A manual should be evaluated based on the number of tickets it eliminates. In this case, if step seven of the manual states click Settings, then if your build says click Preferences, the reader will stop, and email you, and the manual has failed at its only purpose.
To write against the thing itself, the author must have the product, the firmware version or a step-by-step demonstration, and must follow the instructions. If any of those are missing, the author can only submit steps that they have verified themselves, and will mark the rest as guesses.
Manuals are written to guide tasks without getting readers involved. Without following this approach, manuals either provide suggestions for actions that successfully unblock the reader or state tasks that block the reader from continuing. Each step should contain an action that the reader themselves performs, the result of this action states that the step was successful and is visible to the reader, and warnings should be stated before the action to be used. Safety notes are read after the step is performed and therefore are too late.
Where AI falls down on manuals
Models complete interfaces that they have never seen. Request instructions for setup and you get a menu path, a settings toggle that is named appropriately, and a dialog that your software does not have. The prose is clear but the steps are nearly impossible to follow, and only your users are able to figure out what they need to do.
Our Long-Form Process for No-AI Manuals
The writer shows how the product is used and creates a log of what actually happens instead of what the specification says it should. Discrepancies are noted throughout, and the list is sent to you as a draft of the project. The list is often the most important part of the project because it notes interface strings that were changed and which were later unintentionally omitted.
Editing No-AI Manuals for Consistency
Here, each instruction step utilizes correct grammar and contains at least one label for each button. Every step also starts with an action verb. The replace pass verifies that the version number, screenshot list, and troubleshooting table still correlate to the same release.
What manuals cost
One rate, whatever the format: $10 per 100 words. You are paying for the writer’s time and judgement, so the price scales with the words rather than with a package tier.
Typical manual
Words
Writing
Fee (1%)
You pay
Short
500
$50
$0.50
$50.50
Standard
1,000
$100
$1
$101
In-depth
2,000
$200
$2
$202
The writer receives 100% of the writing price. Our 1% fee is added on top of it, and 0.5% is donated to tree planting.
Full pricing breakdown.
No-AI Manuals FAQs
Every format is priced identically: $10 per 100 words plus a 1% platform fee. A 1,000-word manual comes to $101. There is no research surcharge, no rush tier and no minimum retainer.
Up to 3 days. The writer has to read around the subject before writing it, so we quote honestly rather than promising an hour. If your deadline is tighter, say so in the brief and we will tell you before you pay whether we can meet it.
We write the plain-language version and place warnings, but we are not a certification body. Drafting of any wording that is required by a standard or a regulator is done for your compliance lead or notified body for their approval prior to the manual shipping.
A working test account or the device, the current version number, and a named person who can answer questions within a day. Projects stall most of all on the last one. A writer stuck on one dialog box cannot write around it.
Completely. Copyright transfers to you on delivery, with no attribution requirement and no licence back to us. Nothing written for you is resold, repurposed or republished.
Reviews
What clients say about our manuals
Reviews from completed, paid orders in this category.
RDRafael D
The second draft outline was my saving grace
I had managed to write around 40 thousand words. Unfortunately those words didn’t provide any structure. When I received the feedback on this, it contained a merged chapter, one chapter completely removed (along with an explanation as to why) and the additional feedback stated that the chapter that had been removed was essentially doing the work of three chapters which I had already written. It was a bit painful to read, but correct.
Verified orderBook outlinesApril 2025
LGLéa G
Kept my voice through forty thousand words
My mother finished reading all nine chapters over four months. Impressively, she did it without knowing I had someone else type it. The writer sent questions after each chapter to eliminate guessing. Of all the things I have written myself, chapter six is the best.
Verified orderGhostwritten booksOctober 2025
DPDanilo P
Sold the book in three sentences
My novel took four years, and the back cover took three sentences and had me stumped for six weeks. The writer must have read the full manuscript (instead of the synopsis) which I know because the copy references a scene from chapter fourteen.
