An App Idea

jeffreymoss · 02-07-2011, 10:53 PM

I've been playing with an idea to build an app and I'd like feedback from this forum about my idea and general interest in participating in it.

I have been reflecting on how hard it is to break through as a writer of a novel. The investment that people have to put in to see if they like you as a writer is significant, and most people won't put that time in. Instead, a lot of book buyers simply buy from bestseller names they recognize because the chances are that they will enjoy those books as opposed to if they experiment with a new author. Yet this also leads to reading a lot of mediocrity.

Here's my core theory: there are a lot of readers out there who want to read something from a new author, but they don't because of the investment one puts into a book is too high. So I've been asking myself, how do you break this barrier down?

Here's my idea. Build an app of new and unknown writers who have written novels. Have those writers write short stories, no more than 2,500 words, that are based on the novels they have written. These stories could be based on the people, places, or times in the source novel, but not be actual pieces of the novel itself.

I call the idea Short Story Sampler. It lets readers sample from new authors with minimal commitment, and at the end of each story there would be a paragraph about the novel the story was based on. Hopefully that would lead the reader to purchase the novel.

What do you think? Would you be willing to participate in this? Ideally readers would rank the stories as well. I see this as a type of advertising for the author. Stories would be posted for free to the reader once they purchased the app, and new additions could be added often. There would be no sales through the app, and no revenue from posting there, but there would be the free exposure and writers would retain all the rights to their material (including pulling their stories at any time).

I'm really excited about this idea, and I hope others will feel the same. I look forward to your comments.

Worldwalker · 02-07-2011, 11:16 PM

The usual form of this idea is a website. The usual response to this idea is "meh".

In your specific case, people who do not want to read a story for free (as they can on authors' websites, various sales sites, etc.) are not going to give you money so that they can ... read a story for free.

mr ploppy · 02-08-2011, 07:41 AM

I had a similar idea a while ago, but it would work better with writers within the same genre, not just a mishmash of whatever. It would also need to be free and available from every writer involved through the sort of places people go to buy ebooks. That way everyone would share each other's existing reader-base (if they have any).

You could also maybe club together and pay for a short story from someone who is already reasonably established in that genre that you could use to draw people in.

queentess · 02-08-2011, 10:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mr ploppy

I had a similar idea a while ago, but it would work better with writers within the same genre, not just a mishmash of whatever. It would also need to be free and available from every writer involved through the sort of places people go to buy ebooks. That way everyone would share each other's existing reader-base (if they have any).

You could also maybe club together and pay for a short story from someone who is already reasonably established in that genre that you could use to draw people in.

This pretty much describes what genre magazines do, including paying bigger name authors for submissions. As a SF/F reader, I get some new author ideas from reading short stories they publish in, say, Asimov's or Fantasy and Science Fiction. Of course, those magazines have a formal submission process and editors, so I know I'm going to get a quality read, even if it's not quite my cup of tea. Speaking as a reader, I'd be leery of reading anything self-submitted by an author. Many authors already offer samplings of their work on their websites, though it would be convenient to have them gathered all in one place.

As a pay app, what guarantee do I have that it will be maintained? This isn't Angry Birds, where I'm buying an all-in game. This is something that needs to be updated continuously.

Nexutix · 02-08-2011, 11:05 AM

Better implement such functionality in already existing app like Aldiko, Moon reader, coolreader, fbreader etc.

mr ploppy · 02-08-2011, 11:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by queentess

Many authors already offer samplings of their work on their websites, though it would be convenient to have them gathered all in one place.

The idea would be for everyone to share each other's readers. So even if each writer only had about 30 readers everyone would benefit from extra exposure. The hardest part would probably be to convince writers within the same genre that they are not in competition with each other.

Is there anything like that outside scifi/mystery?

kfran · 02-08-2011, 03:39 PM

Is this similar to what Amazon did with Kindle Singles? Is this an iPhone app? It takes a lot to develop apps. Not sure what your programming knowledge is, but a simple iphone app would run about 5k to 15k in development costs.

jeffreymoss · 02-08-2011, 11:58 PM

Just to respond to some of the comments that have been made (which I appreciate, incidentally):

There's actually ways to cut the costs of making an app down quite a bit, but it's not free -- that's why the app would need to be a paid app. I was thinking $2.99 or something like that. The content would need to be constantly added to in order to really add value, and that comes down to authors interest in taking the time to make product, which is what I'm tying to get a sense of in terms of interest. Personally, if someone else was doing what I'm suggesting, I'd write a short story and submit it. After all, it's very hard to get exposure of any kind, and this could only help.

This idea is different than a formal magazine, as they can be very restrictive as they build a particular brand within a particular genre. I think part of the value of this app would be to not focus the kind of material that would be submitted -- to provide content to as wide an audience as possible. The only real filter would be a quality control over the craftsmanship of the work (spelling, grammar, etc.) since a shoddy product would be counter productive.

