
Show HN: I made wits.io where writers can earn money with book summaries - zaheerbaloch
https://www.wits.io/contribute
======
rekshaw
Why are only 50% of _profits_ (not even revenue) redistributed to
contributors? The content creators are the ones adding all of the value to
your website.

Or am I reading it wrong and that is ON TOP of the revenue they get from
engagement?

Either way, nice website.

~~~
zaheerbaloch
Its just a start... I wasnt sure about the number hence started with 50%.... I
can bump it to a bigger number... What makes sense? 70/30... or 80/20? or
90/10?

~~~
owens99
I would go with 85/15\. This is what Skillshare used to charge (15%) when they
had in-person/live classes marketplace. I think it's pretty fair. Good luck!

~~~
zaheerbaloch
Done. Its now 85/15 :)

~~~
allannienhuis
I know its only a few minutes since the change, but the contributions page
still shows 50%. Edge Caching?

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zaheerbaloch
Can you please try again. Should be fixed by now.

~~~
danbower
[https://www.wits.io/writer](https://www.wits.io/writer) says 85% but
[https://www.wits.io/contribute](https://www.wits.io/contribute) still says
50%.

~~~
allannienhuis
yes, the linked/submitted page is /contribute, and it still says 50%

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tw1010
"1,337 people have signed up so far."

Is that just boilerplate or was I really lucky?

~~~
nsgf
Looks boilerplate.

~~~
zaheerbaloch
naah... its real... maker here.

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tenaciousDaniel
I had an idea to do something similar but with the following differences:

\- publishers could submit either text _or_ audio

\- publishers could choose between summarizing the entire book, or each
chapter

\- the app would have a kind of "marketplace" where summary writers could link
up with audio producers. This would be helpful for (a) people who want to
publish both written and audio summaries but didn't have audio knowledge, and
(b) people who want to monetize their audio capabilities but don't necessarily
know any books to summarize.

Feel free to steal my ideas. I _reeaaalllyyy_ want an app where I can find
decent long-form podcast-style summaries of non-fiction books that I don't
have the time to read.

~~~
zaheerbaloch
Thanks so much. Audio summaries are such a great idea that I never thought of
before. Once I have couple of writers/authors I will throw this idea on them.

~~~
tenaciousDaniel
yeah just stream it like spotify and then charge a monthly fee. I'd throw my
money at that.

~~~
zaheerbaloch
Audio is going big everyday, so definitely I will look if I can make something
there.

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ordinaryradical
If a book's ideas can be absorbed in 15 minutes, was it ever really a book?

I've seen these business summaries on offer elsewhere--it always struck me as
an approach to signaling, not learning. In this model the "reader" can
manufacture the appearance of knowledge of a subject without taking the time
to invest oneself in it. Or perhaps now the books even manufacture the
appearance of knowledge while being tiny ideas unworthy of serious
consideration.

I think if I was working with anyone who used a service like this though, I
would have second thoughts about them. Isn't this just trend-chasing dressed
up as knowledge acquisition?

~~~
muzani
Sunmaries are not there to prevent you from reading a book, but to highlight
which books are worth reading.

Most books spend about 80% of the content defending an idea. Something like 33
Strategies of War can easily be summarized into 15 minutes, but it will lose
its charm, as the book relies on historical storytelling to get its points
across.

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hienyimba
Holy sh*t. No kidding. I just made
[https://booksummaries.me](https://booksummaries.me) based on the idea that
publishers summaries could also give a good idea especially the videos where
they talk about the general idea behind the book.

Take it for a spin y'all -
[https://booksummaries.me](https://booksummaries.me)

~~~
gnicholas
I get the desire to post this here, but perhaps it would be more appropriate
to do your own Show HN instead?

Also, I looked at the reviews on the first book you have listed (Crazy Rich
Asians), and many of them are pure gibberish. Like not even real words.
Shouldn't be too hard to clean that up, and it'll make the site look a lot
more credible when you do.

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dtujmer
Don't know if this is helpful, but Derek Sivers has a giant review page of all
the books he has read. Maybe wits.io competes with this by better reviews,
maybe not. In any case, I'm putting this here for all interested parties:
[https://sivers.org/book](https://sivers.org/book)

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Gys
No terms of use, privacy statement ? About us ? So who are you and why would
anybody trust you ?

