FAQ
PRICING
What is the benefit of subscribing to Marlowe Pro?
Bestselling authors know the value of strong, incisive early-stage feedback. Marlowe Pro, our AI-powered developmental editing tool, helps authors at every level refine their story into a polished work before it reaches readers.
What is the cost to run a report?
Marlowe Basic: Free. Offers helpful feedback but limited to about a half-dozen areas.
Marlowe Pro:
- Single Report: $29.95
- Monthly Plan: $19.95/month — includes four report credits ($4.98 per report)
- Annual Plan: $159/year — includes 48 credits ($3.31 per report, $80 savings)
All subscriptions include four credits/month (or 48/year) and auto-renew, but you can cancel anytime via your account dashboard.
What is a credit?
It costs one credit to run one Marlowe Pro report. You receive:
- Four credits/month with the monthly plan
- 48 credits/year with the annual plan (at a lower price)
Credits do not roll over but you get new credits with each renewal. There are no additional fees or hidden costs. Your subscription covers the cost of the credits.
What if I want to buy additional credits?
You can upgrade to an annual plan to unlock 48 credits or purchase additional credit packs (5, 10, 20+). Contact us for pricing.
Are there extra fees for longer manuscripts?
No. One credit covers any book length. Please be aware that Marlowe’s advanced features won’t work correctly on anthologies, series, or if you combine manuscripts into a single upload.
If I purchase a single report, do I have to run it right away?
No. You’ll be assigned a credit to your account and there is no time limit for using it — it does not expire.
MARLOWE & THE AUTHOR DASHBOARD
What is Marlowe?
Marlowe is our proprietary AI, built to analyze fiction. Our team of data scientists and authors has been enhancing its capabilities since 2020. Marlowe’s insights appear in an interactive Author Dashboard that also lets you see how your manuscript compares to bestsellers in terms of plot, story beats, pacing, and dozens of other ingredients of successful commercial fiction.
What is the Author Dashboard?
Launched in June 2025, the Author Dashboard replaces PDF reports with an online platform powered by Marlowe 3.0. These interactive reports now include new sections, deeper insights, and enhanced usability.
How do I use it?
Upload your manuscript and answer a couple of questions. In a few minutes, Marlowe’s analysis appears on your private dashboard.
How does the AI analyze my novel?
Marlowe compares your manuscript to thousands of bestsellers, identifying patterns across pacing, structure, dialogue, and more, to offer customized feedback. The AI draws conclusions based on the hallmarks of successful commercial fiction as well as inputs from bestselling authors on the founding team.
What kind of feedback should I expect?
Marlowe Pro provides a detailed analysis that includes:
- Plot and character development
- Pacing, structure, conflict, and narrative arc
- Dialogue, setting, and voice
- Author voice, readability, clichés, misspellings, and more
- Final checklist and story structure guide
- Overall assessment and key recommendations
- Areas that need revision
Marlowe Basic offers a subset of these.
Can AI really help improve my plot, pacing, or structure?
Yes. Marlowe identifies structural elements and story patterns, offering actionable tips to improve your novel’s pacing and plot as well as its structure and writing.
Does Marlowe understand my genre?
Yes. With the launch of Marlowe 3.0, our AI now draws from a much wider range of titles across every major genre. Marlowe lets you compare your manuscript to top-performing books covering 22 fiction genres and subgenres.
Will my manuscript be moderated?
No. You’re the only person who will see your report.
Can I interact directly with Marlowe?
In this initial release of Marlowe 3.0, there’s no way to directly ask questions of Marlowe, our AI. (We’re considering this for a future release.) However, as you make edits to your manuscript, we encourage you to run it through Marlowe again to see if your changes address Marlowe’s initial suggestions.
Will I still need an editor or proofreader?
Marlowe Pro provides detailed developmental insights into your manuscript’s structure, pacing, and overall potential.
That said, if you have the time and budget, we always recommend working with human editors and proofreaders after incorporating Marlowe’s feedback. (And don’t skip beta readers — they’re invaluable.) Here is a list of book editors for hire that we’ve vetted.
Does Marlowe work on a series?
Not yet. We have a roadmap of features requested by authors that includes series, story bibles, and other features. Have a feature you’d like to see? Email us!
Can I add my past works as comps and compare them in the Pacing graph?
Not at the moment, but it’s on our roadmap!
GENERAL FAQ
I don’t like the idea of AI writing for me.
We agree! Marlowe is analytical, not a generative AI. Our AI won’t write your novel for you. We believe authors should remain at the center of the storytelling process. Marlowe gives data-driven feedback to improve your work while preserving your voice and creativity. See our statement on Our use of AI in fiction.
Will following Marlowe’s advice make my story formulaic?
Not at all. Broad genre conventions provide structure, not limitations. Your unique characters and voice make your book stand out — Marlowe just helps you meet (or subvert) reader expectations intentionally.
What is the word count requirement?
Minimum: 10,000 words. No maximum, though books over 120,000 words may take longer to process.
How is Marlowe different from large language models like ChatGPT?
