Plenty of aspects of the book publishing process frustrate authors, agents, and publishers alike. Perhaps chief among them, though, is the inefficient and, frustrating, and often unfair process of manuscript submissions.
A new AI-based platform is setting out to change that. Launched in March 2024, Storywise aims to give “promising authors a better shot at publishing successfully” and provide publishers and agents “a better way to discover stories that fit the wishlist.”
CEO Gavin Marcus and Chief Product Officer Jeremy Esekow told Gotham Ghostwriters about how the platform can help prospective authors, publishers, and agents alike.
You launched Storywise in response to your own experience as an author who faced a frustrating publishing process. What issues did you face that you feel Storywise addresses (and how does it address them)?
Jeremy Esekow: As a debut author, I spent thousands of dollars with literary professionals editing my manuscript and assisting with the querying process. I submitted my book to at least fifty publishers and agents, most of whom never even responded. First-time authors like me who cold query agents and publishers are easily overlooked. More than that, I really wasn’t aware of my options.
Storywise solves many of these issues. Through Storywise Taste Matching, participating publishers and agents dynamically set up their wishlists using keywords, phrases, themes, character profiles – anything really. Storywise then algorithmically matches all incoming submissions, flagging and prioritizing all manuscripts that closely match the wishlist. Storywise also analyses all manuscripts uploaded by authors and proactively matches them to the most relevant publishers. First-time authors are thus able to overcome their obscurity and attract attention based on the criteria that specific publishers are searching for. With Storywise, I am positive I would have been noticed.
I could not afford a developmental edit of my entire manuscript. As it turned out, much of the editing feedback I paid for was repetitive, low-level, and missed the point. Had I engaged a professional editor for the full project or provided them with a more polished version, my manuscript would have stood out much more. Storywise provides affordable, insightful recommendations both at a high level and chapter by chapter. Had they been around when I wrote my book, I would have used my budget to engage a professional editor for real value creation and not mundane assistance.
Additionally, debut and amateur authors (like myself) generally don’t know which agents and publishers to query, what the difference between traditional and hybrid publishing is, or when and why to self-publish. Storywise, with its targeted querying, author resources, and partner network clarifies the options and can give authors sorely needed direction.
AI is a hot topic in terms of discussion about how it will impact the publishing industry. How does Storywise use AI, and did you have any concerns about leveraging that technology?
Gavin Marcus: We use AI in three main areas: building and matching publisher taste profiles, identifying accurate comparative titles, analyzing newly submitted manuscripts, and presenting the highlights for quick and accurate assessment and decision-making by acquisition editors.
We closely follow the legislation and developments in the publishing / AI conversation. The main debate is how authors and rights owners will be compensated by the foundation models that have trained their algorithms on
copyrighted work. We have zero exposure to any of the ongoing legislation and do not train or provide copyrighted material to LLMs. While we are certain that a compensation arrangement will be reached soon, it does not affect us beyond destigmatizing and mainstreaming the usage of AI in our industry.
How was the AI that powers Storywise trained? Storywise serves authors and publishers — how can both feel confident that the technology can helpfully evaluate creative work?
Jeremy Esekow: Primarily, we focus on matching submitted manuscripts to similar books and wishlists. This involves building vectors that describe manuscripts and book descriptions accurately. Our matching has improved through in-house testing and feedback from beta testers.
During this process, we learned that evaluations of manuscript quality did not providethe utility required. We do not attempt to assess or present how good or bad a book is. We believe that editors and publishers are more than capable of deciding which books are of a high enough quality to publish profitably. Our role is to assist with the prioritization of submissions that fit the genres, themes, plotlines, or other characteristics they are searching for.
Without our technology, editors review all synopses and, where appropriate, send the manuscripts to readers at a material cost to determine whether the submission fits the wishlist. Storywise Discovery Matching provides both publishers and agents with an elegant solution to assist with a complex and time-consuming evaluation.
Can you describe the typical user onboarding experience, for both authors and publishers? What is required of both/each and what is the process from start to becoming engaged on the platform?
Gavin Marcus: Publishers and agents are onboarded through the following process:
● The publisher or agent books a session with the Storywise CS team.
● The administrator for the publisher or agent sets up a profile.
● Storywise activates the account, configures it as per user requirements (downloads, decline emails, etc.), and trains the administrator on setting up taste profiles.
● The administrator invites editors to set up their taste profiles.
● All new submissions appear on the publisher dashboard, and users can assign submissions to themselves or others. Submissions matched to a specific editor through the Discovery Network will also appear on their dashboard.
Authors follow this process:
● Authors land on the Storywise Network website because they were either invited by a publisher or agent via a submission decline letter, referred via an affiliate agreement from an approved partner, or stumbled upon the app.
● The author creates a book listing and toggles “enable discovery” on, thereby allowing Storywise to match the manuscript to relevant publishers and agents.
● The author can also upgrade to the Premier subscription, which upgrades their listing using AI features and allows them to access critiques, chapter recommendations, and other author resources.
Can you share any early feedback you’ve gotten from authors and publishers alike on the platform? Any success stories?
The response from publishers and agents has been overwhelmingly positive. Many say Storywise removes bottlenecks in their submission process, making it easier to identify high-potential manuscripts that align with their interests. Customers report up to a 40% reduction in time spent reviewing submissions.
Some agents that previously accepted submissions for just one month per year now stay open year-round without being overwhelmed. One publisher was closed to public submissions for years but reopened after just two months on Storywise due to improved efficiency. And importantly, every author now gets a response; reply times have dropped from six months (or never) to just 30 days.
The author platform is new, but early interest is strong, with signups increasing daily. Storywise makes the submission process faster, fairer, and more effective for both sides. As adoption grows, we look forward to even more success stories.
