Executive Summary

Short-form social discovery drives high-volume interest in books, but the experience of moving from a 15-second clip to a full chapter is clunky, causing heavy drop-off; publishers, authors, and advertisers lose the value created by that attention. Readers accustomed to fast, snackable interactions resist traditional e-reader interfaces, so conversion and measurable engagement are the core pain points. You could build a mobile-first, progressive reading platform that feels native to short-form users: snippet-to-chapter flows, social-native sharing hooks, fast on-device rendering, and explicit progression metrics that prove attention. Make it an open reader with simple publisher APIs and a hybrid ad/sub monetization model to shorten time-to-revenue for partners. The addressable market is large and timely — roughly 900M regular longform readers equating to a $3.6B annual ad/sub pool at ~$4 ARPU — and publishers are actively seeking distribution alternatives while advertisers pay up for verified, engaged attention. Short-form discovery creating new demand lowers acquisition costs and creates a rare funnel opportunity. This idea can differentiate through UX tailored to short-form habits, transparent revenue splits for creators, and verified attention metrics that justify higher CPMs. Key challenges are content licensing, onboarding users from social platforms, and competing with incumbent readers, but with a market score of 88/100 and medium competition, a focused pilot to validate retention and CPM lift is worth pursuing.

Market Opportunity

Make long-form reading feel native to short-form internet users targets a $3.6B = 900M global regular ebook/longform readers × $4 ARPU annual ad/sub revenue total addressable market with medium saturation and a year-over-year growth rate of 8% YoY growth in digital reading and ebook consumption (Statista / industry estimates 2022-2024).

Key trends driving demand: Short-form social discovery is creating high volume interest in books — this creates an opportunity to convert social attention into engaged reading via better UX.; Publishers and authors are seeking distribution alternatives to large incumbents, which opens partnership opportunities for open readers that offer better revenue transparency.; Advertisers value verified attention; reading sessions with measurable progression (snippet-to-chapter-to-book) can command higher CPMs than passive browsing.; Web-native readers and PWAs reduce friction compared with store-installed apps, enabling viral distribution from social platforms..

Key competitors include Project Gutenberg, Internet Archive / Open Library, Amazon Kindle / Free Kindle Books, Wattpad.

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Make long-form reading feel native to short-form internet users

Executive Summary

Market Validation

Market Opportunity

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