5 ms·

Skribit Finally Launches, Aims to Cure Your Writer’s Block

40 points by dabent 17y ago

aditya 17y ago
Congrats, Paul!
andrewhyde 17y ago
Congrats Stammy!
- subwindow 17y ago
  Don't forget Calvin!
  - PStamatiou 17y ago
    and our intern @alexcoomans!
pmichaud 17y ago
Do bloggers really have this problem? I have more drafts waiting to be finished than I have articles. I have too many ideas to execute them all. Am I alone?
- dabent 17y ago
  Some bloggers do. I think lots of people have writer's block on occasion. The tool is also a great way to get feedback from visitors on what they want to hear.
- PStamatiou 17y ago
  I did an "Ask HN" thread about a year and a half ago and found a good number of people with this problem. Skribit came out of that problem I had myself for my own blog http://paulstamatiou.com http://paulstamatiou.com
  - volida 17y ago
    a friend was asking today on twitter what το blog about. I ll go recommend το him skribit.
- rjurney 17y ago
  'Cures Writers Block' is the one liner, but having read a lot of blogs that have it installed in the last year - it also helps you tune your writing to your audience. People request followups, or more detail on topics that you've covered, which helps you connect with your readers.
- kingkilr 17y ago
  It's not so much writers block with me as that I don't necessarily have the best sense of what my writer's want to hear. I write about very technical content, and very between explanations of advanced topics, introductions, and opinion pieces. It's useful to know what my readers want to hear.
dabent 17y ago
I actually use this on one of my blogs. "Stammy" has done a great job of making a clean interface and widget. I wish him all the best.
PStamatiou 17y ago
Thanks guys! You beat me to the HN posting haha.
lliiffee 17y ago
My experience: * Used "techncrunch" promo code when signing up. * Supposed free pro account actually costs $1 per year, even using the promo. * Impossible to switch to "free" account. * Leave.
- PStamatiou 17y ago
  Yeah that was a bug i noticed right at the very last minute. Amazon would error if promo was for $0 so I have been working on hacking a fix in - we've never given away free Pro accounts before so we just caught this issue. Ideally should just bypass Amazon completely. Hit me up with your username and I'll manually bump you up to a year account until we get that resolved.
  - deleted 17y ago
    [deleted]
  - lliiffee 17y ago
    You can't really it a "bug" so much as "you not bothering to implement what you promised". The issue was entirely predicable, and a workaround would be trivial. When you told techcrunch about the promo, you obviously knew it didn't exist. It's hard to call that anything but a lie.
    - MicahWedemeyer 17y ago
      While I agree that more testing was called for (ie. try your own promo before telling people about it), calling this a lie is way over the top. Being embarrassed in front of the TC crowd is punishment enough. Let's be serious, people: it's not like he was expecting to get rich off charging $1 instead of $0.
      - lliiffee 17y ago
        You seriously believe he "accidentally" told techcrunch there was a free promo, despite not actually taking any action to make that happen?
tortilla 17y ago
Congrats! Love the design, clean and original. Everything is well laid out and the copy is excellent. Another plus because it doesn't look like another 37signals web app clone.
- deleted 17y ago
  [deleted]
- PStamatiou 17y ago
  Thanks a ton! That means a lot to me as I am a jack-of-all-trades type and never really associated with having good design sense haha.
  - tortilla 17y ago
    That's how I am, it limits the damage I can do by over-designing. :)
jack7890 17y ago
Out of curiosity, why was it necessary to be in beta for over two years? Doesn't seem like the technology would take that long to develop.
- PStamatiou 17y ago
  Necessary, no. Most of the functionality has been around for a while, it's the polishing, redesigns and extra things that took the extra time. To clarify we have not been in full-time active development for 2 years. I was still a full-time student the first year, so myself and cofounder were only able to work here and there, mostly weekends. This year I became the first full-time employee. btw - I saw your SeatGeek launch @ TC50, grats!
  - jack7890 17y ago
    Makes sense. Congrats on the launch--the widget looks great. Whenever I get around to starting a personal blog, I'll be sure to use it.

