Help & Answers
Frequently asked questions
Everything you need to know about BookBud.ai.
AI & Writing
No. BookBud.ai is meant to accelerate your writing process, not replace your judgment. You stay in control and can revise, refine, and shape the content however you like.
Features
BookBud.ai supports EPUB, PDF, and Word/DOCX export. You can also download the cover image on its own, or use "Export All" to get a single ZIP file containing all formats plus the cover image — handy if you want everything in one download.
Yes. BookBud.ai includes AI-assisted cover generation to help you produce a professional-looking cover. When generating a cover you can choose from multiple style presets or enter your own custom instructions to steer the design. You can also upload your own cover image if you prefer to use one you have already created.
General
Yes, is the short answer. When you get to the outline step, you can create the outline yourself instead of having AI generate it. AI will then follow that outline and write the sections. When you get to the edit sections part, you can modify any sections with any existing/custom text you have previously written.
If you are looking for a "upload my partial manuscript and have AI finish it", this is exactly what our other website, https://www.conceptsofabook.com is for. Check it out.
Yes. The new project wizard includes a built-in AI Idea Generator. Enter a general topic or interest, and BookBud will suggest a complete concept — working title, subtitle, target audience, tone, and style direction. You can accept the suggestion as-is or adjust any part of it before you start.
Both options are available. You can use the 'Generate Full Book' feature to have BookBud draft every section automatically in sequence, or you can generate and refine each section individually for more control. Either way you can go back and edit any section at any time.
Yes. When you start a new project you can choose from three length targets: Short (around 50 pages / ~16,500 words), Standard (around 100 pages / ~33,000 words), or Large (around 200 pages / ~66,000 words). BookBud sizes each generated chapter to fit your chosen target so the finished book lands in roughly that range.
Yes. The fiction setup step includes a character builder where you can describe each major character — name, role, appearance, personality, and backstory. BookBud uses these details to keep your cast consistent throughout the generated story. You can add multiple characters and designate one as the main protagonist.
Both follow the same general steps — outline, then sections — but fiction unlocks extra tools: a character builder to define your cast before writing begins, and story-arc controls during generation that let you tell BookBud to continue normally, start wrapping up, or write the final ending. Fiction projects are also structured into chapters with optional sub-sections, while nonfiction projects use a flat chapter/section outline.
Short Text mode limits each generated section to a brief overview — just a few sentences — instead of full paragraph content. Toggle it on from the sidebar inside any project. It is useful when you want a quick structural draft you plan to fill in yourself, or when you need very concise, summary-style content.
Yes. During project setup you can name up to three authors whose style you want the writing to echo. BookBud blends those stylistic qualities into the generated content — things like sentence rhythm, tone, and pacing — without directly copying anyone.
BookBud supports a wide range of fiction and nonfiction genres. Fiction writers use it for novels, thrillers, romance, fantasy, sci-fi, short story collections, and more. Nonfiction writers use it for business books, self-help guides, how-to titles, memoirs, educational materials, and topic-driven ebooks. During project setup you specify your genre, tone, and writing style, and the AI adapts accordingly.
BookBud.ai supports over 20 languages including American and British English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, and more. You choose the language when you create a new project and the AI generates all content in that language — outlines, section text, and cover copy.
Yes. On the login and registration page you will see a 'Sign in with Google' button in addition to the standard email and password option. Either method creates the same account, and you can switch to email login at any time by setting a password on your account page.
Yes. All new accounts start with 25,000 free credits — enough to generate an outline, create a cover, and draft your first few chapters, with no credit card required. When you are ready for more capacity, you can upgrade to a paid plan.
Credits are the currency BookBud uses for AI generation tasks — outlines, chapters, covers, and section images each consume a small number of credits. Paid plans include a monthly credit allocation that refreshes with each billing cycle. Your current balance is always visible on your dashboard.
BookBud.ai has three paid plans: Starter at $19 per month (up to 3 books per month), Publisher Basic at $49 per month (up to 15 books), and Pro at $99 per month (up to 50 books). Annual billing is also available at a discounted rate. You can compare plans and subscribe from the Pricing page.
Yes. You can cancel at any time from your account settings. Your access and credits continue until the end of the current billing period — you will not be charged again after cancelling.
The books per month figure on each plan refers to how much AI generation capacity your credit allocation covers each billing cycle — not a cap on how many projects you can have open at the same time. You can save as many book projects in your account as you like and switch between them freely. The limit simply reflects how many new books you can fully generate within a single month given your plan.
