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Obooko
Free books to replace your doomscroll
337 followers
Free books to replace your doomscroll
337 followers
Obooko is a free reading platform we've rebuilt from the ground up after 15 years and 11 million downloads. Thousands of books available to read instantly in your browser, sync across devices, or download PDF/EPUB/Kindle. No subscriptions, no lock in, no proprietary formats. 4,000+ legal book titles across 30 genres from indie authors and NYT bestsellers. Ad-supported like YouTube, so readers never pay, authors earn. We exist to increase the world’s reading minutes.
Nitrosend
Congrats on rebuilding Obooko and the launch!
I'm curious tho about the experience users have regarding long-form reading mixed with ads tho. While I agree that it's a great way to keep the platform free, I find it hard to find it similar to YouTube's model - when it comes to video, it's easier to handle an ad every few minutes because the content is short.
But if I'm deep into a book for hours, do ads break the flow? How did you balance monetization with not killing the reading experience?
Nitrosend
@andreitudor14 yeah I’m grappling with ads in the reader right now. The average reader is spending 26 mins onsite (10x the total average) so it would monetise way better but currently there aren’t any ads in the reader. I want to prioritise a nicer UX for now. Maybe down the track I’ll try pre roll video ads in the reader, but unsure.
minimalist phone: reduce your screentime
What about the commercial titles that should normally be purchased in the store? Those are excluded?
I like the idea. I am trying to read more again (but paper books), because when I have a device nearby, I am so tempted to use it.
Nitrosend
minimalist phone: reduce your screentime
@gthartley Cool, understandably, many commercially known want huge profits, so the selective process will be challenging. Anyway, I think that this would deserve to be promoted on Substack or other platforms where people love reading or have a look at Ellipsus to partner with them. https://ellipsus.com/
You’ve done an excellent job, sir!
I’ve Checked Obooko and got some feedback for you.
It would be better to add a Google login or use third-party services like Clerk.
Since I have a design background, the Brand Sprit I see in Obooko is quite similar to a website like Patreon, and it fits perfectly. However, you can pursue what they’ve already done and enhance the visual and user experience.
Nitrosend
Migma AI
Replacing doomscroll with books is brilliant positioning!
Are these all public domain titles, or do you have publisher partnerships? Curious how you built the catalog.
Great mission!
Congrats @gthartley ! This is something I've been scouring the web for. I have 1 feedback. I can't seem to search for a title after clicking on a section like "Fiction".
Love the 'YouTube model for books' idea - readers get free content, authors still earn. That's a win-win that could actually scale. The classics collection sounds great too, might finally finish Wuthering Heights.