Storiad and Bitta AI offer authors interactive books as marketing tools

Storiad and Bitta AI have partnered to give eligible authors and publishers an AI-powered “Living Book” version of their titles, designed to let prospective readers interact with the material before deciding whether to buy. The initial focus is nonfiction books that teach a skill. Readers could ask about an author’s ideas, practise a sales or negotiation technique, or apply a book’s methodology to a real-world situation. Fiction applications are planned to follow, allowing readers to interact with characters and explore a story world. The companies announced the arrangement on Sept. 14. They describe the Living Book as a reusable marketing asset rather than a conventional advertisement, excerpt, review or social-media post. It can be placed on author websites and used in email, social-media, publicity and reader-outreach campaigns. Bitta says the interactive edition allows readers to ask questions, work through ideas and receive answers based on what the author wrote, in the author’s voice. Its partner page describes the model as a way for a reader to spend “six minutes with a real book” before buying it. The companies say the product creates an extra step in book marketing, between seeing a title and purchasing it: readers first interact with the book and experience its value. Reader activity can also give authors information about the questions readers ask and the parts of a book that draw them in or cause them to stall. Ramzi S. Hajj, Storiad’s founder and chief executive, said authors spend substantial time and money trying to win attention and sales. He said the Living Book would give them a way to let readers experience a title, rather than simply being told why to buy it. The announcement puts the feature within Storiad’s broader marketing system, which combines planning, campaign management, AI assistance and a database of more than 50,000 media contacts, reviewers and influencers. In a separate Sept. 9 release, Storiad argued that authors often have many marketing tools but lack a system connecting their strategy, activities and measurement. The companies said more than 250,000 new titles are released annually in the United States, making it difficult for authors to turn attention into sales. Siyuan Guo, Bitta AI’s chief executive, said the purpose was to make the author’s primary product interactive, not to replace the book. As we reported in August, Sanai AI is separately testing a book chatbot that lets readers question characters, events and ideas while staying within the text. Authors and publishers interested in the Storiad release can register through Bitta’s Storiad partner page. Participating authors will be onboarded as Living Book experiences become available.