What Authors does

Authors A.I. is a Delaware C Corp founded in 2020 that has built Marlowe, a proprietary analytical AI purpose-built for fiction manuscript analysis. The platform reads user-uploaded novels (Word .docx or ePub) and produces developmental editorial feedback across plot, characters, pacing, narrative arc, theme, dialogue, setting, author voice, and readability, with comparative benchmarking against thousands of bestsellers in 22 fiction genres and subgenres. Marlowe is trained on a rights-cleared corpus of legally obtained novels, does not train on user manuscripts, and explicitly does not generate or rewrite text—it only reads and reports. The product is delivered through a web-based Author Dashboard (launched June 2025 as part of Marlowe 3.0) that replaced earlier PDF reports with interactive graphs and persistent access.

The company serves primarily individual fiction authors—indie/self-published, aspiring, and prolific writers—plus a smaller set of publishers and editors. Its go-to-market is fully self-serve PLG: a freemium Marlowe Basic tier (unlimited free reports covering readability, cliches, explicit language, repetitive phrases, and misspellings) feeds a paid Marlowe Pro subscription at $19.95/month or $159/year (4 or 48 report credits respectively) and a one-time Single Report at $29.95. Distribution is driven by an extensive partner network (ALLi, IBPA, Reedsy, BookFunnel, IngramSpark, NAIWE), a 35% affiliate program, a $10 bilateral referral program, content marketing, and earned media. The company was founded by 110 bestselling authors, including co-founders Alessandra Torre (CEO), JD Lasica (COO), and Matthew Jockers, PhD, with Geoffrey Poole as CTO/Chief Data Scientist.

Revenue mechanics combine consumer subscriptions, single-purchase report credits, B2B Industry Pass volume licensing for publishers, and affiliate/referral commissions. The company also operates BingeBooks, a sister book-discovery platform with over 340,000 titles, and maintains a Book Editors for Hire directory, extending its footprint into author discovery and downstream editorial services. Total disclosed external capital is $211,843 from a 2024 StartEngine crowdfunding campaign; no institutional venture funding is referenced. Headcount is reported as 1-10 employees with a remote team across the US and Canada and founding authors spanning North America, the UK, Europe, and Australia.

Name

Authors

Legal name

Authors A.I., Inc.

Website

https://authors.ai

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Authors A.I. operates Marlowe, a proprietary analytical AI that delivers developmental editorial feedback on fiction manuscripts, serving 40,000+ indie and aspiring authors through a freemium-to-paid SaaS platform with subscriptions starting at $19.95/month.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Santa Rosa Beach

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Subscription - Marlowe Pro Monthly: Monthly subscription at $19.95/month providing 4 Pro report credits per month. Users can run analyses on manuscripts and receive comprehensive feedback on plot, characters, pacing, and more. Credits do not roll over.
2. Subscription - Marlowe Pro Annual: Annual subscription at $159/year providing 48 Pro report credits (saves $80 compared to monthly). Credits renew annually and do not roll over between periods.
3. Single Report Purchase: One-time purchase at $29.95 for a single Marlowe Pro report with continued access to the Author Dashboard. Credit does not expire.
4. Marlowe Basic (Freemium): Free tier providing basic manuscript analysis including readability, cliches, explicit language, repetitive phrases, adverbs/adjectives, and misspellings. Unlimited reports at no cost.
5. Affiliate Program: 35% commission on first purchases (monthly, annual, or single report). $10 credit per qualifying referral purchase. Partners include writing coaches, editors, and influencers.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Authors A.I. provides Marlowe, a proprietary analytical AI that reads fiction manuscripts and delivers developmental editorial feedback on plot, characters, pacing, story beats, narrative arc, theme, dialogue, setting, author voice, and readability. The service is offered via a freemium Basic tier (readability, clichés, misspellings) and a paid Pro subscription ($19.95/month or $159/year) with comprehensive developmental analysis and comparative genre benchmarking, plus a $29.95 single-report one-time purchase. All results are delivered through the interactive Author Dashboard (Marlowe 3.0).

Product overview

Authors A.I. offers a multi-tiered AI-powered manuscript analysis platform built around its proprietary analytical AI, Marlowe. The core offering consists of Marlowe (analytical AI for fiction), available in three tiers: Marlowe Basic (free, limited analysis of clichés, explicit language, repetitive phrases, misspellings, readability, and dialogue/narrative ratio), Marlowe Pro (paid subscription providing comprehensive developmental feedback on plot, characters, pacing, story beats, narrative arc, theme, dialogue, setting, author voice, conflict, and comparative benchmarking against bestsellers), and Single Report (one-time $29.95 purchase for a single Pro-level analysis). All reports are delivered via the Marlowe 3.0 Author Dashboard (launched June 2025), which replaced PDF reports with an interactive online platform. The company also operates BingeBooks, a companion book discovery platform with over 340,000 titles, and maintains a book editors for hire directory. The platform was founded in 2020 by 110 bestselling authors and data scientists, including co-founders Alessandra Torre, Matthew Jockers PhD, and J.D. Lasica.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Marlowe: Analytical AI for fiction that analyzes novel manuscripts to provide developmental feedback. Does not generate or rewrite text. Named for Christopher Marlowe and Philip Marlowe.
• Marlowe Basic
• Marlowe Pro

