Books & Book Studio

Books are serialised, chapter-by-chapter work — a novel or long story readers follow over time, rather than a single post. This page covers starting a book, writing chapters in the Studio, and what readers can do with a book they're following.

Writing something that stands on its own? See Writing Posts instead.

#Starting a book

Click Write → New Book in the top navigation bar, then set up the jacket:

1. Cover — upload one (a portrait 2:3 image works best), or keep the auto-generated cover.
2. Title — the name readers will see everywhere.
3. Synopsis — a back-cover blurb to hook readers. This isn't your first chapter — that comes in the Studio.
4. Genres — pick at least one; readers browse the shelves by genre.
5. Premium book — charge once to unlock the whole book, or leave it free.
6. Serial status — mark it Ongoing if you'll keep adding chapters, or Completed once it's finished.

You can also add Credits (optional) — credit an original author or a translator under Advanced Credits.

When you're done, Save as Draft to come back later, or Continue to Book Studio to start writing chapters.

First time here? The New book tour — the Tour button on this page — walks through the whole setup form.

#Writing in the Studio

The Studio (/novels/{book}/studio) is where chapters get written. The left rail is the chapter ledger — every chapter, numbered, with its status — and the main panel is the chapter editor.

1. Click a chapter in the ledger to open it, or add a new one.
2. The editor autosaves your draft as you type; a small status dot fills in once a save lands.
3. The settings panel on the right holds the same kind of writing checklist as the post editor — title, 200 words or more, and a preview — plus:
   • Preview & hook — write your own hook, or click Draft a hook to generate one once the chapter has 200+ words.
   • Publish status — this chapter's own Draft/Published toggle.
   • Translation credits (optional), matching the post editor's Advanced Credits.

#Publishing a book

A book only becomes visible to readers once it has at least 2 published chapters — that's the "Publish Book" gate you'll see in the Publish status panel. Until then, keep saving chapters as drafts. Once a chapter is already published, its button reads Update instead of Save, since there's no separate "publish" step left to take.

#Reader Bounty for a chapter

Stake some of your own XP as a reward for the first N readers of a chapter (this works the same way as a post's Reader Bounty — see Writing Posts). Set the XP per reader, how many readers qualify, and an optional expiry date. Unclaimed XP is refunded automatically once it expires.

1. A chapter with an active bounty shows "Reader Bounty active — X of Y slots claimed" in the Studio.
2. It also gets a badge in the feed and on the chapter page while slots remain.

#Requesting beta readers

Request beta readers (in the Studio) posts a call to the feed asking for a handful of volunteers to read ahead of everyone else and give feedback:

1. Choose how many of the first N chapters to include.
2. Set how many reader slots you want.
3. Optionally describe what kind of feedback you're after, and a deadline.
4. Post request — it appears in the feed as a Beta Read card.

Readers who click Volunteer on that card are recorded, and you're notified of each volunteer (see Notifications).

#For readers

#Following a book

(1) Click Follow this serial on any chapter card (in the feed or on the chapter itself) to follow just that book, separately from following its author. You'll get a notification the moment a new chapter of a book you follow goes up.

#Currently Reading

(2) Once you're signed in and open a chapter, it's added to your Currently Reading shelf — shown beside the feed — with a progress bar toward the end of the book. Reading anything, any day, also builds your reading streak, shown as a progress bar toward a first full week.

#Chapter discussions

(3) Chapters with comments show a "N people are discussing Chapter X" line on their feed card — click it to jump straight into the conversation.

#See also

• Writing Posts — single posts, the same editor patterns
• The Feed — where beta-read requests, new chapters and bounties show up
• Achievements & XP — earning and spending XP