~~~
tribesman
He is from Balochistan, Pakistan terrorized area and an entrepreneur. Be easy
on him, he will add it soon.

~~~
pc86
What does him living in Pakistan have to do with anything? How do you know
this?

~~~
zaheerbaloch
Totally :) Thanks to Stripe Atlas I am able to build this website and try to
make a business out of it.

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orangepeel310
I’ve been using [Instaread][[https://instaread.co](https://instaread.co)]. I
find it to be a pretty good source of high quality book summaries, which you
can read or listen to.

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sebslomski
Awesome idea! Apparently I hesitated as there was no trial or anything. I have
no idea what I can expect or how good the quality is. But really good
selection of books for HN.

~~~
muzani
Yeah, I think there should be a few books in a "free tier" section. Maybe very
popular books like the 4 Hour Workweek or Lean Startup.

Then leave the rare content for membership tier. There is a 7 day trial, but
it's a huge turn off as I'd just procrastinate and never look at it properly.

Blinkist would put their low quality books in the free tier, which was also a
turn off.

~~~
zaheerbaloch
I thought about it a lot about putting a free tier... but the work that needed
to be done (code) is not there yet... for sure will add the free tier section
where you can read at least couple of books for FREE

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davidcollantes
I would like to see a sample. I am, also, annoyed a little by the three "Apply
to contribute" and the "Write & make money", all on the same page.

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zubairlk
For more context, check out [https://wits.io](https://wits.io) and
[https://www.producthunt.com/posts/wits-
io](https://www.producthunt.com/posts/wits-io)

From their website:

Weekly summaries of great books recommended by founders and makers

Cut through the BS and get 10-15 minute book summaries sent to you, weekly.
Become a more creative and innovative individual each week.

~~~
Kaveren
If a book can be summarized in 10-15 minutes and the rest of the book was
worthless "filler", I wonder whether or not that's the sort of book worth
summarizing in the first place.

~~~
muzani
Most non-fiction books usually spend about 80% of it explaining a concept.

Book summaries will tell you what the concept is, but not why it works or how
they defend it.

The book Outliers has some very bold concepts - the 10,000 hour rule, as well
as justifying that underdogs are usually the winners. These are easy to claim,
hard to defend, and you have to read the book to understand it.

~~~
zaheerbaloch
Totally. Hence the summaries. If you like the summary of a book so much you
can always go back and read the book. The summaries are not meant to stop you
from reading books.

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kull
UX comments: 3 buttons on a page which do the same, is very confusing. And
then the button in the corner, what does it do? Also, what will you do with
this content? Examples? I am interested in the project but as a reader, not a
contributor writer.

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justaguyhere
Just curious, how does copyright work in this case? To summarize someone's
book (especially if we are selling the summaries), don't we have to get
permission from the book's authors?

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Tomte
No. The ideas and the knowledge in the book don't fall under copyright, the
concrete expression does.

But the more interesting point is how they use the names of well-known people.
They try to pass Elon Musk and Bill Gates off as affiliated with their site.

I'd say there's a pretty good argument that this is illegal and could be shut
down hard.

~~~
justaguyhere
Cool. So I can take your book, summarize, sell the summary without having to
get your permission first?

The same thing is true for podcasts etc then? Say, I summarize 2 hour podcast
into 15 mins?

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nkrisc
Writing down your thoughts and selling them is perfectly fine and legal in
most places. Even if those are thoughts you had after reading a specific book
and those thoughts are about the content of that book.

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gnicholas
Is there a way to contact you directly? Didn’t see anything on the site or in
your HN profile.

~~~
zaheerbaloch
Hi there! Yes but when you signup for trial under FAQ.

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rainboiboi
"Whenever a wits.io member likes your book summary, you earn money."

What is your business model?

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quakenul
Subscriptions: 5$/month, 49$/year (I am not the creator)

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zaheerbaloch
Thanks. This is right. $5/month and $49 a year. I havent really figured out
the details of profit sharing with authors yet... Which I will do once I have
some people willing to contribute and after checking whats fair.

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LukeHoersten
I love the simple design and look of the site. Did you do that yourself?

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zaheerbaloch
Yes. But I am not a designer at all. I have looked at different sites over
time and tried to incorporate what I liked there and made sense for wits.io

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hknd
Where can I buy those summaries?

~~~
zaheerbaloch
You can subscribe to wits.io

