#70 - So...when are you launching?

What if it stops making sense for the product?

                October 5, 2020

            #70 - So...when are you launching?

                Discussing when we hope to launch and some of the things you can expect to see in the product by that time!

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Launch Date

I've had one in mind for a while now, but I've been anxious about sharing it. 😬

What if it stops making sense for the product?

Or worse:

What if we don't make it?

But then I thought: the whole point of this newsletter is to describe the journey, take you behind-the-scenes, share the ups and the downs...

After all, it's not going to be all bad if we miss our publicised launch date, is it?

At the very least there'll be important learnings for me and the team, and (hopefully riveting) stories for all of you! 😁

Obviously a prerequisite for launch is a far better landing page than this one! 😅

So, here goes...

The plan is to officially launch The StoryGraph on...

January 1st 2021

There. I said it — eek!!

So you better stay tuned for more fun adventures on our journey to launch. 😁

Last week

When you're building a new product, there's always a growing list of things that need tending to!

And you prioritise those by dealing with the biggest sources of pain for your users first.

Months ago I'd spotted that book pages that had more than a few thousand reviews on it would load more slowly than others, but when I woke up one morning to see eight failed attempts of someone trying to get to the page for Red, White, & Royal Blue (meaning the page failed to load in under 30 seconds every time 🙈), I knew I couldn't ignore this problem any longer.

Now loads in a flash. 😎

We've also streamlined the search and browse experience for books! By default you'll only see English language editions, but if you add any other languages to your preferences then those will show up too!

I don't actually read in all of these languages. I wish.

This week

So...I've sketched out a roadmap of what's needed for launch. 👀

Here's a sneak peek:

This is part of the "Next" section. Whatever might be in the "First" section? 😌

It'll be no good to be working on features up until the end of December, so I want to see how far we can get this month.

And then we'll review and adapt plans as is necessary!

What I'm reading right now

Yay — I've returned to N.K. Jemisin's Broken Earth Trilogy:

And in between work sessions today, I'll be dipping into this one:

I have a lovely hardback that's a gift from years ago. It's time I learnt more about the iconic Ada Lovelace! 

Have a splendid week,

Nadia

P.S. If you know a friend who's an avid reader or would enjoy following along with this journey, please do forward this email to them! Thank you. :-)

Haven't tried the beta site yet? Give it a go today!

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