General
What is BookBaker?
BookBaker is a multimedia interactive reading site that enables anyone to choose a world they want to visit — from a favorite novel, a moment out of history or legend, or anything else you can imagine — then enter that world as any character, and make choices that determine what happens next. We call it “Interactive Fiction” — or “IF.”
You can choose any genre, experience any adventure. Romance Mr. Darcy (or BE Darcy!). Fight Dracula (or BE Dracula!). Sail on the Titanic. Land on D-Day. Be Sherlock Holmes or Hercule Poirot. Give Abraham Lincoln advanced weapons (and maybe warn him about Ford’s Theatre?). Or you can make a new world that’s entirely your own. There is no limit to the worlds you can visit and people you can meet.
We’re like low-tech virtual reality that doesn’t require headsets. Or, a streaming service for reading. Except that the amount of content available — the genres, worlds, and stories — is infinite, limited only by your imagination. BookBaker’s IF stories are like can’t-put-it-down page-turners tailored to your exact interests and desires — except they’re infinitely repayable and there’s an infinite number of them.
How does it work?
Choose a genre to explore or a particular World to enter. Choose a Story you want to experience within that World, then a character to read/play as. You will read a bit — a few sentences for children, a few paragraphs or pages for grown-ups — and be given choices for your character to do next. Then you’ll get more text, see what happens, and more choices. It’s an extremely immersive experience, in which you can be anyone, go anywhere, and do anything!
If you’re looking for something longer-form than interactive fiction, BookBaker also enables you to create entire books: fiction, cooking, nonfiction books or study guides, etc. For teachers, BookBaker enables you to make large quantities of educational worksheets at very low cost (that you can then share for free with other teachers).
How do I get started reading/playing Interactive Fiction?
Choose a World. Choose a Story in that World. Every World has an “Official Story,” but users can make their own Stories for any World, and many of them are loads of fun! Then, choose a character: you can be a character from the Story, or just be yourself. Or you can be anyone else you can imagine.
When you join BookBaker, your new account will automatically be given a few hundred credits, so you can try IF for free and start having fun!
How do I buy more credits?
Click on your profile picture. Then click on “Credits” under “Account” and choose the number of credits you’d like to purchase. The more credits you buy, the less expensive each credit is.
Can I buy gift cards?
Yes! BookBaker makes a fantastic gift! To buy a gift card, you need to be logged into your account. Then click on “Credits” under “Account” and choose “Gift Credits.” The more credits you buy, the less expensive each credit is.
Can creators and casual users make our own Worlds and Stories?
See the For Creators section below on creating Worlds and Stories to learn more.
What’s the difference between a World and a Story?
At BookBaker, a World is a dedicated space that describes all the rules (science or magic? past or present?) of a place, its history and geography, and many of its key characters, locations, and objects. Once a World exists in BookBaker, it is ready for users to add Stories to it.
A Story is a plot, along with additional characters and global rules, that can be added to a World. Stories can be simple, such as, “It’s Pride and Prejudice, but Dracula comes to visit Meryton and targets Lydia.” Or they can be extremely long and complex, with many pages of plot and new characters, and scripted events, triggers, and dialogue.
Worlds and Stories are used for launching Interactive Fiction adventures. You can get tips and tricks for making great Worlds and Stories in our Creators’ Corner.
BookBaker also enables you to make traditional, linear short stories and novels. Unlike Interactive Fiction, which is dynamically generated and cannot be exported, short stories and novels created on BookBaker can be downloaded and exported to ePub, pdf, etc. When creating linear stories on bookBaker, it’s still best to start by creating a World first (even if you don’t intend the World for Interactive Fiction).
What is the Official Story and how is it different from other Stories?
Each has exactly one Official Story. If the World is based on:
- a novel, its Official Story will be the plot of that novel
- a legend, its Official Story will be the curated folklore of that legend
- history, its Official Story will be a comprehensive description of that particular history created by our in-house history team.
Official Stories can only be created by whoever created the World itself.
Regular (non-official) Stories can be created by anyone. These Stories make up the heart of BookBaker — they are where our community can share their imagination, passion, wit, folly, and fun with everyone else.
