The app walks you through 5 phases: brainstorm with AI, generate outline, develop characters, write chapters (AI maintains consistency across 50k+ words), then export to PDF/EPUB or publish to a bookstore.
It's local-first (SQLite, your data stays on your machine) and uses Google Gemini for generation. Users bring their own API key.
I'm genuinely stuck on monetization:
1. One-time purchase ($49-99?) - user brings own Gemini key 2. Free app + platform fee to publish on our bookstore 3. Free app + transaction fee on book sales 4. Subscription with included AI credits
Context: I'm a 25-year dev who's shipped ~15 side projects in the last 2 years thanks to AI productivity gains. This one feels like it has legs, but I keep second-guessing the business model.
For those who've monetized creative tools: what worked? What didn't?
I do like the idea of a home made book workflow but no one needs a new bookstore. There are plenty of these.
I think a related area is incorporating tts for interviews esp of older family members. Support photos and audio and have some ai magic around those. Produce a family member history. That is a pdf or richer media artifact, and does not go into any bookstore. Absolutely needs local ai in that case too.
I would pay $50 for an oss fully local authoring tool (and I do pay for others like zettlr).