Moving from AO3

Download your AO3 work as EPUB and import it into Fictionry — the easiest migration.

4 min read

Why AO3 is the Easiest

Archive of Our Own (AO3) is wonderfully author-friendly when it comes to data portability. Every work on AO3 has a built-in download button that lets anyone — author or reader — download the story in multiple formats, including EPUB. This makes migrating from AO3 to Fictionry the simplest process of any platform.

Downloading from AO3

  1. Navigate to your work on AO3
  2. Click the "Download" button (top right of the work)
  3. Select "EPUB" from the format options
  4. Save the file to your computer

That's it — no premium required, no hoops to jump through. AO3 respects your right to your own creative work.

AO3 download button showing EPUB option

Importing into Fictionry

  1. Create a new story on Fictionry with your details
  2. Go to Chapters → Import → EPUB
  3. Upload the EPUB file from AO3
  4. Review the detected chapters
  5. Import all chapters as drafts
  6. Review formatting and publish

AO3 EPUBs are well-structured, so chapter detection is highly reliable. Formatting like bold, italic, and links transfer cleanly.

Fictionry import preview showing chapters from an AO3 EPUB

AO3-Specific Considerations

A few things to keep in mind when migrating from AO3:

  • Tags — AO3's detailed tagging system doesn't map 1:1 to Fictionry genres and tags. Choose the most relevant ones.
  • Content warnings — Re-add appropriate content warnings on Fictionry using our content warning system.
  • Author notes — These are included in AO3 EPUBs. You may want to move them to Fictionry's dedicated author notes feature.