Introduction
Project Name: LitPad
Organization: LitPad Platforms, Inc.
Project Description
Current fiction platforms often restrict writers to certain genres, limit their control over content, and offer significantly lower earnings compared to the revenue their stories generate. These platforms frequently charge readers high fees for quality stories, leaving them frustrated and searching for alternatives.
As a professional fiction writer, I’ve personally experienced these challenges, which inspired my team to create LitPad, a hub for fiction book lovers.
LitPad is an author-friendly platform where writers can publish novels, and readers can access a diverse range of stories for an affordable monthly fee. Additionally, it serves as a social hub where book lovers can connect with their favorite authors and book influencers.
The Grant Committee previously raised concerns about our proposal, and this new submission aims to clearly address those concerns and demonstrate our strategic improvements.
Addressing Previous Concerns
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No Real Benefit to the Sia Community & Adoption Challenges
- Initially, our implementation didn’t do enough to further Sia’s mission. However, after extensive research, we have refined our strategy.
- When we submitted the previous proposal, we had a WhatsApp community of around 500 book lovers. Today, our WhatsApp channel has grown to over 4,000 members, with at least 25% engaging weekly.
- We now have 2,000 book lovers on our email waitlist—a clear indication that there is an audience for our platform, even before heavy marketing efforts.
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How We Plan to Stand Out and Solve the Chicken-and-Egg Problem
- Platforms like TikTok and Instagram show that book lovers, influencers, and authors often create external communities to connect with their fans.
- To differentiate LitPad, we are integrating social features to first attract readers and influencers, which will, in turn, encourage more authors to join.
- We also have in-house published books that will serve as initial content for readers.
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New Features to Drive Engagement and Adoption
- Newsfeed Feature: A place where users can discover posts and activities of other book lovers, authors, and influencers.
- Chatroom Feature: Allows book influencers and authors to create private or public groups, enabling book lovers to interact, discuss books, and build communities.
- This social approach will increase network effects as Bookstagram and BookTok influencers bring their audiences to LitPad, generating organic growth.
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Website Issues & Technical Improvement
- Our initial web app approach using Flutter had too many dependencies and clashing packages, making it unusable. We acknowledge this mistake.
- To fix this, we prioritized developing a mobile app instead, which is now complete in terms of UI and frontend. Integration is currently in progress.
- We will provide an APK file link in the comments for the committee to test.
Project Goals with This Grant
With this proposal, we aim to:
- Speed up the launch of the current mobile app: Part of the grant will help pay the mobile dev team to speed up integration and launch the app on the App Store and Google Play.
- Develop new features: Before launching, our UI designer will design the newsfeed and chatroom features, followed by backend and mobile development.
- **Build a new website & admin dashboard:
- The new website (Next.js & Go Lang) will serve as an information center for potential users.
- A detailed admin dashboard will allow us to supervise and manage LitPad efficiently.
This grant will help us build a powerful open-source platform that utilizes Sia’s decentralized storage at its core while delivering a sustainable, engaging product for book lovers.
Who Benefits from LitPad?
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Fiction Writers:
- A platform to monetize their work and connect with book lovers.
- Transparent earnings model** ensuring fair compensation.
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Readers:
- A social and interactive hub for book lovers to discover new books and engage with their favorite authors & influencers.
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Book Influencers:
- Influencers on TikTok, Instagram, and other platforms can build their own communities and generate income through promotions or commissions.
How does the project serve the Foundation’s mission of user-owned data?
LitPad aligns with the Sia Foundation’s mission of user-owned data by ensuring that users fully control their data uploaded or created on the app.
- Authors, influencers, and readers can engage, post content, and build communities, all powered by Sia’s decentralized storage.
We cannot provide grants to residents of jurisdictions under increased FATF monitoring, those that have active OFAC sanctions, or those that fail our bank compliance tests. We also cannot provide grants if your payment bank account is located in those same locations. Please review the following list. Are you a resident of any jurisdiction on that list? Yes
Will your payment bank account be located in any jurisdiction on that list? No
Grant Specifics
Amount of money requested and justification with a reasonable breakdown of expenses:
We are requesting $25,000 to achieve this goal in the next four months. The grant will cover:
- Dev/Product team salaries for four months at $6,000/month.
- Additional costs ($1,000) for server migration to AWS, storage fees, email & web push services, and app store enrollments (Apple Developer and Google Play Console).
Timeline with measurable objectives and goals. REQUIRED:
Month 1: Complete and Launch Mobile App & New Landing Page
Objective: Build Landing Page UI, complete mobile app integration, and publish the app to the App Store & Google Play.
- Backend Team: Finalize all endpoints and fix any issues.
- Frontend Team:
- Build the landing page (Next.js).
- Integrate authentication, user & book management, and subscriptions into the mobile app.
- Product Team: Final review and testing.
Progress Evaluation: Mobile app is live on Google Play and App Store. Website is live.
Month 2: Develop & Ship Newsfeed Feature
Objective: Design UI, develop backend, build mobile UI, and integrate the newsfeed feature.
- Product Team: Design newsfeed UI and document features.
- Backend Team: Develop functions for trending, recommended, and following-based feeds.
- Frontend Team: Implement & test in Flutter, then publish the update.
Progress Evaluation: Newsfeed is fully functional.
Month 3: Develop & Launch Chatroom Feature
Objective: Build UI, develop backend logic, integrate & deploy chatroom functionality.
- Product Team: Design chatroom UI (including room discovery & management).
- Backend Team: Develop endpoints for room creation, moderation, and messaging.
- Frontend Team: Implement in Flutter and deploy update.
Progress Evaluation: Chatrooms are live and users can create & join rooms.
Month 4: Develop & Launch Admin Dashboard
Objective: Build admin portal UI, develop backend functions, integrate & deploy.
- Product Team: Finalize admin dashboard UI (user management, analytics, controls).
- Backend Team: Develop functions for moderation and analytics (Go Lang).
- Frontend Team: Implement admin dashboard in Next.js, integrate & test.
Progress Evaluation: Admin dashboard is live, authorized users can manage LitPad.
Potential risks that will affect the outcome of the project
- Technical Challenges – Complex integrations for chatrooms and subscriptions.
Mitigation: Use modular development with iterative testing. - Resource Constraints – Budget limitations could slow progress.
Mitigation: Prioritize core features and optimize development efficiency. - Adoption & Engagement – User traction is key.
Mitigation: Leverage social features & influencer partnerships. - Platform Performance – Downtime or bugs could hurt adoption.
Mitigation: Regular testing & AWS optimization.
Development Information
Will all of your project’s code be open-source? Yes, all LitPad code will be open-source.
Leave a link where code will be accessible for review: https://github.com/LitPad
Do you agree to submit Monthly Progress Reports? Yes, we will submit monthly reports.
Contact
Email: [email protected]