Start with a short, low-risk manuscript section. The first pass is about learning the workspace and proving the manuscript can move from text to prepared audio, not preparing a finished release.
- Start in your workspace. Your own account is selected by default.
- Create the Welcome Project for a guided demo, or create a blank project for your own book or series.
- Create a book, then create or import one manuscript.
- Open the manuscript editor and review the first scene or chapter.
- Check narration basics and add one small sound cue if the scene needs it.
- Listen to a short preview before attempting a larger output.
- Review the listening or publishing job and download the available files.
If you are unsure where a pane belongs, start with Workspace and Explorer. The entry-level account allows 2 projects, 3 books, and 10 manuscripts total. The Welcome Project consumes 1 project and 1 book and includes 8 demo manuscripts; all of that onboarding content counts toward the same limits.
Open Project Settings immediately above Project library in the Explorer. It starts collapsed. Choose General, Typography, Headings & contents, or Voices to edit in the main workspace. Switching sections keeps your drafts and scroll position. Save changes saves all changed sections and keeps the page open. In nested editors, Apply changes adds edits to the project draft; save the project afterward. Leaving with unsaved edits offers keep or discard. Book and manuscript settings remain in their own dialogs; they can override inherited project defaults where supported. Provider secrets are never retained after leaving the project settings session.
Provider keys appears only for users approved to use their own provider keys (BYOK). Silence at the edges of synthesized speech is trimmed automatically; there is no toggle. Authored pauses and heading/block timing are unchanged.
General contains only the project chat toggle. Put project background and author guidance in Project library > Reference and Guidance, not a description field. Existing description metadata is preserved; saving settings neither migrates it nor overwrites the reference document.
Project library
Expand Project library in the Explorer. Reference and Guidance comes first, then Pronunciations, Images, Audio, Files, and Effects. Pronunciations apply to the entire project and save directly. Its overview offers Upload but no file lists. Choose Images, Audio, or Files beneath Project library to browse files in the work area. Actions depend on your permissions.
Move or rename / Update references
Choose Listen for snippets, selected blocks, voices, pronunciations, and effects. In Listen to selection: Audio starts automatically when it is ready. Use Stop to end playback. If your browser blocks automatic playback, choose Play to start it manually. You can also download the prepared audio. Check a short selection before publishing the entire manuscript.
Publish manuscript prepares files for the entire manuscript, even when you select only audio. Choose the output formats, then Publish. Publication ready means the files are ready to download, not that your work has been distributed publicly.