Make your own mini-book

From your first notes to a book people can read and hear.

Read this guide without registering. Explore the process, try the steps that suit you, and contact us if you would like a helping hand. Service prices and availability will be published here when confirmed.

Explore the author and Mentor trials · About our example book

A mini-book starts with something you want to say. Ten chapters is the format used for our example, A Voice Across Generations; you can use its process to plan your own work.

Read A Voice Across Generations · Ask The Blue•Print about assistance

1. Gather your material

Bring together your notes, documents, recollections and existing writing. Keep an untouched copy of the originals. Make a short list of where material came from and any permissions you need to obtain.

Write down who you hope will read the book, what you want them to understand, and what you hope they might do afterwards. These answers help you decide what belongs in this book and what can wait.

Keep: original material, a source list and a short statement of the book’s purpose.

Helping hand: organising material and finding a manageable starting point. Ask about this step and mention “Mini-book — organising material”.

2. Shape and edit the chapters

Arrange a working sequence with one main purpose for each chapter. Read it from beginning to end. Look for repetition, missing explanations and changes of direction that need a bridge.

If you use AI to help, give it a clear task: suggest a structure, shorten sentences, or identify unclear passages. Compare its output with your originals. Check facts, quotations and references yourself, and keep control of the final wording.

Separate remembered experience, verified records, interpretation and imagined examples so the reader can understand what each passage is doing.

Keep: a chapter outline, dated drafts and an approved text for production.

Helping hand: structure, editing and a second reading. Ask about this step and mention “Mini-book — editing”.

3. Prepare the supporting pages and illustrations

Prepare a title, author name, short book description, cover, contents, sources, contact information and your copyright and permissions wording. An “About this book” page can describe both the author and the production process.

Choose illustrations that help the reader. Record their origin and permission or licence terms. Write useful descriptions for readers who cannot see them. Identify illustrative reconstructions clearly where a reader might otherwise mistake them for documentary evidence.

Keep: the original artwork, web copies, descriptions and permission records.

Helping hand: cover design, illustrations and supporting pages. Ask about this step and mention “Mini-book — images and book pages”.

4. Produce and review the audio

Begin with a short listening trial. Check the narrator’s delivery, accent, pronunciation and pace before generating a complete book.

For a cast production, mark who speaks each line. Assign character voices to direct dialogue and leave indirect speech with the narrator. Keep the spoken script alongside the recordings so corrections can be traced to the right passage.

Generate manageable portions, retain the originals, and assemble the chapter. Listen through the finished file while following the text. Check volume, joins, pronunciation and missing or repeated words. Add opening and closing music if it serves the book and you have permission to use it.

Our example: Chapter 3, “Learning to have a say”, uses David V as narrator and Sammy for Mia’s direct dialogue. Its reviewed production is approximately 3 minutes 59 seconds, including original opening and closing music. John’s listening feedback led to a second version with higher overall volume and a lift around 1:38.

The complete chapter script, including its spoken introduction and closing, contains 3,905 characters. The earlier sample contains 970. At a base rate of one credit per character, the estimated generation requirement is 3,905 ElevenLabs credits for the chapter, or 4,875 including the sample. Actual deductions can depend on voice rates and account terms.

As a subscription-cost allocation, US$22 divided by 121,000 credits gives approximately US$0.71 for this chapter, or US$0.89 with its sample, before tax. This uses the public Creator pricing checked on 20 October 2026; it is not an invoice or a confirmed top-up price. Provider charges exclude editing, casting, listening review, corrections, artwork, assembly and publishing work. These figures are not a TBP service quote.

Volume revisions and assembly of the existing recordings required no additional speech generation.

ElevenLabs documentation · Current provider pricing

Keep: the approved script, voice choices, original audio portions, final recording and production costs.

Helping hand: casting, audio generation, assembly and listening review. Ask about this step and mention “Mini-book — audio”.

5. Check and publish

Preview the complete book before release. Check every chapter, image, audio player and supporting page. Try it on a phone as well as a larger screen. Check that navigation works and that a reader can find contact and ownership information.

In the current TBP workflow, staff approval allows the author to publish the reviewed version. Editing a draft does not automatically replace the existing public edition.

Keep your own downloadable copies of the text, artwork and audio. If you use a hosted service, ask what is included, who controls the domain, how updates work, and what happens if you leave.

Keep: an approved release, its date, the public address and a complete backup.

Helping hand: installation, checks and publication. Ask about this step and mention “Mini-book — publishing”.

6. Preserve and maintain it

Decide how you will keep copies and record future editions. You can request Internet Archive captures of public pages, then check which captures actually succeeded. An archive submission is not confirmation of a saved copy, and a saved page may not include all its images or audio. Independent backups remain useful.

Internet Archive — Wayback Machine

As readers ask questions, improve the Sources page and record substantive updates. Server logs can help you examine requests from declared crawlers and other automated visitors. A request alone does not prove indexing or use in AI training.

Keep: backups, edition notes and links to confirmed archive captures.

Helping hand: preservation planning and later updates. Ask about this step and mention “Mini-book — preservation”.

Decide what help you want

You can follow the guide yourself, ask for assistance with particular steps, or enquire about complete production. Before you agree to paid work, you should be able to see the scope, deliverables, price, included corrections, ownership arrangements and any ongoing costs.

TBP service credits and an external provider’s credits are separate. Any quote should explain what is being reserved or charged and what work it covers.

Contact The Blue•Print when you are ready. Mention your material, intended readers and the steps where you would like assistance. You do not need to send sensitive source documents with an initial enquiry.