Getting Started

Start with an idea

Every book starts the same way, something you're curious about, passionate about, or simply want to learn by writing. There's no limit to where that idea can come from or where it can go: a fajita recipe collection is just as valid a starting point as a sci-fi thriller set in California. If you can describe it, Inkfluence can help you write it.

Turn your idea into a prompt

Your prompt shapes the entire book, it's the brief you're handing the AI. A few rules of thumb make a real difference to the result:

Generate your book

On the Inkfluence home page, type your prompt into the box and click `Create my book`. From there, Inkfluence takes over.

Explore the editor

Click `Edit` and everything you need lives in the left sidebar:

Check your story bible

Alongside your book sits its story bible, a living summary of everything that defines it: the plot, a synopsis, your characters, key objects, and any non-negotiables you set. It's all pulled directly from your original prompt, so it's worth a glance to make sure the details line up with what you had in mind.

Publish, if you're ready to share

Three ways to put your book in front of readers, no need to pick just one:

Export your finished book

Happy with the text, the cover, and your settings? Click `Export` in the top right. Choose from PDF, KDP, EPUB, DOCX, or Audio, and before you download, fine-tune exactly how it looks:

1. Page size & content: pick the size best suited to your book.
2. Content sections: chapter numbering style, table of contents, and more.
3. Decorative elements: drop caps, page borders, numbered step badges, and more.
4. Branding: add your own credit text and a link to your website.
5. Header, footer & copyright: copyright text, running header and footer.
6. About the author: your name, bio, and website, so readers know you.

Four ways to start

Click the purple `New Book` button at the top right, then pick whichever path matches where you are:

Writing a good AI prompt

The prompt shapes the entire book. A few rules of thumb:

• Be specific about the topic and the angle: "A beginner's guide to sourdough for busy parents" beats "a cookbook".
• Name the audience: who is this for? Their experience level changes the voice and depth.
• Skip the structure: AI handles the chapter outline. Just describe the book you want to read.

Steps

The `Chapters` panel is the first tab in the editor's left sidebar.

1. Open the book in the editor.
2. Click `Chapters` in the left sidebar (it is the first tab).
3. Click `+ Add` at the top right of the chapter list.
4. The new empty chapter opens with a "Start Your Chapter" prompt.
5. Click `AI Assist` for a first draft, or `Write manually` to type your own.

Reorder or rename

Delete a chapter

Hover over a chapter in the sidebar and click the `trash icon`. The chapter moves to the `Bin`, it is not gone forever.

Restore a deleted chapter

At the bottom of the chapter sidebar, expand the `Bin` section. Find the chapter you deleted and click `Restore`. It drops back into its original position.

Steps

On your Home tab, find the book you want to change.

1. Click the `⋯ menu` on the book card.
2. Pick `Duplicate` for a full, editable copy (useful before big experiments).
3. Or pick `Delete` to remove the book.

Steps

Choose `Picture book` in the format grid (under Fiction & stories), or type a prompt that asks for one, e.g. "a picture book about a shy dragon learning to share, for ages 4 to 8".

In the details step, describe your main character's LOOK, not just their personality: hair, glasses, clothes, a pet and its colours. This description drives the character reference sheet that keeps your hero identical on every page.

The AI writes the story as about 14 short spreads: a few read-aloud lines per page, sized to your age band (2-5, 4-8, or 6-10).

Illustration runs alongside the writing: a character sheet is painted first, then a matching cover, then every page is illustrated from that sheet. Thumbnails appear as each page finishes, and both sides usually finish within a few minutes of each other. Illustrations are a paid feature (see Cost and limits below): on the free plan the story is written but the pages are not painted.

You land in the editor with an image on every page. Open the export preview to see the `Book` tab: your book as facing pages, the way a child will see it.

Editing pages and re-illustrating

Each spread is a chapter in the editor: edit the text like any chapter. To redo one page's illustration, use `Image → Generate Illustration` in that chapter; it reuses the same character sheet, so the redrawn page still matches the rest of the book.

To use your own picture on a page instead (a photo, your own artwork, a scanned drawing), click the page's illustration in the editor and choose `Swap image` from the toolbar that appears, then pick the file. The new picture shows in the Book preview and the export, and no illustration allowance is used. The same toolbar has a `Fill` / `Whole` switch for the page: Fill runs the picture edge to edge with the text over it (how AI art is painted), Whole shows the picture uncropped with the text in its own band, which suits photos and any picture that is not square.

Cost and limits

Illustrating a book uses your monthly AI illustration allowance (one image per page plus one for the character sheet):

• Creator: 20 illustrations per month.
• Premium: 50 illustrations per month.
• Beyond your allowance: chapter credits cover extras (1 credit per image).

Exporting

Picture books default to the square 8.5" x 8.5" trim (the standard for printed picture books, including Amazon KDP paperbacks). Each page exports as a full spread: the illustration with your text beneath or above it. You can switch trim sizes in the export dialog like any book.

Creating your coloring book

1. Click New Book and choose Coloring book (or describe one in the prompt box, like "a dinosaur coloring book for kids aged 4 to 8").
2. Give it a theme, who it is for, and optionally a recurring character so the pages feel like a set.
3. Inkfluence plans around 20 distinct scenes and draws each one as clean black-and-white line art with big open areas to color.
4. Each page gets a short caption in the editor so you can tell pages apart; the caption stays off the printed page.

Printing and selling it

Coloring books export at the 8.5" x 11" trim, the standard for printed coloring books including Amazon KDP paperbacks. Pages print art-only, so nothing sits on top of the line art. Black-and-white interiors are the cheapest kind to print, which is why coloring books are a favorite first product for KDP and Etsy sellers.

Cost and limits

• Creator: 20 illustrations per month.
• Premium: 50 illustrations per month.
• Beyond your allowance: chapter credits cover extras (1 credit per image).

Creating your ABC or counting book

1. Click New Book and choose ABC & counting (or describe one in the prompt box, like "an ABC book of animals for toddlers").
2. Pick a theme. Say "alphabet" for a full A to Z, or "counting to 10" for a numbers book.
3. Every page gets its own hero subject from your theme and a short read-aloud line ("B is for Bear"), with the letter or number shown large on the page.
4. The sequence is guaranteed: an alphabet book always runs A to Z with no letter skipped.

Cost and limits

A full alphabet book is 26 pages plus a cover, so it uses more of your illustration allowance than most books; chapter credits cover anything beyond it (1 credit per image).

• Creator: 20 illustrations per month.
• Premium: 50 illustrations per month.