Leafs: A New Layer of the Written Word - by Paul Cani
An open letter to authors on how your books can now listen back.
There are parts of your book that already know how to speak to a reader’s soul. You may not have called them anything, but they are there.
The question you asked in Chapter Three.
The paragraph that always gets underlined.
The line a reader says “felt like it was written just for me.”
Those are Leafs.
A Leaf™ is a moment in your book that, when connected to a reader’s personal answer, becomes deeply alive. It grows. It reflects. It meets the reader where they are. It doesn't change your voice. It lets your voice reach further.
In traditional books, readers do the work themselves. They read, reflect, imagine, apply. But most don’t. Not because your writing isn’t powerful, but because life is noisy. Distraction is normal. Leaf-based books change that.
What Are Leafs, Really?
Leafs are not AI inventions. They are not generated content. They are already yours, buried in the structure, tone, and soul of your writing. Our tool simply gives you a way to define them clearly, and connect them to the reader’s lived experience.
When a reader fills out a short reflection, about their past, their fears, their goals, your Leaf logic uses it to shape how the book speaks to them. Not through AI creativity. Not through randomness. Through your guidance, and only your words.
This Is Not AI as You Know It
I call it Non-Creative AI™. It does not write. It does not invent. It does not guess. It only delivers what you’ve already created. You’re not giving up authorship. You’re reclaiming your intent.
And that means your Leafs, your logic, your structure, your emotional map are yours. They are intellectual property. Even if you haven’t yet added them to the tool, they exist, and they belong to you. No one can copy them without copying you.
Why This Matters Now
Readers are flooded with content. Authors are pushed to churn. But deep change doesn’t happen from more content. It comes from connection.
Leaf-based books offer a new genre:
Books that reflect.
Books that respond.
Books that listen back.
This isn’t the future of publishing. It’s the present of transformation. And if you write to change lives, you already know it.
Let your book carry your voice further.
Let it speak to one reader at a time.
Let it grow Leafs.
You’ve already written them.
Now let them bloom.
🌿 What’s Inside a Leaf™
Each Leaf™ is a small, intelligent block inside a book — created by the author — that allows the book to adapt to the reader in a meaningful way.
Every Leaf contains three parts:
- 🖋️ The Author’s Question
A reflective prompt the reader must answer (e.g., “What’s something you’re afraid to admit?”)
- ⚙️ The Author’s Logic for the AI
A short instruction written by the author, telling the AI exactly how to personalize or generate content based on the reader’s answer
(Example: “Take the paragraph below and rewrite it in my tone, addressing the reader’s guilt around that topic.”)
- 🧠 The Reader’s Answer
The input that makes the Leaf come alive — a sentence, story, or choice from the reader that shapes how the book speaks back to them.
What Leafs Can Do
- Personalize existing content — modify a paragraph to reflect the reader’s world
- Generate new content — insert an entirely new section, still written in the author’s style and guided by their intent