If you make good Stories, you will be invited to join BookBaker’s rev-share program and start earning passive income for doing what you love! Or, you can just make Stories for yourself, your own personal adventures that can take you anywhere you can imagine.
Can I create my own character to read/play as or do I have to use one from the Story?
You can make up your own character and drop them into any Story, any World.
Go to “MY COLLECTION”; then click on “My Vault”; choose “Create new” under characters and start describing your character. List your character’s key traits, such as: age, what other characters call them, what they look like, their clothing, a few facts about their backstory, their job/role, and their core personality traits so the AI knows how to use them. It’s also good to give them some singular and/or eccentric habits and personality traits. You can also upload an image.
Once you have at least one character in your Vault, you’ll be able to choose that character in the character selection screen in ANY story. You can have more than one character in your Vault, so there is no end to whom you can read/play as. Your top Vault character will always be listed at the top of the character selection screen, followed by the Story’s three main characters and a choice to choose any other character.
In the example below “Tom Falconer” is the Vault character, Elinor, Marianne, and Colonel Brandon are the three main characters from the Story, and if you click on “Show me a list of all possible characters…” you can choose any other character from the World.
Is there a revenue share for creators?
Yes! Whenever other users read/play your Interactive Fiction Stories on BookBaker, you can earn a revenue share. The more popular your Stories, the more you earn! To qualify, you must meet and maintain our Creator Community Standards.
BookBaker is a way for writers, or people with lots of imagination, to make money for crafting fun, engaging, and educational reading experiences for others.
See the Revenue Share section below on revenue-share to learn more.
Why is there a delay in Interactive Fiction before the next scene generates?
All BookBaker Interactive Fiction scenes are generated while you read/play, so no two experiences will ever be the same. BookBaker only generates each scene after you make a choice.
Children’s stories are very quick to generate each scene, because they don’t have as much text. Stories for grown-ups can take 15 seconds or more to generate each scene.
Can anything be done to eliminate the delay in Interactive Fiction?
We’re working on it!
Interactive Fiction involves real-time story generation, which can occasionally introduce short delays. We’re constantly working on ways to reduce and eliminate delays. In the meantime, we recommend playing two stories at the same time and going back and forth between them while the other is generating.
Can I read/play Interactive Fiction stories on my phone?
Yes! BookBaker works great on mobile browsers. Just open BookBaker in your phone's browser to read and play stories on the go.
We speak from experience when we say it’s a great way to kill time on the bus or at the laundromat — and you can get so distracted by a good story at the gym that you forget you’re working out!
Are Interactive Fiction stories saved so I can resume them later?
Yes, all Interactive Fiction stories save constantly while you play. Just go to “My Collection” and then “IF Sessions” to find them.
What is BookBaker’s mission?
Glad you asked! We are a team of fanatics who believe that reading is responsible for all of human civilization. All education, all personal accomplishment, all human dignity — and an ineffable amount of personal entertainment, inspiration, and joy! — come from reading.
But reading for pleasure is down as much as 50% in young people today since the advent of video games and social media. We’ve had some of the world’s most famous venture capital investors, people who pore over data and follow trends all day long, tell us solemnly that they think books and reading are going to die. Well, we don’t accept that. We think the solution isn’t to give up on reading — it’s to make reading more modern and fun, so it can compete better for young people’s attention. So we’re shamelessly borrowing the most engaging aspects of gaming and social media, and building a universe of interactive fiction that is gamelike, social, and multimedia.
If you’re interested in helping our mission, PLEASE spread the word about BookBaker with your friends and on social media! If you’re interested in joining our team, take a look at our open positions.
Is BookBaker good for kids?
Yes! Reading for pleasure is down as much as 50% in young people today since the advent of video games and social media. Studies show that high school and college students today have lost significant ground in reading comprehension and speed. BookBaker is built to reverse that dangerous trend.
BookBaker enables parents to create interactive bedtime stories that are extremely personalized and customized around children’s interests — so that kids learn to LOVE reading from a young age. There is no limit to the number of worlds and stories that kids can experience on BookBaker.
