Nellie product guide, published by the team behind Nellie.
You can start and manage a Nellie book project from a phone, including entering the initial idea, following generation, reading chapters, and making focused revisions. When the manuscript needs a sustained structural edit or detailed formatting review, move to the web app on a larger screen.
That division of labor is usually more practical than forcing the entire writing process onto one device. Use your phone for momentum. Use a laptop, desktop, or tablet when you need to see more of the book at once.
This guide is based on Nellie’s documented platform availability and workflow, not a hands-on comparison of every phone model or screen size. Feature presentation can vary by platform and app release, so confirm important controls in the current app and documentation before committing a large project.
Begin with a compact project brief#
Nellie supports fiction and nonfiction book generation, along with illustrated-book and audiobook workflows. It is available through the web app and mobile apps for iPhone, iPad, and Android, according to the current Nellie product page.
A phone is well suited to writing the initial brief because you do not need a polished synopsis. Start with four pieces of information:
- Book type: fiction or nonfiction
- Reader: who the book is for
- Central promise or conflict: what changes by the end
- Important constraints: tone, scope, setting, or topics to include and avoid
Invented fiction prompt example#
Write a contemporary mystery for adult readers about a volunteer archivist who finds a recent photograph hidden in a century-old town record. Keep the story grounded rather than supernatural. Focus on family secrecy, local politics, and the cost of exposing the truth.
Invented nonfiction prompt example#
Create a practical book for adults caring for aging parents while working full time. Organize it around conversations, household administration, medical appointments, and caregiver boundaries. Use a calm, direct tone. Do not invent legal or medical claims, and mark subjects that require expert verification.
These are suggested prompts, not examples of completed generations or tested results. Their purpose is to show how a short phone entry can establish useful boundaries.
Before generating, read the prompt once for omissions. A missing constraint can affect many chapters. It is faster to add “avoid graphic violence” or “write for complete beginners” now than to repair the assumption throughout a manuscript.
Capture outline notes between other commitments#
Mobile writing works particularly well for brief planning sessions. You might have ten minutes before an appointment or a few minutes on a lunch break. Use that time to record decisions rather than trying to draft polished pages.
For fiction, useful mobile notes include:
- what the protagonist wants
- what prevents them from getting it
- the turning point that should occur near the middle
- facts that must remain consistent, such as ages, locations, and relationships
- the emotional or plot question each chapter should advance
For nonfiction, capture:
- the reader’s starting problem
- the result each chapter should help produce
- examples you can support from your own material
- factual claims that need sources
- subjects that require professional or legal review
Keep a separate verification list for dates, quotations, statistics, medical guidance, financial information, and other factual claims. Nellie can help develop a manuscript, but generated factual material still needs checking before distribution. For a more detailed research process, see the source-first nonfiction workflow.
Generate the project, then review in short passes#
Once the brief reflects the book you want, begin generation in Nellie. The product is designed to develop an idea into an outline and chapters, rather than requiring a separate prompt for every chapter. The current site describes live generation streaming, although the exact presentation may differ between the mobile and web interfaces.
Do not treat generation as the end of the project. Treat it as the point at which review becomes concrete.
A phone-friendly review sequence is:
- Inspect the outline. Does the chapter order make sense? Is an essential stage or plot turn missing?
- Read one chapter at a time. Focus on its purpose before correcting individual sentences.
- Leave concise revision instructions. Ask for one defined change instead of combining several unrelated requests.
- Check the revised section in context. A stronger chapter can still create repetition or continuity problems elsewhere.
- Record project-wide issues. Save major restructuring decisions for a larger screen.
Examples of focused revision instructions include:
Make the disagreement in this scene more indirect. Keep both characters outwardly polite, but clarify what each one risks losing.
Reduce repeated explanations in this section. Preserve the three practical steps and flag factual claims that require a source.
Nellie’s current product page documents chapter-level editing, rewriting, and refinement. Controls and availability can change, so verify what appears in your installed app before planning a deadline around a particular editing option.
For a systematic manuscript review, use the AI manuscript revision checklist.
Know what belongs on a phone and what belongs on a larger screen#
The phone-versus-desktop guidance here reflects workflow criteria such as screen space, typing comfort, and the amount of context visible at once. It is not a benchmark of device performance.
| Task | Phone is a good fit when… | A larger screen helps when… |
|---|---|---|
| Prompting | You are capturing or refining a concise idea | You are combining extensive notes or source material |
| Outline review | You are checking chapter order and leaving short comments | You need to compare distant chapters or restructure the whole book |
| Chapter review | You are reading one section and making light edits | You are tracking continuity across several chapters |
| Nonfiction checks | You are adding items to a verification list | You need multiple sources open beside the manuscript |
| Prose editing | You are fixing a sentence, transition, or short passage | You are conducting a sustained line edit |
| Final preparation | You are confirming that the project is ready for final review | You are checking the complete manuscript and exported files |
A useful rule is to switch devices when you repeatedly scroll back to remember earlier material. That is a sign that the edit requires more visible context.
Continue the same project in the web app#
Nellie states that projects sync across iPhone, iPad, Mac, and the web app. Before relying on that workflow, sign in with the same account on both devices and run a small test:
- Create a short test project on your phone.
- Add a distinctive note or make a small edit.
- Open the web app with the same account.
- Confirm that the project and latest change appear.
- Make another small change on the web and check it on mobile.
This test is more useful than assuming that every platform exposes identical controls. Account synchronization does not necessarily mean complete feature parity in every app release.
The available evidence does not establish an offline workflow, so plan on having a connection unless current in-app guidance explicitly says otherwise. Also check the FAQ and current app information for changes to trials, credits, exports, and platform support.
Review the complete manuscript before export#
On a larger screen, work through the book in separate passes:
- Structure: chapter order, missing steps, unresolved plot lines
- Continuity: names, ages, dates, settings, terminology, and character knowledge
- Repetition: duplicated explanations, scenes, examples, or conclusions
- Voice: inconsistent tone or characters who sound too similar
- Facts: every claim that needs an authoritative source
- Presentation: headings, chapter breaks, images, cover text, and front matter
The current FAQ lists PDF, EPUB, Markdown, HTML, plain text, and JSON among the export options. Export availability may depend on the current product configuration or plan, so confirm the format you need before purchase or final production. An exported file should still be opened and inspected. Check page breaks, heading order, image placement, cover spelling, and whether the ebook navigation behaves as expected.
Nellie’s documentation hub and quick start are primarily developer resources for the API, not a consumer mobile-app tutorial. They are useful if you later want programmatic book generation, authentication, status checks, or downloads. For ordinary phone writing, use the controls in the mobile app and web app rather than copying API instructions.
Start with a short mobile test#
Download the Nellie app from the platform links on the Nellie website, sign in, and create a deliberately small test project. Use a simple premise, review the outline and first available material on your phone, make one focused edit, and then open the same project in the web app.
That short trial will tell you where mobile fits your routine before you begin a full book. Once the workflow feels comfortable, start the project you actually want to finish.
