Product Engineering
Readerful: A Serialized Fiction Platform Where Writers Get Paid by the Chapter
I build and run the engineering behind Readerful, Ready Chapter 1's publishing platform: chapter-by-chapter releases, paid unlocks with an 80% writer share, and reader analytics for publishers.
readerful.com
01
Problem
Independent writers who serialize their work usually rent their audience from someone else's platform, and the money and the reader data stay there. Ready Chapter 1 wanted a place where writers own their readership, release stories chapter by chapter, and get paid directly, while publishers can see which stories actually hold readers.
02
Approach
- Built chapter-by-chapter publishing with scheduled releases, free preview chapters and paid unlocks, so a writer can serialize a story the way readers actually read it.
- Wired marketplace payments through Stripe Connect. Writers keep 80% of each sale, publishing is free, and a writer only needs Stripe once they want to collect earnings.
- Built the reader-engagement analytics behind Story Score®, the signals publishers use to spot a story worth backing: hook rate, binge factor and purchase conversion.
- Added three-level AI disclosure to every story, with a reader-side filter that hides AI-generated prose.
- Treated accessibility as a requirement, with a published WCAG accessibility statement.
03
Outcome
- A live platform at readerful.com where readers find and fund new stories, and writers publish for free under one or more pen names.
- Writers keep 80% of every sale, paid out through Stripe Connect.
- Publishers see how readers actually engage with a story, not just how many opened it.
Stack
Next.js and React on Cloudflare WorkersSupabase (Postgres, Auth, Storage)Stripe Connect marketplace paymentsTiptap rich-text editorPlaywright and Vitest test suites
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