[UWP] [APP] Novelista - Can a thousand people write a book?

[Ferdinand von den Eichen]

Hi everyone,

my name is Ferdinand and I am a longtime Windows enthusiast and developer. I have published applications for Xbox 360, Windows Phone 8.1, Windows 8 and now, at last Windows 10. This new addition to the family is Novelista.

About a month ago you already featured the Novelista beta as one of the 5 intriguing apps of the week. Today I want to pitch the final version to you, in order to be showcased on launch day.

In this post you'll find

• An introduction to Novelista
• A pitch
• What I'm looking for
• App Information (Link, associated Facebook, Twitter)
• Screenshots
• Excerpts from finished stories

Introduction: What is Novelista?
A few months back I asked myself: Can a thousand people or more simultaneously write a book? There are a lot of reasons why this should be impossible: Coordination, talent, continuity and many more.

Yet, I realized that platforms like reddit are extremely good at self-moderation and selection of good content. What if we could break down a book into hundreds of small blocks that could be curated by other writers and readers? So I started building an application that would allow each and every one of its users to participate, be it in writing or just by reading, commenting and upvoting the work of others. In theory, this application would be capable of creating a story with infinite branches. And – again in theory – whatever would end up being the most popular branch could well be called a book written by thousands of people.

Novelista has been in a small beta with about 250 users for the last month and I am now ready to get rid of the beta tag.

Pitch
Can a book be written by a thousand people? Is it fun to read a book with infinite decisions, with infinte ways for the story to unfold? These are the questions that Novelista seeks to answer.

Join us in this experiment and find out! Whether you are a writer or a reader Novelista has something for you: every two weeks a new book is written, by all users of the application. Some may just like or comment here and there, while other provide new chapters - which is fine! Whatever you do, you will shape the final book and the reading experience of others.

Features:

• Contribute chapters, get immediate feedback
• Or just enjoy reading a story with many different paths
• Beautiful native Windows 10 application, optimized for desktop, tablet and phone
• Your data travels with you: write on your laptop, read feedback and post comments on your mobile device with one account
• Detailed live tiles and notifications make sure you never miss a thing

What I'm looking for
I'm here to pitch Novelista to the Windows Central editors. I believe the application is novel and very few comparable things have been done. It is also exclusive to Windows 10, is optimized for both mobile and desktop use cases and integrates deeply with Windows 10 APIs (notifications, live tiles, microsoft account).

If this post has peaked your interest and you are considering to showcase Novelista, please get back to me first. It is very important to me to coordinate the launch timing appropriately. You can reach me here or via mail (ferdinand@vondeneichen.email).

App Information
Availability: Free
Systems: Windows 10 (Optimized for desktop, tablet and phone)
Languages: English
Link: https://www.microsoft.com/store/apps/9nblggh5x2cp
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NovelistaApp/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/NovelistaApp

Screenshots






Book excerpts
Here are some impressions of the writing that has already been posted to Novelista:

From "The Crimson Grave", by Leenooks:

All he could hear was his breathing and the pounding sound of his heart, beating away accusingly like a relentless clock.

He stopped. This wouldn't work. He had done it all to protect his family and now he was about to run straight to them? The mist in his mind cleared for an instant and he knew what he had to do.

Like a mindless robot, determined to do what had to be done he turned around and stumbled back to the coffin. The blood had mixed with the snow and gave the structure a beautiful, crimson red texture. For a moment he hesitated, desperately looking for another way. But his mind was blank, quiet, like the snow around him.

He lowered himself into the coffin.

From "To Be Or Not To Lizard" by Shawn Beachy:

"You see, boss," George went on, "I'm only a programmer by day; by night I go out and fight the lizards and their henchmen."
The boss looked impressed. 'This is going to work,' George thought. Suddenly the boss walked over to him, slapped him on the back and put his arm around him.

"I've been waiting all my life to find someone like you!" the boss announced. "From now on you're no longer a programmer. We're gonna partner up and fight the lizards!"
'Oh, crap,' George thought, but didn't dare say it out loud.
"We'll travel together. Eat the same food. Drink the same drink. Sleep in the same bed. Shower in the same-"
"Guh-rate!" George exclaimed, pulling away from the boss.
"So let's go! I'll get my motorcycle."

The boss flipped a switch and the floor dropped out from under them. It carried them down into darkness.

 

[Chintan Gohel]

This does look interesting. Trying it out today

 

[Ferdinand von den Eichen]

Please note that there is not much to do right now. I want to line up the start of the next book with the official launch, which is why you can pretty much only access old stories currently.