I think the idea that people can just go to a website and get samples of writers' work really puts a lot of faith in the amount of effort that people will place in finding a new author. The thought here is basically to say: hey, come look at this app while you are traveling on the train to work or during a break during the day. You can read a story in a short period of time and really get a sense of the value of an author with not much effort. If you think about it, a lot of apps are for things that you can simply find on the web, but the value they bring is to simplify the experience so there's very little effort involved.

Anyway, that's just a few of my thoughts.

queentess · 02-09-2011, 11:43 AM

The only suggestion I have is to make sure you build in a genre filter. It's nice to be able to see a wide variety of stories and authors, but if I'm in the mood for something particular, I want to be able to find it quickly.

mr ploppy · 02-09-2011, 06:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeffreymoss

I was thinking $2.99 or something like that.

Nobody will pay that much for a bunch of stories by people they've never heard of. You would be better off looking towards writers to cover your costs, or carrying advertising.

outlier · 02-09-2011, 10:37 PM

Actually, if this was a one time purchase or once a year purchase I probably would. But, I'm someone that checks the list of new and cooking soon books on the sites that I buy books from.

James_Wilde · 02-15-2011, 04:42 AM

Interesting idea, but I can't get round the figures I've seen in various places that there are over 200000 new books published in the US alone (some people are saying nearly 300000), not to mention Canada, OZ, NZ, UK, India etc for English language titles. If we assume they're all novels, and divide them into say 30 genres, and you'd have a job to find 30, that means there are going to be 6667 new novels in each genre (assuming even distribution - it's worse in some genres if distribution is not even) and that is nearly 20 new 2500 word shorts a day. In other words you're going to be reading a short novel, 125 pages, each day just to get through the samples.

That's the problem all we indie publishers have to overcome: making a wave in a sea of 200000 new books a year.

But your idea might be of some help. Why not give it a shot? Especially if you can find a good way to increase the number of genres in order to minimise the number of hits in each genre.

And another thing: the number of new books is much smaller in foreign languages. There you could well have a market, even if you increase the sample length to 5000 words.

outlier · 02-16-2011, 03:04 AM

You'll have to come up with a selection process to cut down on the numbers. Most sites don't list all the new books coming out and usually there is someone editing/selecting what makes the cut. If the authors are sending samples then that could be a natural selection method because I don't imagine all will submit.

Michael McLovin · 02-16-2011, 03:28 AM

i think it would be better as a free app.
and since content would have to be regularly updated you can just add a subscription fee.

queentess · 02-16-2011, 09:07 AM

http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/101

02-07-2011, 10:53 PM	#1
jeffreymoss Bard Posts: 17 Karma: 20000 Join Date: Jun 2010 Device: iPad	An App Idea I've been playing with an idea to build an app and I'd like feedback from this forum about my idea and general interest in participating in it. I have been reflecting on how hard it is to break through as a writer of a novel. The investment that people have to put in to see if they like you as a writer is significant, and most people won't put that time in. Instead, a lot of book buyers simply buy from bestseller names they recognize because the chances are that they will enjoy those books as opposed to if they experiment with a new author. Yet this also leads to reading a lot of mediocrity. Here's my core theory: there are a lot of readers out there who want to read something from a new author, but they don't because of the investment one puts into a book is too high. So I've been asking myself, how do you break this barrier down? Here's my idea. Build an app of new and unknown writers who have written novels. Have those writers write short stories, no more than 2,500 words, that are based on the novels they have written. These stories could be based on the people, places, or times in the source novel, but not be actual pieces of the novel itself. I call the idea Short Story Sampler. It lets readers sample from new authors with minimal commitment, and at the end of each story there would be a paragraph about the novel the story was based on. Hopefully that would lead the reader to purchase the novel. What do you think? Would you be willing to participate in this? Ideally readers would rank the stories as well. I see this as a type of advertising for the author. Stories would be posted for free to the reader once they purchased the app, and new additions could be added often. There would be no sales through the app, and no revenue from posting there, but there would be the free exposure and writers would retain all the rights to their material (including pulling their stories at any time). I'm really excited about this idea, and I hope others will feel the same. I look forward to your comments.

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02-07-2011, 11:16 PM	#2
Worldwalker Curmudgeon Posts: 3,085 Karma: 722357 Join Date: Feb 2010 Device: PRS-505	The usual form of this idea is a website. The usual response to this idea is "meh". In your specific case, people who do not want to read a story for free (as they can on authors' websites, various sales sites, etc.) are not going to give you money so that they can ... read a story for free.

