An expert nonfiction guide with cited sources

Illustrative example. This walkthrough shows how the workflow fits this kind of book. The author and book are fictional; no results are claimed.

Priya is a certified arborist who spends her weekends answering the same questions from homeowners: when to prune, how to tell a struggling tree from a dead one, what is safe to plant near a house. She wants to turn those answers into a practical guide, The Small-Yard Tree Book, grounded in her own field notes and the public guidance she relies on. Here’s how she could build it in AIBookWriter, with claims tied to sources she supplied. Before any paid action, the app shows its price, her balance and the balance after.

Concept and basics

She chooses Non-Fiction / Educational and describes the book in a paragraph: who it’s for, the problems it solves and the order she’d teach them in. The app fills in the basics from that description for free. On Basics she sets the title and subtitle, her name as author, English as the language, How-To as the main genre and 12 chapters.

Reader and approach

For nonfiction, the details step is called Reader & approach. Priya sets:

• Target audience: Beginners
• Tone: Warm, Conversational and Authoritative
• Writing style: Plain and clear
• Techniques to use: Step-by-step instructions, Checklists, Case studies and Key takeaways
• Cite my sources: on, so chapters cite her reference files as [S1], [S2] and so on, and never invent sources; a claim without a source is written as her own view
• Writing sample: a few of her newsletter articles, within the 20,000-character limit, so the chapters sound like her

Structure and sources

On Structure & sources she chooses one of three whole-book structures and one of three chapter templates, which sets the shape every chapter follows. Then she uploads her reference files: her field notes on common problems, the handouts from a workshop she teaches and public extension-service fact sheets on pruning and planting. Each upload is a paid action, so the app shows its price first. These are the only sources the chapters will cite.

Outline

On the Outline step she generates 12 chapter cards. Unless it’s the first outline on her account, which is free, the outline costs 3 credits per chapter: 36 credits. For nonfiction, each card sets out what the reader learns, the sections or key points in order, what the chapter leads into and a target word count. She moves diagnosis ahead of pruning and adds a key point on when to call a professional.

Writing with citations

Priya needs the Pro plan for this book: $30 a month billed yearly, or $37 monthly, with 5,000 credits a month, which covers print-ready formatting, the book page and translation. She writes on the Balanced tier, 20 credits a chapter, using the batch option for all 12 chapters: 240 credits. Each chapter draws on her reference files and cites them inline, so a sentence about when to prune carries the number of the fact sheet it came from, and the chapter ends with a list of the sources it cites. Where she makes a claim no file supports, the chapter presents it as her view rather than attributing it to a source.

Citations make her fact-check faster; they don’t replace it. For every chapter she opens each cited file and confirms the sentence says what the source says. The tool cites only what she uploaded; whether the advice is right remains her responsibility. In two chapters she adds a newer fact sheet as a reference file and regenerates the chapter, at 20 credits each. The new draft appears next to her edited version rather than replacing it, so she keeps what works from each. Smaller fixes go through AI chat edits at 5 credits each, which change only the passage she selects.

Review

At about 48,000 words, the whole-book review costs 15 credits per 1,000 words, or 720 credits, charged once for the book. The editorial letter and per-chapter pacing notes work for nonfiction too. Suppose they flag that chapter 7 explains theory before the reader knows why it matters. She moves the chapter’s case study to the top, accepts the line edits that clarify, rejects the ones that flatten her voice and re-runs the review for free.

Metadata, cover and formatting

On Metadata & cover she edits the AI’s suggestions for the blurb, keywords and categories. Her blurb names the reader, the problem and what they’ll be able to do by the end. She generates one AI cover concept for 30 credits to brief her designer, then uploads the designer’s finished cover in its place.

Format & export produces a 6" × 9" print-ready PDF and an EPUB after preflight checks, plus a DOCX for her copyeditor. Formatting costs 200 credits once for the book, so after the copyeditor’s corrections she re-exports for free.

Publish, distribution and translation

Her book page offers free sample chapters with an email sign-up, which also gives her a way to tell readers about her workshops. On Distribution she drafts a press kit for garden clubs and local radio, and an email sequence for new subscribers.

Later she translates the book into Spanish for homeowners in her region. Translation creates a new linked book with the chapters, outline and metadata in Spanish, and the English original is never changed. It costs 30 credits plus 15 per chapter: 210 credits for 12 chapters.

The credits in this example

These are the main charges; smaller actions, such as reference file uploads, listing suggestions and launch materials, show their price, if any, before they run.

• Concept and basics: free
• Outline: 36
• 12 chapters on Balanced: 240
• Two regenerated chapters: 40
• About 15 AI chat edits: 75
• Whole-book review: 720, with free re-runs
• AI cover concept: 30
• Formatting: 200
• Spanish translation: 210
• Total: about 1,551 credits, within one month of Pro’s allowance