How to Upload Your Own Storybook

Have a story of your own? Bring it to life in the Scrively. You can easily upload your text in just a few steps, generate beautiful illustrations for your existing story, and customize every page to match your vision. When you’re finished, your storybook will be ready to share in both print and digital formats.

From the Dashboard, click on "Upload a Story."

You have three upload options: "Paste text", Upload a file” or “Google Doc."

We'll start with the "Upload a file" option. Simply drag and drop your file into the upload area, or click to "Choose a file" from your device.

⚠️ For the best results, upload only your story text. Avoid including images, titles, chapter pages, or other extra content.

Once selected, your story will be imported into the modal and the file's word count will be displayed.

Scrively will add a title automatically based on the content of the story or you can manually choose the title.

Click on "Change" to select your art style.

Browse through the list of available art styles.

⚠️ The free book includes one style. One-time purchases include one style in each category. The Plus plan includes three styles per category, while the Pro plan unlocks all styles.

Hover over the drawing style to reveal and click on the enlarge tool.

Once selected, you’ll see a full-size preview of the art style.

Click on "Continue."

Click "More options" to reveal additional advanced book settings.

The first option allows you to choose your spread layout, with two options available: One per page or One per spread.

One per page: Displays one image on each page, allowing two images to appear across a spread. This is ideal for showing contrasting scenes, before-and-after moments, or two related perspectives side by side.

One per spread: Displays one image across the entire spread, creating a larger, full-focus illustration or scene that spans both pages.

⚠️ Once your book has been designed, the spread layout can no longer be changed. If you return to the "more options", you’ll notice that the Spread layout setting is locked.

Next choose your "Book Size." The book sizes that are available are based on your plan level which you can learn more about here.

⚠️ Once your book has been designed, the book size can no longer be changed. If you return to the "Advanced Options", you’ll notice that the book size setting is locked.

Choose your text placement.

Smart Fit: The story text will no longer be anchored to the bottom of the page. Instead, it will be automatically resized and positioned in the most suitable location for each illustration.

Always at the bottom: The story text will remain in the same position on every page.

Choose how many sentences should show on each page.

Click “Find the Characters” at the bottom.

If you exceed your plan’s allotted page count, a warning will be displayed at the top. You can choose to pay $1 per additional sentence or redistribute your sentences to stay within your plan’s page allocation.

If you'd like to proceed with purchasing additional page click on "Review $ for extra pages."

You’ll be taken to the checkout form to complete your purchase. Once the purchase is complete, you’ll be taken back to the page distribution view.

Once you're all set to move on to your characters, a confirmation will be shown indicating that this book will use one of your plans credits. Click on "Continue" to proceed.

Scrively also gives you the option to paste the text into the provided field to upload your story.

And if you prefer to upload using a Google link click on the "Google Doc" tab. Paste your Google Doc link into the provided field. Make sure your sharing settings are set to “Anyone with the link → View” so Scrively can access your document.