02-08-2011, 07:41 AM	#3
mr ploppy Feral Underclass Posts: 3,622 Karma: 26821535 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Yorkshire, tha noz Device: 2nd hand paperback	I had a similar idea a while ago, but it would work better with writers within the same genre, not just a mishmash of whatever. It would also need to be free and available from every writer involved through the sort of places people go to buy ebooks. That way everyone would share each other's existing reader-base (if they have any). You could also maybe club together and pay for a short story from someone who is already reasonably established in that genre that you could use to draw people in.

02-08-2011, 11:05 AM	#5
Nexutix Reading and reading Posts: 582 Karma: 8250144 Join Date: Oct 2010 Device: Infibeam Pi, iPod Touch 4G, iPad Air 2, iPad mini 2, Oneplus One	Better implement such functionality in already existing app like Aldiko, Moon reader, coolreader, fbreader etc.

02-08-2011, 03:39 PM	#7
kfran Karen Posts: 7 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: North Carolina Device: Kindle	Is this similar to what Amazon did with Kindle Singles? Is this an iPhone app? It takes a lot to develop apps. Not sure what your programming knowledge is, but a simple iphone app would run about 5k to 15k in development costs.

02-08-2011, 11:58 PM	#8
jeffreymoss Bard Posts: 17 Karma: 20000 Join Date: Jun 2010 Device: iPad	Just to respond to some of the comments that have been made (which I appreciate, incidentally): There's actually ways to cut the costs of making an app down quite a bit, but it's not free -- that's why the app would need to be a paid app. I was thinking $2.99 or something like that. The content would need to be constantly added to in order to really add value, and that comes down to authors interest in taking the time to make product, which is what I'm tying to get a sense of in terms of interest. Personally, if someone else was doing what I'm suggesting, I'd write a short story and submit it. After all, it's very hard to get exposure of any kind, and this could only help. This idea is different than a formal magazine, as they can be very restrictive as they build a particular brand within a particular genre. I think part of the value of this app would be to not focus the kind of material that would be submitted -- to provide content to as wide an audience as possible. The only real filter would be a quality control over the craftsmanship of the work (spelling, grammar, etc.) since a shoddy product would be counter productive. I think the idea that people can just go to a website and get samples of writers' work really puts a lot of faith in the amount of effort that people will place in finding a new author. The thought here is basically to say: hey, come look at this app while you are traveling on the train to work or during a break during the day. You can read a story in a short period of time and really get a sense of the value of an author with not much effort. If you think about it, a lot of apps are for things that you can simply find on the web, but the value they bring is to simplify the experience so there's very little effort involved. Anyway, that's just a few of my thoughts.

02-09-2011, 11:43 AM	#9
queentess Reading is sexy Posts: 1,303 Karma: 544517 Join Date: Apr 2009 Device: none	The only suggestion I have is to make sure you build in a genre filter. It's nice to be able to see a wide variety of stories and authors, but if I'm in the mood for something particular, I want to be able to find it quickly.

02-09-2011, 10:37 PM	#11
outlier Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2011 Device: none	Actually, if this was a one time purchase or once a year purchase I probably would. But, I'm someone that checks the list of new and cooking soon books on the sites that I buy books from.

02-15-2011, 04:42 AM	#12
James_Wilde Guru Posts: 802 Karma: 4727110 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Sweden Device: Iriver Story	Interesting idea, but I can't get round the figures I've seen in various places that there are over 200000 new books published in the US alone (some people are saying nearly 300000), not to mention Canada, OZ, NZ, UK, India etc for English language titles. If we assume they're all novels, and divide them into say 30 genres, and you'd have a job to find 30, that means there are going to be 6667 new novels in each genre (assuming even distribution - it's worse in some genres if distribution is not even) and that is nearly 20 new 2500 word shorts a day. In other words you're going to be reading a short novel, 125 pages, each day just to get through the samples. That's the problem all we indie publishers have to overcome: making a wave in a sea of 200000 new books a year. But your idea might be of some help. Why not give it a shot? Especially if you can find a good way to increase the number of genres in order to minimise the number of hits in each genre. And another thing: the number of new books is much smaller in foreign languages. There you could well have a market, even if you increase the sample length to 5000 words.

02-16-2011, 03:04 AM	#13
outlier Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2011 Device: none	You'll have to come up with a selection process to cut down on the numbers. Most sites don't list all the new books coming out and usually there is someone editing/selecting what makes the cut. If the authors are sending samples then that could be a natural selection method because I don't imagine all will submit.

02-16-2011, 03:28 AM	#14
Michael McLovin Enthusiast Posts: 35 Karma: 2504 Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Somewhere in Southeast Asia Device: Desktop PC when i'm in the office pretending to work, kindle3	i think it would be better as a free app. and since content would have to be regularly updated you can just add a subscription fee.

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02-16-2011, 09:07 AM	#15
queentess Reading is sexy Posts: 1,303 Karma: 544517 Join Date: Apr 2009 Device: none	http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/101