Coming soon: Parents will be able to add child users to their own accounts and give their kids a BookBaker budget. Parents will always be able to view all their children’s activity.
Is this safe for kids?
Yes — BookBaker gives all new users 200 free credits to try out interactive fiction, but no one can use BookBaker beyond that without a credit card, which is a strong form of age verification. BookBaker regularly reviews content to ensure compliance with our standards.
Can media companies use BookBaker to create Interactive Fiction universes based on our IP?
Yes, we are currently in talks with several major media companies about doing just that. If you’re interested in exploring such a partnership, please email partnerships@bookbaker.com.
Need Help?
Yes, we’re here to help! If you don’t see what you’re looking for here, please contact us at support@bookbaker.com.
For Creators
Is BookBaker good for writers and creators?
Yes, BookBaker Interactive Fiction is a place for writers and creators to make money doing what they love. It’s a passive revenue stream that naturally compliments writers’ other efforts. It allows writers to test out their world and story ideas directly and immediately with readers. And it creates a natural brand extension: fans only get to read a new book by their favorite author once every year or two; with BookBaker, fans can jump into their favorite worlds every day, and the content is always fresh and new. Writers can be a part of their fans’ lives constantly, not just every year or two.
For new and aspiring writers, BookBaker is an incredible opportunity to practice your trade and build a following. Just as many creators build major media businesses on platforms like YouTube, many undiscovered writers can build huge, valuable brands on BookBaker.
How do I create a World?
Got a great idea for a World? Start building it on our World creation page! You can keep improving it over time.
You can continue to improve and expand your Worlds over time — add details, correct errors, or include anything you feel is missing to make your World even better.
Do I need to create my own World in order to create a Story?
You can create Stories in a preexisting World. Those Stories will be part of that World, with its particular rules, characters, and locations. If you want to create a Story in a new World that doesn’t yet exist on BookBaker, you’ll have to create that World first — don’t worry, it doesn’t take very long!
How do I create a Story?
- Choose a World that you want to make your Story in.
- On the “IF Stories” tab, click on “Have Another Idea? Create a new story”.
- You’ll be given a few sample options that the AI created, and can develop for you if you like them.
- If you want to make up your own Story, click on “Create one from scratch”.
- If you want to keep your original Story idea exactly as-is, save a copy somewhere first (Google Doc, Word, etc.) before entering it into the “STORY IDEA” field.
- BookBaker will use AI to expand or condense your Story idea. You can always paste your original version back in. Then edit the Title and Summary to your satisfaction. The Summary is what will be visible to readers — that’s the field where you’ll want to enter some gripping “back-jacket-cover” copy to entice users to read/play your Story!
How do I make a good Story?
You can see lots of tips and tricks for making great Worlds and Stories, and chat with other creators, in our Creators’ Corner.
Play-test your Story after you publish it. You will find little improvements you will want to make — or you’ll find the AI creates some plot beats or lines of dialogue that are so good that you’ll want to make them part of your Story’s official canon. You can then make these changes and additions by editing your Story and adding them as commands for the AI.
How can I make my Story play as true to the original as possible?
Play-testing. A well-made Story requires attention to detail. To make it as authentic to the original as possible, you have to play-test it — the more, the better. Play-testing reveals tiny details that are easy to fix or improve.
How important is it to play-test my Stories?
Extremely important. Play-testing is a fast and fun way to catch lots of small errors quickly. Casual fans may not notice them, but more serious fans will.
What causes Story errors?
Worlds and Stories need enough detail to be realistic, but not so much that creating them becomes slow or costly. Finding the right balance can be tricky at first, but play-testing helps you spot improvements quickly. It’s well worth it.
Can I use copyrighted content from my favorite shows, movies, or books?
In some situations you can use copyrighted content under what’s called “Fair Use.” To qualify for fair use, your use of copyrighted work must satisfy certain conditions:
- Is your use of the copyrighted work for non-profit or educational purposes? Teachers and parents have broad rights under Fair Use to create materials that can reasonably be considered for kids.
- Are you trying to make money from it? You may NEVER use BookBaker to try to profit off of copyrighted content without the owner’s permission.
