Scrively Studio

How to Make Your Books Interactive Using Studio

Studio makes it easy to turn your books into engaging, interactive experiences that go beyond simple reading. With a few simple tools, you can enhance your pages with interactive elements that bring your story to life, encourage engagement, and create a more dynamic reading experience for your audience. Head over to the "My Library" tab. Hover over the book you’d like to make interactive. Click on "Studio."  The book will open in Scrively Studio, where you can start adding narration, music, sound effects, interactive elements, and reading paths to create a more immersive reading experience. Currently, only storybooks can be interactive. Coloring books are not supported as an interactive format at this time. When you return to your library, your book will be tagged as “Interactive,” making it easy to identify all books that include interactive elements created using Studio. Head over to our guide on previewing voice-overs here.

Opening Your Book in Scrively Studio

Once your book is ready, you can open it in Scrively Studio to begin transforming it into an interactive experience. Studio gives you all the tools you need to enhance your story with narration, music, sound effects, interactive elements, and reading paths, allowing you to bring your book to life in a more engaging and immersive way. Head over to the "My Library" tab. Hover over the book you’d like to make interactive. Click on "Studio."  The book will open in Scrively Studio, where you can start adding narration, music, sound effects, interactive elements, and reading paths to create a more immersive reading experience. Head over to our guide on previewing voice-overs here.

Previewing Narration Voices in Your Interactive Book

Previewing narration voices in Scrively Studio allows you to hear how your story will sound before publishing. This helps you choose the right tone, pacing, and style for your content, ensuring the narration matches the mood and experience you want to create. Head over to the "My Library" tab. Hover over the book you’d like to make interactive. Click on "Studio."  The book will open in Scrively Studio. In the AI Voice table, click the dropdown menu to view the available voice-over language options. You’ll see options such as English, French, and other supported languages. Click the “All” dropdown to choose female, male, or both voice options. Select your preferred voice option: All, Female, or male. Click the dropdown to view available voices. Select the voice-over you’d like to preview or use. Click “Preview [voice name]” to listen to a preview of the selected voice-over. Head over to our guide here to learn more about adding narrations to your books.

Adding Narrations to Your Interactive Books (Advanced)

Narration adds a powerful layer of storytelling to your interactive books, helping bring your content to life for readers. With Scrively Studio, you can easily add narration to guide readers through your story, enhance emotional impact, and create a more immersive reading experience. Head over to the "My Library" tab. Click “Studio” on the book you want to add narration to. The book will open in Scrively Studio, where you can start adding narration. Use the left and right arrows at the bottom of the book to navigate between pages. At the top right click on the sentence to add narration cards. The voice-over you selected following the steps in our guide here will appear at the bottom. Sentences can be assigned different narrations. In this example, the first sentence is assigned to the “Alloy” voice-over, and the second sentence is assigned to “Aoede.” You can assign voices to words by clicking the arrow on the left side of the selected sentence. All words in the selected range will use the chosen voice-over. After selecting your voice-over, choose the words to assign a range. Unselected words will remain silent. In this example, we changed to voice-over to "Aoede" and the first three words will be read in that voice-over. If you no longer want to use an assigned range, click “Clear all voice assignments.” When you're ready click on the play icon to generate the audio. Give Scrively a few moments to generate the voice-over audio. The voice-over audio will be generated and played.  When multiple voice-overs are added to a sentence, they will be noted on the right side. Also, the exact words and associated voice-overs will be displayed blow the sentence. You can also easily edit voice-overs in the assigned narrations card, by clicking on “edit.” Click into the dropdown menu for the available voice-overs. The newly selected voice-over will be assigned. Click the play icon to regenerate the voice-over using the newly selected voice. Click “Remove” to remove the assigned voice-over. Want to start fresh? Click on "Clear All" at the top right. Once you’re satisfied with your changes, click “Save” in the top right corner to save them. Head over to our guide here to learn more about adding narration to an entire page.

Adding Narration to an Entire Page

You can apply narration to an entire page to create a consistent, immersive listening experience. This option assigns a selected voice-over across all content on the page, allowing your readers to hear the full page narrated seamlessly from start to finish. Head over to the "My Library" tab. Click “Studio” on the book you want to add narration to. The book will open in Scrively Studio, where you can start adding narration. Use the left and right arrows at the bottom of the book to navigate between pages. Click “Narrate This Page” to use the voice-over you selected per our guide here to narrate the entire page. The assigned voice-over will be automatically applied to each sentence. The voice-over per sentence will also be shown on the bottom right.  Click on the play icon to generate the audio.  Give Scrively a few moments to generate the voice-over audio. The voice-over audio will be generated and played.  Want to remove the page voice-over? Click "Unnarrate Page." Click on "Remove" to confirm the action. You can also use the "Clear All" option at the top right to remove the voice-over. Once you’re satisfied with your changes, click “Save” in the top right corner to save them. Head over to our guide here to learn more about narrating your entire book.

