Questions parents ask

Flickwick makes a personalised picture book for a child aged 3–8, with that child and the people they love in it. You build the cast, choose a world and a lesson, and the book is written and illustrated for you: ten two-page spreads, a cover and a dedication. You read it online, and you can order a printed hardcover or paperback.

An account, a name for the child (a nickname is fine), and ten minutes. Photos are optional. Seeing the cover is free and needs no card.

Writing the story takes a minute or two. The cover takes a minute or two more. After you unlock the book, the full set of illustrations takes about fifteen to twenty minutes; pages appear as they finish, and you can close the tab and come back. A single redraw takes about a minute.

No. A nickname works just as well, and the story never knows the difference.

No. Grandparents, aunts and uncles make them for nieces, nephews and grandchildren all the time — Flickwick was built by an uncle. Any child aged three to eight, any adult who knows them.

Your child, and up to a few of the people and pets they love: a parent, a grandparent, an uncle or aunt, a sibling, the dog. Each character has a name, a role and a look. A sequel can bring back a bigger cast than a first book.

No. A character can be drawn from a few words instead. A photo makes the illustrations look like the person; words make them look like the description.

It goes to private storage, is used once to draw a character sketch (a look) that you approve, and is deleted the moment you approve it. We never run face recognition and never train anything on it. The children’s privacy page spells out each step.

A photo has to show one person or one pet on their own. A photo of a child with the family dog leaves the illustrator guessing which one is the character, so we ask for a photo of each on their own instead.

A character sketch in the book’s style, drawn once from the photo or description: the same face from a few angles. You approve it before any page is illustrated, and every page is then drawn from it and checked against it. If it isn’t right, redraw it with a note (“shorter hair”, “glasses”) as often as you like.

Yes, in Characters once you are signed in: rename them, change the description, add or replace a photo, redraw and re-approve the look. The change applies to the books you make next. A book that is already illustrated keeps the look it was drawn with, so a finished book never changes under you.

Yes, and we would rather say so here than bury it. You choose the world, the characters and the lesson; the writing and the pictures are generated from that. You read every page before bedtime, and before anything is printed. Every book says “Written and illustrated by Flickwick AI” on its cover.

Three ways. Pick a world and a lesson (sharing, bravery, trying again), and the lesson becomes the heart of the plot rather than a moral at the end. Then use Guide the story to add the things only you know, in your own words: the dog’s name, the trip to the lake, the phrase you always say at bedtime, an object the story should include. And once the book is written, put your own message in the dedication.

Reword the line or redraw the picture as many times as you like. Tell it what to change (“make this gentler”, “mention the red wagon”) and the page is rewritten; give a note and the picture is redrawn, with earlier versions kept so you can go back. Nothing is final, and nothing is printed, until you approve the book.

That is the problem we spent the most time on. Each character is drawn once as a look that you approve before any page is illustrated. Every picture is then checked against that look and redrawn if it drifts, and a final pass compares the whole finished book and fixes the odd one out. If a page still isn’t right, you redraw it yourself.

AI can make mistakes, so after every picture is drawn we compare it with your approved cast, and after the book is whole we compare the pages with each other. Where the check thinks something is off, a note appears under the picture as a question — “Does Lily look right here? Our check thinks her hair looks longer than in the approved look.” You decide. Fix it redraws with that correction in one click; Looks right to me keeps the page. The check is a second pair of eyes, not the last word.

They are stylized illustrations, not portraits: the same hair, coloring and features, in a picture-book style, recognisably them. They will not be an exact likeness, which is another reason you see and can redraw every picture before you order.

Writing and reading a story is free, cover included, for your first three stories, with no card. More stories than that need the Stories plan, $5 a month. If you want a story illustrated as a picture book, it’s $3.99 — once, for that book, which is then yours to read online for good. A printed copy is optional: $34 paperback or $49 hardcover, plus $7.99 shipping. Full details on the pricing page.

Only if you want one. Your first three stories are free, and the optional Stories plan is $5 a month for unlimited stories; cancel it any time from Settings and it runs to the end of the month you paid for. Picture books ($3.99 each) and printed copies are one-off purchases on any plan, so nothing recurring is ever needed to make a book.

The Stories plan can be cancelled at any time and stops at the end of the month you paid for; unused time in a month is not refunded. The $3.99 pays for illustrating the pages, which happens as soon as you pay, so it is not refundable once the pictures have been drawn. If the book fails to generate, or generates something you cannot use, email support@flickwick.app and we will re-run it or refund you, your choice. Printed books are made to order and cannot be cancelled once placed; if one arrives damaged, misprinted or different from what you approved, see “What if my printed book arrives damaged?” below. The terms have the full wording.

No. Reading on a phone or tablet is the book. Print is there when you want something to keep.

In any browser: a phone or tablet at bedtime, a laptop with two-page spreads. Books stay in your library for good.

Yes. A finished book has a private link that only the people you send it to can open. It is unlisted, not searchable, and you can turn it off at any time.

Once a book is finished, Add a sequel appears on it. A sequel is a new book with the same cast: everyone comes back looking exactly as they did, and the story picks up where the last one left off, with its own title, its own $3.99 unlock and its own printed copy if you want one. You choose who returns, add new faces, and say what happens next.

8.3 inches (21 cm) square, full color on every page, on heavy gloss paper. The hardcover has a printed hardback case — the artwork goes straight onto the board, so there is no dust jacket to lose. The paperback is perfect bound. It prints exactly as you approved it on screen.

The printer takes about 4–5 business days to make the book. With standard shipping ($7.99) it arrives in about 8–11 business days all told; with express ($21.99, a courier) about 5–7. Once it ships, tracking appears on your Orders page and in the reader.

The United States only, for now. Prices are in US dollars.

Yes, and it’s a good one. Make the book, put your message in the dedication, and ship it to any US address — theirs, not yours. Give it a couple of weeks before the birthday.

Email support@flickwick.app within 30 days of delivery with a photo of the problem, and we will reprint it or refund you in full, your choice. The same goes for a misprint, a bad binding, or a book that is materially different from the pages you approved. If it never arrives, tell us and we will chase the printer and reprint or refund.

Email support@flickwick.app. Flickwick is made by one person, so that goes to the person who can fix it. There is also a feedback button on every page once you are signed in.

Yes. How it works in the app walks through each step, from adding a character to ordering a printed copy, and your library explains itself the first time you open it.