One year was a long time ago! In Startup time? It feels like an eternity ago, I'll tell you. Well, it's been just a little over a year since we first opened the doors of Storylace to the public and "exciting" doesn't even begin to describe it. The purpose of this blog post is to look back on everything that's happened since then, some things we've learned along the way, what changed, where we are, who we are, where we come from and where we're going. Ok, maybe not that deep into the philosophical questions, but we'll talk about all these things for sure.
So, first of all, hi! In case we haven't met, we are Storylace, a company of booklovers creating a fun and colorful online community for booklovers. If you like reading books, you are in good company, because we are building this place for you. We initially approached the creation of this space like an artwork; like artists (writers, performers, illustrators, musicians, dancers), pouring our hearts and souls into creating a space that reflects a feeling. What feeling, you ask? The magic of reading stories. Books are beautiful sources of personal growth. They are intellectually and emotionally stimulating and, of course, incredibly fun. We will always strive to imbue Storylace with those magical properties.
You might be wondering if I'm writing this blog post in the annual commemoration of an official launch date or celebration. The answer is: not really. Reality for startups is much less glamorous than how it is depicted in some books and movies. In the summer of 2023, we had the very first prototype of Storylace ready to be tested by real users. Baby platform in hand, we set out into the world, contacted some readers and authors to see if they'd like to try it out and try it out they did. I kind of wish the next part of the story was "everybody loved it and we all lived happily ever after", but that'd be boring! What happened next was much more exciting, feedback started coming in.
The months of July and August 2023 were hot and busy. We had to iron out platform issues here and there, polish the app and add new features that readers were looking for. Like the List Forge page, for example. It was the result of such a request, a flexible tool with which members of our community could create book lists, challenges and polls.
This blog post would be incomplete without mentioning a super interesting character in the story of Storylace. He goes by the name of Dominish Books, Dom for short, and he's a Booktuber, amazing book editor, booklover, reviewer and supporter of the indie fantasy and sci-fi books community. He was one of the people we contacted early on. Dom became part of our history by featuring Storylace in a video. That connected us with many wonderful readers who have graced the halls of Storylace. Many of those readers continue to shape this place and the direction of our company, even by simply using the platform. So a big shout out to them as well, for Storylace wouldn't be what it is without them.
Now, if you've wandered around here, you will undoubtedly have stumbled upon the "Storylace Theater". It's not the purpose of this blog post to go into a long explanation of what it is. We're currently creating a series of videos in our YouTube channel that dive into the whole concept of Storygazing and we have a blog post that shares a bit about the beginnings of the Theater.
Storylace started from the dream of being transported inside the books through art and technology: what we call Storygazing. And Storygazing happens in the Storylace Theater. The work we've done on this area over the last year has been huge! It's because we originally envisioned the Theater working slightly differently than it does today. The future of Storylace changed forever on a sunny Autumn day of Oct 29, 2023. I remember it like it had been just 292 days ago.
That day, my cofounder Adriana and I went together to a digital art expo called Lightbox. And oh boy did we learn so much. Our outlook changed completely and the new era of Storylace began. I took some notes that day and summarized them in a blog post, but that was mostly stuff we were already familiar with. The main thing, however, was that we were lucky to talk to a few artists in person, tell them about Storylace, the whole concept, and hear their thoughts on the product. After that, based on our learnings we restructured the process through which we would be creating illustrations for the Theater and reimagined the Storygazing experience. November 2023 through May 2024 saw us working intensely on that front.
We currently have in the Theater 2 authors, 6 books, 95 professional illustrations/animations by 23 different human artists, 77 songs by 12 different musicians, 61 interactive scenarios with 262 different relics, 157 reader comments and it keeps getting better and better. Bringing these books to life took a fair amount of time, money, blood, sweat, tears and sacrifice, but it has all been incredibly worth it and rewarding. We invite you to discover the magic of what we're building by becoming a Storygazer and reading these awesome stories yourself. We see Storygazing as a constantly evolving experience and we hope you are as excited as we are about what the future holds for it.
Apart from all the work we've done on the Storylace Theater, this year we've brought an array of exciting new features for all readers at Storylace (for free!). The last few months have seen us hard at work on these. You can now express your thoughts and share creative tributes for books by creating posts and crafting your own bookish board. There are new quests and rewards, more stats, and even a new hidden passage in the library.
Wait, did somebody say a hidden passage in the library? That's right, our first ever version of the Library Wandering page has been released. It's a place where you can wander through your own library hallway in search of random books that a recommendation algorithm might have never suggested before. Your library hallway takes into account the genres you like to read, but after that, good luck to you! The suggestions are full of random surprises, what better way to stumble upon the unexpected, right?
Another section you can find in the Library Wandering page is called "Recommendations For You". We are strong supporters of the idea of connecting readers first and foremost, fostering the magic of a person recommending a book to another person. Connecting readers is a huge part of our mission. That's why we promise to navigate the waters of algorithmic recommendations carefully. Our whole philosophy behind the "Library Wandering" page is for you to be able to discover new books whenever you're in the mood for it, akin to wandering through a library or bookstore, even if it's just for fun.
That's pretty much it, but this year is far from over! Our main goal right now is to keep growing our community and learn what else you all want to see in Storylace. Is this a good space for you? What else would you like to see? Join the conversation, even if it's in our other social media channels. Thank you for supporting our creative work at this indie tech startup for books! We've had a blast with you throughout the last year. Is the prologue over? Perhaps, but chapter 1 is just about to begin. Onwards!