Meet Marlowe
When you first start a job there is always the awkward situation of getting to know your new coworkers. I say awkward in that most people don't know what to chat about because either 1) they don't know anything about you so they can't relate or 2) they don't want to offend you in some manner.
As a manager over the years, I've seen this over and over again with new hires interacting with their coworkers who cling to any information they know about the person to make them feel like they belong. Being a manager, I felt I was able to overcome these situations as most often times I didn't need to relate on a personal level, or I could easily pick up on an individual's personality leaving behind the mystery of "Is this okay to say?".
But when I first started my new job, I was once again emerged into the never-ending questions of "What do you like to do?", "Where did you work before?", "Are you in school?". Even though I didn't feel awkward, I could tell my team and boss didn't quite know what to say to me as everyone had been close knit for some time.
The topic of my recently published children's book Princess Gabriella and the Never-Ending Kiss was brought to light during one of the conversations and my boss clung to the information. Bringing up books he's read or people he also knew working on books he mentioned the most recent project he was working on for a group.
According to my boss, Authors.ai had built an AI, named Marlowe, who analyzed author's manuscripts spitting out lengthy reports on how to better your book at every step.
So, I had to check it out for myself.
Reviewing Authors.ai
Typing authors ai into google brought up the first link to the site. On the landing page, I could see it was a simple set up and very direct when it came to the details of Authors.ai.
Almost like a one-page funnel it had customer reviews, packages you could buy and details on how Marlowe worked to provide you with in depth reports on your writing. There were even examples of popular best sellers in several genres to compare.
Looking over the packages the site offered, I decided to go with the basic package as it was free unlike the Marlowe Pro which was $30/month. This allowed me access to half of the services offered.
Even though free, I still had to sign up for an account. The password was extremely sensitive as it needed to be at least 12 letters but once I figured out a password my account was straightforward to follow.
It isn't as simple as downloading your document to the site for Marlowe to analyze. In fact, there are several fill in the blanks you must complete about the story before uploading including things like main character, genre, and point of view. From there, it asks you to check off a handful of boxes stating you have removed items from your novel including tile page, cliff notes, etc so Marlowe can give the best report possible.
After these initial steps, it was as simple as downloading the report. According to the site, Marlowe can analyze and give a full report (based on the examples over 30 pages) of items your story can be improved upon within an hour. I had to give it a try.
I downloaded my original copy of Team Lightning Versus the Virus (which is available on Kindle Vella) to test how well Marlowe analyzed the story. The original copy is a hot mess with spelling errors, multiple adverbs, and long winded sentence...perfect for Marlowe.
After hitting the submit button, I didn't have to wait long, less than five minutes, for a full analysis of my story. A 15-page report was available in my library to check out.
The first page restates much of the website reminding you what Authors.ai is about and how Marlowe works. From there, it jumps right into the report.
The second page contains information about dialogue vs narrative along with a full graph of where each is used within your story. From the chart you can see 20% of my story is dialogue which according to Marlowe is slightly out of the typical range of 25-30% as seen in most stories. It also tells of how and where you should use it.
Another page contained information about sentence and readability scores while another page told me how many times, I used the same adverbs over and over again. Each was paired with about reading/ writing to better help one understand where you might need to improve your story.
The report was a fast read and left me curious what other information I was missing out on since this was only the basic package. The report ended with the last two pages filled with information on how to upgrade to the Marlowe Pro while also letting readers know about another site/sister company readers may enjoy.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I enjoyed my experience using Authors.ai. It was fast, easy, and had multiple options for people wanting to use several services. Since I don't write novels as much as short stories, I'd most likely use the basic or single time service for $45 to see what my story may need work on.
Overall, the site is simple to navigate and explains and gives examples of what you'll be receiving. I would recommend this to writers who might need help with their stories before sending them off to editors or self-publishing. It was also great to see how my story compared and in fact is a good read according to Marlowe.
If you haven't already, go check out Authors.ai and tell me what you think! Does it help you better understand your story?
What should I review next? Tell me in the comments!
