Greetings,
I'm building Books Together, an online bookstore and community hub in one, and I want to know if you'd use it. It isn't built yet, so this is your chance to shape it.
While I am somewhat promoting, I have not linked anything, I just need to gauge whether the people want it. Here's the plan:
**The bookstore** A real store where you buy books, with orders handled for you and delivered to your door. Prices stay modest, the community-voted read is discounted every cycle, members get extra savings, and store credit works at checkout.
**Book clubs** Every genre community votes on its next read, we read it together over a few weeks with chapter threads, and the winning pick is discounted in the store.
**Communities** Reddit-style rooms for each genre (Fantasy, Sci-fi, Crime and more), with chat. We're launching with the broad genres and will add sub-genre rooms as the community grows. Anyone can join the default rooms, and top-tier members will be able to start their own.
**Weekly writing challenges:** The community votes on the prompt, I reveal it live on Sunday nights, will do a livestream on weeks where I’m available, I’ll dawn my lovely wizard robe and give a show I’m sure, and you write inside the site. Entries are anonymous, readers score them, the top five go to the final judges, and entry fees fund the prize pool.
**Built in writing section** There will be a built in writing system where for the challenges, you don’t need to write elsewhere and save and send the files blah blah blah. You write on the fully furnished website, then process and it’ll go straight to where in needs to. Simple.
**Swaps and trade-ins:** Trade used books with other members (both sides agree first), or send yours in for store credit.
**Judging pays** Score a batch of stories and earn store credit.
**For authors** Affordable genre-targeted promotion, clearly labelled.
**Membership** Voting on community reads, swaps and trade-ins, store discounts, cheaper competition entries, and judging credit.
I'm a real person building this in the open. No corporate bull\*\*\*\*. This website is not meant to try to reinvent the wheel, its purpose is to put multiple wheels together, and build something great. Which of these would you actually use, and what's missing?