40 points by dabent 17y ago

aditya 17y ago

Congrats, Paul!

andrewhyde 17y ago

Congrats Stammy!

subwindow 17y ago
Don't forget Calvin!
- PStamatiou 17y ago
  and our intern @alexcoomans!

pmichaud 17y ago

Do bloggers really have this problem? I have more drafts waiting to be finished than I have articles. I have too many ideas to execute them all. Am I alone?

dabent 17y ago
Some bloggers do. I think lots of people have writer's block on occasion. The tool is also a great way to get feedback from visitors on what they want to hear.
PStamatiou 17y ago
I did an "Ask HN" thread about a year and a half ago and found a good number of people with this problem. Skribit came out of that problem I had myself for my own blog http://paulstamatiou.com http://paulstamatiou.com
- volida 17y ago
  a friend was asking today on twitter what το blog about. I ll go recommend το him skribit.
rjurney 17y ago
'Cures Writers Block' is the one liner, but having read a lot of blogs that have it installed in the last year - it also helps you tune your writing to your audience. People request followups, or more detail on topics that you've covered, which helps you connect with your readers.
kingkilr 17y ago
It's not so much writers block with me as that I don't necessarily have the best sense of what my writer's want to hear. I write about very technical content, and very between explanations of advanced topics, introductions, and opinion pieces. It's useful to know what my readers want to hear.

dabent 17y ago

I actually use this on one of my blogs. "Stammy" has done a great job of making a clean interface and widget. I wish him all the best.

PStamatiou 17y ago

Thanks guys! You beat me to the HN posting haha.

lliiffee 17y ago

My experience: * Used "techncrunch" promo code when signing up. * Supposed free pro account actually costs $1 per year, even using the promo. * Impossible to switch to "free" account. * Leave.

PStamatiou 17y ago
Yeah that was a bug i noticed right at the very last minute. Amazon would error if promo was for $0 so I have been working on hacking a fix in - we've never given away free Pro accounts before so we just caught this issue. Ideally should just bypass Amazon completely. Hit me up with your username and I'll manually bump you up to a year account until we get that resolved.
- deleted 17y ago
  [deleted]
- lliiffee 17y ago
  You can't really it a "bug" so much as "you not bothering to implement what you promised". The issue was entirely predicable, and a workaround would be trivial. When you told techcrunch about the promo, you obviously knew it didn't exist. It's hard to call that anything but a lie.
  - MicahWedemeyer 17y ago
    While I agree that more testing was called for (ie. try your own promo before telling people about it), calling this a lie is way over the top. Being embarrassed in front of the TC crowd is punishment enough. Let's be serious, people: it's not like he was expecting to get rich off charging $1 instead of $0.
    - lliiffee 17y ago
      You seriously believe he "accidentally" told techcrunch there was a free promo, despite not actually taking any action to make that happen?

tortilla 17y ago

Congrats! Love the design, clean and original. Everything is well laid out and the copy is excellent. Another plus because it doesn't look like another 37signals web app clone.

deleted 17y ago
[deleted]
PStamatiou 17y ago
Thanks a ton! That means a lot to me as I am a jack-of-all-trades type and never really associated with having good design sense haha.
- tortilla 17y ago
  That's how I am, it limits the damage I can do by over-designing. :)

jack7890 17y ago

Out of curiosity, why was it necessary to be in beta for over two years? Doesn't seem like the technology would take that long to develop.

PStamatiou 17y ago
Necessary, no. Most of the functionality has been around for a while, it's the polishing, redesigns and extra things that took the extra time. To clarify we have not been in full-time active development for 2 years. I was still a full-time student the first year, so myself and cofounder were only able to work here and there, mostly weekends. This year I became the first full-time employee. btw - I saw your SeatGeek launch @ TC50, grats!
- jack7890 17y ago
  Makes sense. Congrats on the launch--the widget looks great. Whenever I get around to starting a personal blog, I'll be sure to use it.