- Could your use of the copyrighted work harm the copyright holder's ability to sell or profit from their work? If so, you may not use that copyrighted work on BookBaker.
Does BookBaker ever use copyrighted material?
No, our team only creates official BookBaker Worlds and Stories based on non-copyrighted material, such as history, legends, religious stories, and “public domain” works.
BookBaker users sometimes create worlds based on copyrighted material under the doctrine of “Fair Use.”
What is “public domain” exactly?
Public domain works are novels, plays, etc. that are no longer in copyright. Novels pass into the public domain in each country a specified number of years after the author’s death.
Note: just because a novel has passed into the public domain does NOT mean that movies or TV shows based on that novel have done so as well. Like novels, movies and TV shows pass into the public domain eventually, and many older ones have done so. But because movies and shows tend to be much newer, most have not passed into public domain (even if their underlying novel has).
There are a lot of Worlds based on public domain novels on BookBaker already. The following examples are just a tiny sample — there are countless more:
- Romance: Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Jane Eyre
- Mystery & Crime: Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, Sam Spade
- Horror & Supernatural: Dracula, Frankenstein, Cthulhu
- Kids: The Jungle Book, Peter Pan, Sinbad, Pinocchio
- Drama: Les Misérables, Wuthering Heights, The Phantom of the Opera
- Adventure: The Three Musketeers, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Tarzan
What else is in the public domain besides novels?
Many old plays (Shakespeare, anyone?) and movies are in the public domain.
All history, folklore, fairy tales, legends, and religious stories are in the public domain:
- History: Easy Company, The Titanic, The Gilded Age, The Civil War, Mob-Land
- Religion: Moses, The Birth of Jesus, Noah's Ark
- Fairy tales: Snow White, The Little Mermaid
- Legends: Greek Mythology, King Arthur, Robin Hood, The Odyssey
Do artistic works pass into public domain at the same time in all countries?
No! Countries have their own laws about when works become public domain. To take one very famous example, Ian Fleming’s James Bond books are already in the public domain in Canada and Japan, but not yet in the US and Europe. So — if you live in Canada and Japan, you’re entitled to make James Bond Stories on BookBaker and earn rev-share from them in those countries.
How should creators get started? Should we make Worlds or just make Stories?
Up to you. You can start making Stories and earning rev-share immediately.
There are countless great Stories just waiting to be created: Pride and Prejudice sequels; Tom Sawyer fights Dracula; Peter Pan meets Pinocchio; King Arthur vs. Zombies; Biblical figures like Goliath and Samson team up to fight ancient vampires
On the other hand, if your storytelling requires an original world, just create that World on BookBaker and start creating Stories for it.
Revenue Share
Is there a revenue share for creators?
Yes! Whenever other users read/play your Interactive Fiction Stories on BookBaker, you can earn a revenue share. The more popular your Stories, the more you earn! To qualify, you must meet and maintain our Creator Community Standards.
BookBaker is a way for writers, or people with lots of imagination, to make money for crafting fun, engaging, and educational reading experiences for others.
How does the revenue share work?
You must be invited to join the BookBaker Partner Program and remain in compliance with our Community Standards.
The rev-share is a proportional amount of 20% of BookBaker’s Gross Profit (Total Revenue minus Cost of Goods Sold) from our creators’ Stories. If you make an amazing Story that our users love to read/play over and over, you will earn a 20% rev-share on it for years and years. And there is no stopping you from making LOTS of Stories.
You may only earn rev-share on original Stories you’ve created for a public domain World or an original World you’ve created yourself.
The rev-share is only based on Stories you create, not Worlds you create.
If I create a World, will other users be able to create Stories in that World?
By default, yes. Users creating new Stories within your World drives traffic to your World, which helps your own Stories be discovered.
If you don’t want any other users creating Stories within your World, let us know: support@bookbaker.com
How can I get invited to join the BookBaker Partner Program?
As of now, you need at least 100 readers on BookBaker to be eligible. Readers are people who have opened one of your Interactive Fiction Stories and made at least one choice.
The 100 reader threshold will increase as BookBaker grows.
You must maintain compliance with our Community Standards.
You must have created at least three Stories.