Recording Your Own Voice-Over

You can record your own voice-over directly in Scrively Studio to add a personal touch to your interactive books. This feature allows you to capture custom narration for your content, giving you full control over tone, pacing, and delivery to create a more authentic and engaging reading experience for your audience. Head over to the "My Library" tab. Click “Studio” on the book you want to add a custom narration to. The book will open in Scrively Studio, where you can start adding narration. Click on the "Record My Voice" tab. Enter a name for the narrator. Select the sentence or sentences to narrate. Click on "Record Voice."  You'll need to grant access to your microphone.  The recording will begin after the countdown. When you're all set click on "Stop Recording."  A preview of the recording will be displayed. Click on the play icon to listen. If you're not satisfied click on "Discard." Click on "Save Selection" to apply the recording to the sentence(s). The narrator's name along with the custom audio tag will be displayed. The narrator's details will also be displayed in the assigned narrator table. Want to change the narrator's details? Click on "edit." Add the new custom name. Click on "Save." The new custom name will be displayed. If you no longer want to use custom recording, click "Remove." Want to start over? Click on "Clear All." Once you’re satisfied with your changes, click “Save” in the top right corner to save them. Head over to our guide here to learn more about adding music to your books.

Adding Music to Your Interactive Books

You can add music to your interactive books to enhance mood, set the tone, and create a more immersive reading experience. Scrively Studio allows you to layer background music throughout your book so readers can feel more engaged as they move through your story. Head over to the "My Library" tab. Click “Studio” on the book you want to add music to. The book will open in Scrively Studio, where you can start adding music. Click on the "Music" tab. Before adding music, make sure your sentences have narration assigned. You can learn more about that here. Click into the sentence you would like to add music to. Drag the volume slider to adjust the music volume percentage. Toggle the loop setting on or off. Click to browse the music library by category. Click on the play icon to preview the music.  Click on the pause icon to stop the preview. Click on "Add" to apply the music to the sentence. The selected music will be highlighted and you have the option to "Remove" if needed. Once music is added to a sentence, you can choose when it starts. You can start the music at either the beginning of the sentence or the beginning of a word within the sentence. Select where to stop the music. Select any sentence on the page. You can stop the music at either the end of the sentence or the end of a word within the sentence. Click on the play icon to add the music to the page. ⚠️ If you’re using an AI voice-over, Scrively will take a few moments to generate the audio. Once ready, it will play the sentence along with the selected background music. Each sentence can have its own music track. Want to add your own music? Scroll to the bottom of the available music tracks and click on "Upload Custom Track." Want to start over? Click on "Clear All. Once you’re satisfied with your changes, click “Save” in the top right corner to save them. Head over to our guide here to learn more about adding sound effects to your books.

Adding Sound Effects to Your Books

You can enhance your interactive books by adding sound effects that bring scenes to life and create a more immersive experience for your readers. Scrively Studio allows you to place sound effects throughout your book to match actions, emotions, or moments in your story, helping to make your content more engaging and dynamic. Head over to the "My Library" tab. Click “Studio” on the book you want to add sound effects to. The book will open in Scrively Studio, where you can start adding sound effects. Click on the "Sound FX" tab. Click into the sentence you would like to add sound effects to. Drag the volume slider to adjust the sound effect volume percentage. Click to browse the sound effects library by category. Click on the play icon to preview the sound effect.  Click on the pause icon to stop the preview. Click on "Add" to apply the sound effect to the sentence. The selected sound effect will be highlighted and you have the option to "Remove" if needed. Once the sound effect is added to a sentence, you can choose when it starts. You can choose to start the sound effect at the beginning of a word within the sentence. Each sentence can have its own sound effect. Scroll to the bottom of the available sound effects to view a list of assigned sound effects. Toggle "Auto-play with narration" on. The "Stops at" option will be displayed. Select from end of page, story, sentence or a specific word. Click on the play icon to listen to the sound effect on the page. Want to add your own sound effect? Click "Upload Custom Sound Effect." Want to start over? Click on "Clear All. Once you’re satisfied with your changes, click “Save” in the top right corner to save them.