Products and services

• Marlowe (Analytical AI) Proprietary analytical AI built specifically for long-form fiction that reads uploaded manuscripts and delivers developmental editorial feedback on plot, characters, pacing, story beats, narrative arc, theme, dialogue, setting, author voice, conflict, readability, clichés, and more. Does not generate or rewrite text and does not train on user uploads. Available to individual authors via subscription, single-report, or freemium tiers.
• Marlowe Basic Free tier of the Marlowe platform for aspiring and indie fiction authors, offering limited manuscript analysis including readability score, clichés finder, explicit language finder, repetitive phrases, overuse of adverbs and adjectives, misspellings finder, and dialogue vs. narrative usage ratio. Unlimited free reports.
• Marlowe Pro Premium subscription tier ($19.95/month or $159/year) providing comprehensive developmental manuscript analysis including overall assessment, author voice analysis, plot analysis, narrative arc analysis, story elements and story beats analysis, character analysis, conflict analysis, theme analysis, pacing analysis, setting analysis, key recommendations, inconsistencies, story structure guide, and final review checklist. Benchmarks manuscripts against bestsellers in 22 fiction genres.
• Single Report One-time $29.95 purchase of a single Marlowe Pro-level manuscript analysis with continued access to the Author Dashboard; credit does not expire. Designed for authors who want to try Marlowe without a subscription commitment.
• Author Dashboard (Marlowe 3.0) Interactive online platform where authors access Marlowe's manuscript analysis results. Replaces PDF reports with navigation across multiple analysis sections, visual graphs for pacing and narrative arc, genre comparison features, and a final review checklist. Available to all Marlowe Pro subscribers.
• BingeBooks Book discovery platform operated as a sister site to Authors A.I. featuring 340,000+ book titles. Enables authors to create author pages, promote their novels, and connect with readers, complementing Marlowe with downstream reader-acquisition support.
• Book Editors for Hire Directory Vetted directory of professional book editors and writing coaches covering developmental editing, copy editing, line editing, proofreading, ghostwriting, and book coaching across multiple fiction genres. Provides a downstream human-editing service for authors who want professional editors after Marlowe's AI analysis.

Quantifiable outcome

• 40,000+ authors trust the platform
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability2 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• ALLi (Alliance of Independent Authors)coreGTM or Marketing PartnerPartnership with the Alliance of Independent Authors - a major organization supporting indie authors worldwide. ALLi provides free Marlowe Pro reports ($45 value) to members using code ALLI24, driving acquisition among their membership base.
• IBPA (Independent Publishers of America)coreGTM or Marketing PartnerPartnership with IBPA, a leading organization for independent publishers. IBPA promotes Authors A.I. services to their member publishers and authors.
• IngramSparkminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPartnership with IngramSpark, a major indie publishing distribution platform, for cross-promotion to authors using their distribution services.
• NAIWE (National Association of Independent Writers and Editors)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerPartnership with NAIWE, providing visibility among their membership of independent writers and editors.
• ReedsyminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPartnership with Reedsy, a marketplace connecting authors with professional editors and designers, for cross-promotion and referral of authors.
• BingeBookscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSister site BingeBooks is a leading book discovery platform with over 340,000 book titles. Authors A.I. co-founders also operate BingeBooks, providing a complementary book discovery service for Authors A.I. customers looking to find readers.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• AutoCrit: Online fiction-editing tool that analyzes manuscripts for pacing, dialogue, and style. Highly comparable because it specifically targets novelists with subscription-based stylistic and structural analysis, overlapping with Marlowe's basic and pro features.
• Sudowrite: AI writing assistant purpose-built for fiction authors, offering brainstorming, drafting, and revision features. Comparable because it targets the same fiction-author buyer with a subscription SaaS model; differs in being generative-first versus Marlowe's analytical-first approach.
• ProWritingAid: Subscription-based writing-improvement tool for authors, offering style, grammar, and readability reports. Comparable because it sells to fiction and non-fiction authors with a similar self-serve SaaS model; overlaps with Marlowe Basic on cliche/repetitive-phrase analysis.
• NovelAI: Subscription AI service for fiction authoring and storytelling, with a custom-trained storytelling model. Comparable because it sells to fiction authors via a tiered subscription model; differs in being generative-first with a different IP/privacy posture than Marlowe.
• Fictionary: Story-editing software focused on scene-level structure, character arcs, and plot for novelists. Comparable as a fiction-specific, subscription SaaS targeting the same indie/trad author segment, with overlap on story-beat and character analysis.

Emerging players

• Plottr: Plotting and outlining tool for fiction authors with timeline and scene planning. Comparable as a subscription SaaS targeting the same novel-writer segment; complementary rather than overlapping with Marlowe's post-draft analysis.
• Novelcrafter: AI-powered novel-writing workspace with planning, drafting, and Codex features for fiction authors. Comparable to Marlowe because it serves the same fiction-author persona; differs in being a generative writing environment rather than a feedback-only tool.

Broad incumbents

• Reedsy: Marketplace and resource hub connecting authors with editors, designers, and marketing professionals. Comparable because it is an established player in the indie-author tooling ecosystem and is also a distribution partner of Authors A.I.
• Grammarly: Large, general-purpose writing assistant for grammar, clarity, and tone, with a broad consumer and enterprise base. Comparable as an incumbent in AI writing assistance, but not purpose-built for long-form fiction or developmental feedback.
• Scrivener: Long-form writing software widely used by novelists for drafting, organizing, and compiling manuscripts. Comparable as a long-form-author productivity standard, though it is a desktop drafting tool without AI analysis.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/watch?v=hzJZE5cOI70
• Xx.com/AuthorsAi
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/authorsai

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Authors