One key to success and fun in the book creation process is building a community. Involving family and friends strengthens relationships and makes writing the book even more fulfilling.

Anecdobio is set up to provide you maximum flexibility when you add friends and family. There are actually five roles that someone can have. These five roles are described below:

• Purchaser: The Purchaser is the one who bought Anecdobio, either for someone else as a gift or for themselves to act as the primary author. The Purchaser has full rights in helping manage the book creation process. That means the Purchaser can add other users, select story prompts, read stories, help authors with edits, etc. You name it, the Purchaser can do it. One key role that is solely the Purchaser's, is that of going to print with the book. The Purchaser sorts the stories, helps design the cover, and ultimately approves that the book is ready for the printer. Find out more details on the Purchaser here.

Example: You purchased Anecdobio for your grandmother. You are the Purchaser, she's an Author.

• Editor: the Editor has many of the same rights as a Purchaser. They help manage the book creation process in that they can set up story prompts, help authors with their stories, and add other Authors and Readers to the book. Find out more details on the Editor here.

Continuing the example: Although you purchased the book for your grandmother, you want your brother to manage the process. You make him an Editor and now he lines up the story prompts for Grandma. He also adds Aunt Sally as a Reader and even Uncle Robert as a Guest to add his take on a couple stories.

• Author: This person receives the story prompts and writes stories about them. Authors can also add Readers to the book. Find out more details on the Author here.

Continuing the example: Grandma is an Author, as she was given Anecdobio as a gift. If you (the Purchaser) or your brother (an Editor) want to give Grandpa the ability to write about every story prompt in the book, make them an Author too.

• Reader: This person receives a notification every time a new story has been submitted. They can log in to their Anecdobio dashboard and read the authors' stories. Find out more details on the Reader here.

Continuing the example: Gary, an old family friend, and cousin Margaret are excited to read all the stories! You make them Readers.

• Guest: Sometimes you may not want someone to be an Author or a Reader for the whole book. In this case, choose their role to be "Guest". Now you can choose if they should be an Author, a Reader, or neither for that particular story. Find out more details on the "Guest" role here.

Finishing the example: You want the neighbour, Sandra, to just read Grandma's story "What was life on Mabry Rd. like when you first moved in?". But you don't want her to read other stories. When you invite her, make her role Guest. Similarly, you want Great Uncle Claus to only write about the story "Do we have any famous ancestors?", but nothing else, so choose Guest as his role.