Adding Interactive Buttons to Your Books

Interactive buttons allow you to make your books more engaging by letting readers take actions as they move through your story. In Scrively Studio, you can add buttons that trigger events, navigate pages, or reveal content, helping you create a more dynamic and interactive reading experience. Head over to the "My Library" tab. Click “Studio” on the book you want to add interactive buttons to. The book will open in Scrively Studio, where you can start adding interactive buttons. Click on the "Interactive" tab. Click into the sentence you would like to add sound effects to. Drag the volume slider to adjust the sound effect volume percentage. Click to browse the sound effects library by category. Click on the play icon to preview the sound effect.  Click on the pause icon to stop the preview. Click on "Add" to apply the sound effect to the sentence. The selected sound effect will be highlighted and you have the option to "Remove" if needed. Once the sound effect is added to a sentence, you can choose when it starts. You can choose to start the sound effect at the beginning of a word within the sentence. Each sentence can have its own sound effect. Scroll to the bottom of the available sound effects to view a list of assigned sound effects.  Toggle "Auto-play with narration" on. The "Stops at" option will be displayed. Select from end of page, story, sentence or a specific word. Click on the play icon to listen to the sound effect on the page. Want to add your own sound effect? Click "Upload Custom Sound Effect." Want to start over? Click on "Clear All. Once you’re satisfied with your changes, click “Save” in the top right corner to save them.

Adding Interactive Paths to Your Books

Interactive paths let you guide readers through different parts of your book based on their choices or interactions. In Scrively Studio, you can create branching experiences that change how the story unfolds, making your books more dynamic, personalized, and engaging for every reader. Head over to the "My Library" tab. Click “Studio” on the book you want to add paths to. The book will open in Scrively Studio, where you can start adding interactive buttons. Paths are disabled for the book covers.  Click on a story page in the bottom navigation. Click on the "Paths" tab. Add the desired text for the path. Click on the "Goes to page" dropdown. Select which page the path leads to.  Click on "Add Choice." The path will be added with the configured details. It will also be displayed at the bottom of the page. Each page can have multiple paths. To remove the path, click "Remove." Want to start over? Click on "Clear All." Once you’re satisfied with your changes, click “Save” in the top right corner to save them.

Previewing Your Book in Scrively Studio

You can preview your book at any time while working in Scrively Studio to see how it will look and behave for readers. This allows you to test narration, music, sound effects, interactive buttons, and paths in real time, helping you refine and adjust your book as you build it. In Scrively Studio, at the top right click on "Preview." Click on the "Interactive" tab. Click into the sentence you would like to add sound effects to. Drag the volume slider to adjust the sound effect volume percentage. Click to browse the sound effects library by category. Click on the play icon to preview the sound effect.  Click on the pause icon to stop the preview. Click on "Add" to apply the sound effect to the sentence. The selected sound effect will be highlighted and you have the option to "Remove" if needed. Once the sound effect is added to a sentence, you can choose when it starts. You can choose to start the sound effect at the beginning of a word within the sentence. Each sentence can have its own sound effect. Scroll to the bottom of the available sound effects to view a list of assigned sound effects.  Toggle "Auto-play with narration" on. The "Stops at" option will be displayed. Select from end of page, story, sentence or a specific word. Click on the play icon to listen to the sound effect on the page. Want to add your own sound effect? Click "Upload Custom Sound Effect." Want to start over? Click on "Clear All. Once you’re satisfied with your changes, click “Save” in the top right corner to save them.

Working with Characters in Scrively Book Templates

Scrively book templates come with built-in characters that help bring each story to life. From the character view, you can explore the existing characters, use them as they are, or easily replace them with your own to better match your story’s style and direction. Each book template includes built-in characters that you can use as they are to quickly bring your story to life. You have the option to replace as many characters as you'd like by clicking on "Replace this character." Upload the character's image from your device. Use the crop image tool to determine what part of the image to focus on. If needed zoom in/out of the image. When you're ready click on "Save." Select who's in the image to help us tailor your experience. Give the character a name. Add a character description. A character type will be automatically set based on the provided name or image which can be adjusted. Prefer to use a character from your character library? Click on "Pick from My Characters." Click on "Save Character." The previous character will be replaced with the new one Hover over the character to see a full view image. Not happy with the replaced character? Click on "Change Replacement" to add a new one. When you're ready click on "Continue."