance and fantasy, and literary fiction often follows it more loosely. Treat the percentages as a guide, not a rule: in Syd Field's paradigm, the form matters more than the page numbers.

Save the Cat! is a three-act structure broken into 15 named beats. Syd Field's three-act paradigm names fewer points: the inciting incident, two plot points and a midpoint.

No. The calculator assumes they are only to estimate the chapter for each beat. What matters is roughly where the turns land in the whole book.

It is free, with no signup. It runs in your browser, and nothing you type is sent anywhere.

One page, in the body of the email: a greeting, a hook, a short pitch, the title, genre, word count and comps, a brief bio and a sign-off. Send no attachments unless the agent's guidelines ask for them.

250 to 350 words, the range former agent Nathan Bransford recommends and a common target. Shorter usually leaves out the stakes. Longer usually means the pitch is retelling the plot.

Either works. Many writers lead with the hook and put the title, genre and word count after the pitch. If someone referred you, or you met the agent at an event, say that first.

Two or three sentences about who you are and anything that connects you to the story, such as a job, a place or an experience. A short bio with no credits is normal for a debut.

Two is the usual number. Pick books from the last five years or so, in your genre, that sold well without being household names.

Use it for a novel or a memoir. Most nonfiction is sold on a book proposal instead, so start with the book proposal template.

Yes. Copy it, change anything you like and use it for as many queries as you need. No signup.

A summary of a novel from beginning to end, ending included, that agents and editors use to judge whether the plot works.

One to two pages, about 500 to 1,000 words single spaced, unless the agent's guidelines give a different length.

Yes. A synopsis that hides the ending leaves out the one thing the agent asked to see: how the story resolves.

Third person and present tense, even when the novel is written in first person. A memoir synopsis is the exception: Jane Friedman recommends first person there, though third is acceptable.

The query letter pitches the book and stops before the ending. The synopsis tells the whole story, ending included. Many agents ask for both.

Usually not. Amazon KDP, for example, asks for a book description: sales copy that stops before the ending. A synopsis is still worth writing: it tests whether the plot holds together, and it makes the description easier to write.

Yes. Copy it, or download it as a text file on the website. No signup.

A document that sells a nonfiction book before it is written: an overview, the market, comparable titles, your platform, a marketing plan, a chapter outline and sample chapters.

It varies. With the sample chapters included, many proposals run to a few dozen pages. Clarity counts for more than length, and each agent's guidelines come first.

No. That is the point of a proposal: most nonfiction is sold on the overview, the outline and a sample of the writing. Memoir is the exception that often needs more.

No. Novels are almost always sold on a finished manuscript and a query letter. Use the query letter template instead.

Concrete things you will do: the newsletter you will send, the events where you will speak, the outlets you can pitch and the partners who will share the book. Numbers help.

Usually one or two, often starting with the first. Some agents ask for more, so check their guidelines.

Yes. Copy it and adapt it as you like. No signup.

A working document about one character: who they are, what they want and fear, how they look and speak, who they know and how they change over the story.

At minimum: name, role, the want, the need, the wound and the arc. Appearance, voice, relationships and continuity notes help as the book grows.

Detailed for the main characters and short for everyone else. A profile that takes longer to write than the chapters is a way of putting off the draft.

A profile covers one character. A story bible collects every character, place and fact in the book, so they stay consistent from the first chapter to the last.

Either. Planners fill in the basics and the inner life first. Discovery writers fill it in during or after the draft, to keep details straight in revision.

Yes. Use it for the real people in your story, especially their relationships and the continuity notes, so dates and details stay straight.

Yes. Copy it and use it for as many characters as you like. No signup.

A reference document that records every character, place, rule and date in a book or series, so the facts stay the same from the first chapter to the last.

An overview, a style sheet, the cast, places, the rules of the world, a timeline, important objects and a list of open setups and payoffs. A series adds what carries over from book to book.

An outline plans what will happen. A story bible records what is already true in the draft. Many writers keep both.

A story bible for more than one book. It keeps the facts readers learned in earlier books fixed, and tracks how characters and relationships change between them.

During the first draft, as facts appear on the page. Planners can fill in the overview and world rules before they start; the rest is easiest to record as you write.

A character bible is the cast section on its own, usually with a full profile for each main character. Our free character profile template covers that part in more depth.

Yes. Copy it, or download it as a text file on the website, and use it for as many books as you like. No signup.