Quick Start Guide – Create Your First AI Ebook in 10 Minutes
You’re about to create a professional, multi-chapter ebook faster than you thought possible. This guide walks you through your first book creation with Bookify—from idea to downloadable manuscript in under 10 minutes of active work.
What You’ll Accomplish
By the end of this tutorial, you’ll have:
- Selected the optimal structure for your book’s purpose
- Generated three AI proposals with complete outlines and chapter summaries
- Chosen and customized your preferred structure
- Understood the generation process and what happens behind the scenes
The actual book generation takes 20-40 minutes, but you can leave and come back—Bookify works autonomously and emails you when complete.
Before You Start
You’ll need:
- A Bookify account with available credits (proposals are free, book generation costs credits)
- A clear topic or subject you want to teach or explain
- 10 minutes of focused time to set up your book
Pro tip: The more specific your book description, the better your proposals. “Email marketing strategies” is okay. “Email marketing strategies for SaaS companies with small teams” is excellent.
Step 1: Choose Your Intent
When you click “Create New Book,” the first decision is the most important: What’s your book’s purpose?
Bookify offers four specialized engines, each optimized for different outcomes:
Lead Magnet
Best for: Converting website visitors into leads, building email lists, offering gated content.
What it does: Creates concise, action-packed books (typically 4-8 chapters) with scannable formatting, quick wins, and clear next steps. Optimized for readers who want immediate value and tactical takeaways.
Example: “7 Email Templates That Convert Cold Leads”
Digital Product
Best for: Creating info products to sell on Gumroad, marketplaces, or your own site.
What it does: Generates substantial, comprehensive books (10-15 chapters) with frameworks, case studies, and implementation guides. Structured to justify a purchase price and deliver deep value.
Example: “The Complete Guide to Freelance Consulting”
Course Material
Best for: Companion workbooks, study guides, training materials, educational content.
What it does: Builds pedagogically structured books (12-20 chapters) with learning objectives, progressive complexity, exercises, and recap sections. Optimized for retention and self-study.
Example: “Python for Data Analysis: A Self-Paced Workbook”
General
Best for: Flexible books that don’t fit the above categories—manifestos, reports, documentation, creative projects.
What it does: Provides balanced, adaptable structure for any book length or style without intent-specific optimization.
Example: “The Future of Remote Work: A Research Report”
Select the intent that matches your goal. Don’t worry—you can always create another book with a different intent later.
Step 2: Describe Your Book
Now you’ll fill in the details. Bookify’s smart defaults adapt based on your chosen intent, but everything is customizable.
Title
Your working title. This can (and should) be refined later, but give Bookify something to work with.
Good: “Instagram Marketing for Local Businesses”
Better: “Instagram Marketing for Local Businesses: 30-Day Growth Strategy”
Description
This is where specificity matters. Tell Bookify:
- Who the book is for (target audience)
- What problem it solves
- What approach or angle you want to take
- Any specific topics or frameworks to include
Example for a Lead Magnet:
“This book teaches local restaurant owners how to grow their Instagram following and increase reservations using organic strategies. Cover content planning, story strategies, and collaboration tactics. No paid ads. Focus on time-efficient methods for busy owners.”
Example for a Digital Product:
“A comprehensive guide for freelance designers transitioning to consulting. Cover positioning, pricing strategies, client acquisition, project scoping, and scaling beyond hourly work. Include real pricing examples and contract templates.”
Additional Settings
Genre & Audience: Help AI adjust tone and complexity. “Business professionals” gets different language than “college students” or “busy parents.”
Style: Choose between professional, conversational, academic, or motivational. Most users pick conversational for accessibility.
Number of Chapters: Your intent presets a smart default (Lead Magnet: 4-8, Digital Product: 10-15, Course: 12-20). Adjust based on scope.
Language: Generate in any of 10 supported languages. The quality is consistent across all languages—no awkward translations.
Step 3: Review Your Proposals
Here’s where Bookify’s intelligence shines. Click “Generate Proposals” and within 30-60 seconds, you’ll see three complete book structures.
Each proposal includes:
- A refined title (often better than your working title)
- Complete chapter list with detailed summaries
- Estimated word count and generation time
- Credit cost for creating the full book
- Bookify’s recommendation with reasoning
One proposal will be marked “Recommended.” This is based on your intent, description, and what typically works best for similar books. But you’re in control—expand and review all three.
