Your First Story in 5 Minutes
A quick walkthrough from blank canvas to published story. No experience needed.
Start here
FableHatch stories are built from images, video, and text — arranged in pages with flexible layouts. You don't need design skills or writing experience. If you can drag a file and type a sentence, you can publish a story.
Here's how to go from zero to published in about five minutes.
Step 1: Create the story
From your Dashboard, click Start a New Story (the coral button in the top right). FableHatch automatically creates your first chapter and your first page so you're not staring at an empty screen.
You'll land in the Story Editor — a dark canvas with your empty first page in the center.
Step 2: Upload your first image
Drag an image file from your computer directly onto the page canvas — or click the image icon in the empty slot to browse. The image fills the panel immediately.
Pro tip: JPEG at around 3000px on the longest edge, under 4MB, gives the best results. There's a format guide (the little ℹ️ icon) next to every upload slot if you need a refresher.
Step 3: Reposition if needed
If your image doesn't frame quite right in the panel, just click and drag directly on the image to reposition it. A small "Drag to reposition" hint appears on hover. Release when the subject is where you want it — the focal point saves automatically.
Step 4: Add text
Click the text icon (Aa) on the floating toolbar at the bottom-right of the panel. A dark overlay opens where you can type a title and body text. These appear as a pill overlay on the published story — readers tap the pill to read the text, tap again to close.
Click Done when you're finished writing.
Step 5: Add more pages
Use the + Add Page button below the canvas to add more pages to the chapter. Each page can have 1, 2, or 3 image panels — pick a layout from the layout picker on the left sidebar.
Step 6: Set your cover and details
Click the Settings button (gear icon) in the top toolbar to open the story drawer. Here you can:
- Upload a cover image (this is what shows on story cards across the site)
- Set the focal point on your cover so the right part shows in every card crop
- Write a description (readers see this on the story detail page)
- Pick your story type and genre tags
Step 7: Publish
Click Publish in the top-right corner. FableHatch checks that your story has a title and at least one page, then makes it live. You'll get a link to share.
That's it. Your first story is out in the world.
What's next?
- Add chapters to tell longer stories across multiple sections
- Create characters and tag them into your stories so they get their own public pages
- Start a series to group related stories and let readers subscribe
- Visit the Analytics page to see who's reading and where they drop off