It depends on the type. Subscription credits (the monthly allocation that comes with your paid plan) reset at the start of each billing cycle — they do not accumulate. One-time credits — such as the 25,000 signup bonus or any promotional credit grants — never expire and remain in your account until spent.
Yes. If you have an affiliate or referral code, enter it in the coupon box on the Pricing page before you subscribe. A valid code applies a 10% discount to your first invoice. Codes are one-time use per customer. StackSocial promo codes are different — those are redeemed from your dashboard and add credits to your account rather than reducing the subscription price.
Your existing content is always safe — BookBud saves everything as you go. AI generation will simply pause until your credits are replenished. Paid subscribers receive a fresh credit allocation at the start of each billing cycle. You can upgrade to a higher plan for a larger monthly allowance, or check your dashboard for any remaining one-time credits (like the signup bonus), which never expire.
Yes. You can change your plan at any time from your account settings page. Upgrades take effect immediately — your credit allowance increases right away. Downgrades take effect at the end of your current billing period, so you keep your current plan and credits until then.
Yes. All three plans offer an annual billing option at a discounted rate compared to paying month to month. Starter is $190 per year, Publisher Basic is $490 per year, and Pro is $990 per year. You can select annual billing during checkout on the Pricing page.
Yes. Inside any book project you can generate an AI image for individual sections, in addition to the main cover. You can also upload your own image for any section if you prefer to use custom artwork. Section images appear in your exported EPUB and can be downloaded separately. Generate or upload as many or as few as your project needs.
Yes. If a full-book generation is running, you can stop it at any time using the Stop button on the project page — your already-generated sections are saved automatically. When you are ready to continue, use the Resume option to pick up from the last completed section rather than restarting the whole book from scratch.
Yes. You can export at any time — even if only a few sections have been generated. BookBud will include whatever content exists at that moment. This is useful if you want to proof-read a partial draft or share a work-in-progress. Just return to the project and keep writing whenever you are ready.
AuthorPass is a benefit available to selfpublishing.pro subscribers. If you have an active AuthorPass, you can claim a free BookBud.ai Starter plan by entering your selfpublishing.pro email on your BookBud dashboard — no separate payment needed. Your access is maintained automatically as long as your AuthorPass remains active and will revert to free if it lapses.
Your projects and all saved content remain in your account after your subscription ends — nothing is deleted immediately. AI generation features require an active plan, so you will not be able to generate new content until you reactivate or upgrade. If you need to export work from an inactive account, contact support.
Yes. Once your book is complete, open the project and click the "Distribute My Ebook" button. BookBud will generate publishing metadata (description, keywords, BISAC categories) and send your EPUB, PDF, and cover to selfpublishing.pro for distribution. You can review and edit all metadata before submitting. Distribution is handled through selfpublishing.pro and is subject to their Terms of Service. If you also want a print-ready interior, use the separate "Send to DocToPrint" button — see the FAQ below.
Yes. Once your project is complete, click the "Send to DocToPrint" button inside your project. BookBud will prepare your manuscript files and cover, then send them to doctoprint.com, which formats your interior for print-on-demand and creates (or finds) a DocToPrint account for you automatically. You finish the print setup there.
Sign in to your BookBud account and go to your dashboard. Look for the 'Redeem Promo Code' section, enter your code exactly as provided, and click Redeem. Your credits will be added immediately and a confirmation email will be sent. Each code is single-use, so make sure you are signed in to the account you want the credits applied to before redeeming.
BookBud automatically creates a Title Page, Copyright Page, and Front Matter section for every project — these are standard parts of a properly structured ebook. You can edit the content inside each one, but they are protected from deletion to keep your book format intact. They will appear in your exported EPUB and PDF files.
If you turn on Include verified academic citations on your project (it appears whenever you choose a citation-friendly tone such as Formal, Persuasive, Expository, Instructional, Journalistic, Scientific, Philosophical, Rhetorical, Empathetic, or Motivational and Inspirational), BookBud will write your book with real, sourced references — not invented ones.
Here is what happens behind the scenes:
- Real papers, fetched first. Before BookBud writes each chapter, it searches the OpenAlex open academic database for peer-reviewed work relevant to that chapter's topic and pulls a short list of real papers (with title, authors, year, and DOI).
- The AI may only cite from that list. Those papers are handed to the AI as the only sources it is allowed to cite. It cannot make anything up — if a claim isn't supported by one of the listed papers, it will write the sentence without a citation.