We differ from the LLMs in significant ways:
- We’re not an LLM. We’re a homegrown AI built by authors and data scientists. Our first model was released in 2020.
- Our focus is fiction, and we do some things better than the LLMs, such as providing actionable visual graphs that break down a story’s plot turns, story beats, pacing, narrative arc, etc.
- Marlowe’s analysis can instantly compare your book to over a thousand novels and identify and highlight similarities and differences, which is not possible with an LLM.
- We do a better job than ChatGPT and other LLMs across a number of writing and storytelling criteria, including identifying overuse of cliches, adverbs, and adjectives, use of explicit language, misspellings, etc.
- ChatGPT gives you feedback in a limited session. Your reports don’t expire in your Author Dashboard, and you can refer back to them at any time.
- Your Author Dashboard breaks down your manuscript into sections specific to a fiction author’s needs, including analyses of story elements, conflict, theme, dialogue, setting, readability, author voice, story structure, a revisions checklist, and more.
- We offer experiences tailored to where you are in your author journey.
Can I use Marlowe before my novel is finished?
Yes. Marlowe Pro gives you access to our Story Structure section, which provides frameworks for completing your novel. Think of these as “story blueprint” tools. These include:
- Hero’s Journey
- Three-Act Structure
- Save the Cat Beat Sheet
- Six-Stage Plot Structure
- Thematic journeys guide
- Overview of conventions and tropes by genre, with guides for:
- Romance
- Thrillers
- Action & Adventure
- Mystery & Crime Fiction
- Science Fiction
- Fantasy
- Historical Fiction
- Horror
Does Marlowe work with nonfiction, memoirs, or short stories?
Our AI can perform an analysis on any long-form narrative, including novels, biographies, memoirs, histories, and novellas. Although it can read and offer feedback on nonfiction, its real expertise and experience is primarily with fiction. Marlowe isn’t suited to short stories with fewer than 10,000 words.
Do I need to be tech-savvy to use Marlowe?
Not at all! Just upload your Word doc or epub file, and Marlowe takes it from there.
Why is it called Marlowe?
Marlowe is inspired by Christopher Marlowe, Shakespeare’s inspiration, and Philip Marlowe, Raymond Chandler’s hardboiled private eye. We like to think it has Philip Marlowe’s intellect and investigative skills and Christopher Marlowe’s pioneering spirit and love for the written word.
Does the Author Dashboard work on mobile?
While the Author Dashboard can be accessed on a phone or tablet, the graphs are harder to read on a small device, so we recommend reading your Marlowe reports on a desktop or laptop computer.
Can I use Marlowe to create story bibles or to analyze a series?
Not yet. It’s on our roadmap.
I’m a book publisher or editor. Can I purchase access to Marlowe in bulk?
Yes! See our Industry Pass for volume licensing.
What’s coming next?
Stay tuned for a new product designed to help market your book and grow your audience.
Privacy & security
Do you use uploaded manuscripts to train your AI?
No. Manuscripts are never used for training. Your manuscript analysis occurs wholly within our private data vault, which ensures that your IP cannot be used to train or otherwise inform our AI or any LLM.
Is my manuscript safe?
Yes. Submissions are processed securely and stored privately, with no human review or external access. We’re authors, too, and we take intellectual property seriously.
Who has access to my manuscript after I upload it?
No one.
What happens to my manuscript after I upload it?
Once received by our servers, your manuscript will be processed through Marlowe and archived. Our manuscript storage system is encrypted and shielded by multiple security layers to ensure that only you or those you authorize have access to data describing your manuscript.
Can someone copy my work?
No. We’ve trained Marlowe to analyze your manuscript — no humans ever look at it. Encrypted upload and storage prevent unauthorized access or data leakage.
If I upload my novel, will it be used as a comp?
No. The comps feature on our graphs only compares your manuscript to bestsellers in our corpus. No uploaded works are added to our corpus.
If I upload my novel, does Authors A.I. have any legal claim to its contents?
No. You retain 100% ownership, as stated in our Terms of Service.
Will others know I’ve used Marlowe Pro?
No, not unless you tell them. Your subscription and reports are confidential.
SUBSCRIPTIONS
Can I resubmit my manuscript without paying again?
Each Marlowe Pro submission uses one credit, even if it’s the same manuscript. Marlowe Basic is free and unlimited.
Can I use my Marlowe Pro subscription to analyze my catalog of past books?
Yes! Many authors gain insights by comparing their past works.
How do I upgrade my plan?
To upgrade from Marlowe Basic to Marlowe Pro, just subscribe to the monthly plan or annual plan. To go from the monthly to annual plan, click here.
How do I cancel my plan?
Log into your account → My Account → My Membership → Cancel. You can also delete your account and data from the Account Details section.
Is my Marlowe Pro plan based on calendar months, and do my credits roll over?
Your Marlowe Pro subscription renews monthly or annually, based on your selection. Monthly plans renew — and you are awarded four fresh report credits for a monthly plan (and 48 for an annual plan) — on whichever day of the month you initially subscribed. Unused credits do not roll over.