What to Look For
Structure: Does the progression make sense? Do early chapters build foundation and later chapters build on it?
Coverage: Are your key topics included? Any surprising gaps or additions?
Depth: Does the chapter count feel right for your goals? Too shallow? Too comprehensive?
You can’t edit proposals directly, but you can regenerate with a more specific description if none of the three hit the mark.
Step 4: Generate Your Book
Once you’ve selected a proposal, it’s decision time. Review the credit cost, then click “Generate Book.”
What happens next:
- Immediate start: Bookify begins generating Chapter 1 within seconds
- Background processing: Generation continues even if you close the tab or leave the site
- Real-time progress: Watch chapters complete with live word counts and time estimates
- Email notification: When your book is complete, you’ll get an email with a direct link
- Duration: Expect 20-40 minutes depending on book length
You can return to your dashboard anytime to check progress. The generation uses Claude Sonnet 4.5, the most advanced language model available, with Bookify’s proprietary orchestration system ensuring continuity.
What Makes Generation Special
Bookify doesn’t generate chapters independently and stitch them together. Instead, it builds a knowledge base as it writes:
- Chapter 3 knows what was explained in Chapters 1-2
- Technical terms stay consistent throughout
- Examples don’t repeat
- Later chapters reference earlier concepts naturally
This is what makes Bookify books read like they were written by a single expert, not an AI patchwork.
Step 5: Add Metadata & Export
When generation completes, you’ll land on the book detail page. Here you can:
Add Professional Metadata
- Author name: Your name or your brand
- Copyright year: Defaults to current year
- Edition: “First Edition” or version number
These appear on your title page and in file metadata—important for professional distribution.
Export in Three Formats
PDF – Professional, print-ready format with formatted title page, table of contents, and proper pagination. Perfect for lead magnets, distribution, or printing.
DOCX – Fully editable in Microsoft Word, Google Docs, or any compatible word processor. Ideal for further editing, collaboration, or customization.
Markdown – Plain text with formatting tags. Best for web publishing, conversion to other formats, or technical documentation workflows.
All three formats maintain structure, include your metadata, and are generated on-demand (takes 10-30 seconds per file).
Real First-Book Example
Lisa, a marketing consultant, created her first Bookify book following this guide:
- Intent: Lead Magnet
- Topic: LinkedIn outreach strategies for B2B sales
- Time invested: 8 minutes of setup
- Result: 6-chapter, 8,200-word ebook titled “LinkedIn Prospecting: 6 Strategies That Actually Work”
- Outcome: Used as a lead magnet on her website, generated 73 email signups in the first week
She spent 20 minutes editing for voice and added custom examples, then published. Total time from idea to distribution: under 90 minutes including editing.
Common First-Time Questions
What if I don’t like the proposals?
Regenerate with a more detailed description. Be specific about structure, topics to include/exclude, and audience needs. Proposals are free—generate as many as needed.
Can I stop generation mid-process?
Yes, but you’ll lose the work completed and the credits spent. Better to let it finish, then regenerate specific chapters later (feature coming soon).
How do I make it sound more like me?
Export to DOCX and edit. Many users generate the structure and facts with Bookify, then refine tone and add personal stories. This workflow is often faster than writing from scratch.
FAQ
Do I need to create an account before generating proposals?
Yes, but proposals are free to generate. You only need credits when you decide to create the full book manuscript. Sign up takes under 60 seconds.
Can I see examples of books created with Bookify?
While we protect user privacy, you can see the quality by creating a small test book yourself. Try a 4-chapter lead magnet on a topic you know well—generation takes under 20 minutes and costs minimal credits.
What if my book topic is very niche or technical?
Bookify handles technical topics well because it’s powered by Claude Sonnet 4.5, which has broad domain knowledge. The more specific your description, the better. Include terminology, frameworks, or concepts you want covered.
Next Steps
Now that you understand the process, the best way to learn is to create.
Or learn more about what happens behind the scenes:
- How Bookify Works – Technical deep dive
- Create Lead Magnets with AI – Optimization tips for lead magnets
- Pricing – Understand the credit system
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