- Used sparingly, where it counts. Citations are inserted only when a specific factual claim or research finding is materially strengthened by attribution — never for filler or general background. You should expect a handful of inline references per chapter, not a citation on every sentence.
- One consolidated Citations chapter at the back. Every reference used anywhere in the book is collected, de-duplicated, and listed in a single chapter at the end of your book — author, year, title, and a clickable DOI link to the actual paper. No more references scattered through every section.
- Inline links to the back chapter. Each inline reference (rendered as a small superscript like [3]) links directly to that source in the back-of-book Citations list, so readers can jump straight to the source.
Why this matters: earlier versions of BookBud generated citations using the AI alone, which sometimes produced plausible-looking references that didn't actually exist. The new flow guarantees every citation in your book points to a real, verifiable paper. The trade-off is that you may get fewer citations than the old system produced — but every one of them is real.
Tips:
- Pick the citations checkbox before you start generating chapters. It applies during writing, not as a post-processing step.
- If the topic is very niche or recent, the OpenAlex pool may be thin — BookBud will simply use fewer citations rather than invent any.
- Citations only appear on tones where they make sense. Choose any of the eligible tones above as one of your three project tones to enable the option.
- The Citations chapter is automatically placed at the very end of your book in EPUB, PDF, and Word exports.
Yes. The Learn section at bookbud.ai/learn/ has free step-by-step guides on topics like how to write a book with AI, how to format a manuscript, how to self-publish, and more. New articles are added regularly. You can also reach out via the Contact page if you need help with something specific.
Yes. Once your project is ready, open it and click the "Create Your Audiobook" button. BookBud sends your manuscript and cover to AuthorVoices.ai — a sister site for AI-narrated audiobooks — and creates a free account there for you automatically. You pick a narrator from over 50 curated AI voices, and AuthorVoices handles the rest: parsing your book into chapters, attaching your cover as the audiobook art, and producing the audio. No extra setup on your end.
You do. Everything you create — outlines, chapters, cover art, and exported files — belongs to you. BookBud.ai does not claim any rights to the content generated through your account. You are free to publish, sell, or distribute it as you choose. If you have questions about specific legal or copyright details, review the Terms and Conditions linked in the footer.
If a subscription payment fails, you will receive an email notification and a 30-day window to update your payment method. Your account stays active during this window. If the payment issue is not resolved within that time, your plan will be suspended — your projects and all saved content remain intact, but AI generation will pause until billing is updated. You can update your payment details from your account settings.
Yes. Go to your profile page (click your name or account icon after signing in) to update your full name, screen name, and profile photo. You can also change your email address there — note that an email change triggers a re-verification step. Password changes and subscription management (upgrade, downgrade, cancel) are on the same page.
Yes. From your profile page, scroll to the password section and set a new password. Once set, you can log in with either your email and password or your Google account — both methods work for the same account.
BookBud.ai is a web app — there is no separate app to download. You can open it in any modern browser. The project editor (where you draft and edit chapters) is designed for larger screens and works best on a desktop or tablet; using it on a phone screen is possible but not ideal for extended writing sessions. The dashboard, project list, and your account settings pages all work fine on mobile.
Getting Started
BookBud.ai is an AI-powered platform that helps authors, experts, entrepreneurs, and creators plan, draft, organize, and export book projects much faster.
BookBud.ai is for nonfiction authors, fiction writers, coaches, consultants, educators, and anyone who wants a faster, more organized way to turn an idea into a real book draft.
Not at all. BookBud.ai is designed to be straightforward even if you are not especially technical. The step-by-step workflow guides you from idea to finished book without requiring any coding knowledge or publishing experience.
Your credit balance appears at the top of your dashboard. Click it to open the Credit History panel, which logs every AI task — outlines, chapters, covers, and images — showing how many credits each step consumed and your running balance after each action. This makes it easy to track where credits are going and spot any unexpected usage.
How It Works
BookBud.ai helps you move through a practical workflow: plan your book, generate an outline, build and refine sections, and export your manuscript when you are ready.
Yes. BookBud.ai is designed to support both fiction and nonfiction workflows, so you can structure your project around the kind of book you are creating.
Support
Yes. If you need help, use the contact page and the BookBud.ai support team will point you in the right direction.
For security reasons, support does not make sensitive billing, legal, privacy, cancellation, or account-change requests by email. Those cases are handled separately when needed.
