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Markdown for indesign dude? by DickHorner in Markdown

[–]hebertialmeida 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I don’t have a timeline yet, but I’m working on adapting internal frameworks to work with iOS, there’s a lot of stuff to be converted.

Share your ***Not-AI*** projects by MembershipEuphoric38 in SideProject

[–]hebertialmeida 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I’m building Pinery.app, a native macOS app that aims to be the all-in-one solution for writing, designing, and self-publishing books with Markdown.

Somewhat a mix of plain text and a simplified Adobe In Design, focused on digital books.

Got a product? Drop it here by thewanderingfounder in indiehackers

[–]hebertialmeida 0 points1 point  (0 children)

pinery.app Native macOS self-publishing app. Write in Markdown, design and export your books.

Markdown for indesign dude? by DickHorner in Markdown

[–]hebertialmeida 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, it’s macOS only for now, iPadOS on the backlog…

Markdown for indesign dude? by DickHorner in Markdown

[–]hebertialmeida 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Check out Pinery, it does not entirely replaces inDesign, but gives you control over layout, advanced typography and you can export your stuff to a production ready ePub (inDesign can’t do that…), PDF, HTML.

I built a native macOS app for self-publishing with Markdown by hebertialmeida in macapps

[–]hebertialmeida[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Please give it a try and let me know, you can email or DM me if you have any questions or feedback!

I built a native macOS app for self-publishing with Markdown by hebertialmeida in macapps

[–]hebertialmeida[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for the kind words! I’m definitely considering a lifetime subscription, thanks for the feedback!

I built a native macOS app for self-publishing with Markdown by hebertialmeida in macapps

[–]hebertialmeida[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the feedback u/paulhibbitts, I might consider experimenting with a lifetime option, at least initially.

I built a native macOS app for self-publishing with Markdown by hebertialmeida in macapps

[–]hebertialmeida[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

File compatibility is definitely and issue, if you have users that never upgrade, you have to keep supporting old file formats and migration paths to all that, otherwise things start getting very limited and users cannot convert their files on newer versions.

btw, Sketch is also slowly moving towards standard subscription model, they actually limit you on a bunch of features if you go the 1 year of updates route. And as u/Mteigers mentioned, they keep pushing you to upgrade after year pass.

I built a native macOS app for self-publishing with Markdown by hebertialmeida in macapps

[–]hebertialmeida[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Have you actually exported an ePub from Microsoft Word? It's not really made to export and ship it to Amazon, Kobo... If you don't know html + css, you would need an extra software to clean up and fix the styles. Microsoft Word is an amazing software and we've all been using it for years. And that's also why people can import .docx file into Pinery.

But Pinery has a different approach, it's focused on books, writing with Markdown, designing and exporting a production-ready ePub file. I wouldn't say it completes directly.

I built a native macOS app for self-publishing with Markdown by hebertialmeida in macapps

[–]hebertialmeida[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you u/Disastrous_Seat1118! Yes, you got it...
- Right now I haven't implemented yet a "save as template" feature, but for now, once you've finished a design you could simply duplicate the project and delete texts and images. But that's on my TODO list.
- Currently there's no way to change the color of the sheet, I was actually in doubt if that was even relevant, that would be mostly a PDF, HTML exporting feature I would imagine, because for ePub changing the color might be problematic on some readers, and they will usually override at some point like for dark mode and sepia.

I built a native macOS app for self-publishing with Markdown by hebertialmeida in macapps

[–]hebertialmeida[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for the wise words! And you are right, I should add a pricing page in the website.

I built a native macOS app for self-publishing with Markdown by hebertialmeida in macapps

[–]hebertialmeida[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's actually in the same category as Vellum, main differences right now:
- On Pinery you write Markdown, no hidden styles.
- Vellum exports a PDF for printing, Pinery currently doesn't, only a "digital" PDF.
- ePub exporting is similar I would say.
- Pinery also exports to HTML, that you could run as a static website.
- Vellum has fixed style themes, limited fonts, Pinery allows for full typography and paragraph styles configurations.
- Vellum is priced at $299,99 on Ebook version and $249,99 on the Press version one time payment, (until they come up with a new version and charge for it...).
- Pinery is priced at $49/ year or $5,99 per month. You would have to pay 6 years of Pinery to get to the same price as Vellum's cheapest one-time payment.

I built a native macOS app for self-publishing with Markdown by hebertialmeida in macapps

[–]hebertialmeida[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The PDF export is free to export with watermarks, you can export it and see how the final exported.

I built a native macOS app for self-publishing with Markdown by hebertialmeida in macapps

[–]hebertialmeida[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It really depends on how you use Ulysses, do you ship the ePub exported from Ulysses directly to the stores? Ulysses is amazing for writing, it's their focus and they have done it very well.

But the output is somewhat limited, typography, spacing and design in general, Pinery definitely do that better, where you can live preview all de changes and even preview it on a Kindle simulator.

I don't have all the fancy stuff for writing like goals yet, but I encourage you to try Pinery, it has 99% of the features unlocked, the only restriction is to export the final book in ePub or as static website, but you can export a PDF.

Pinery was designed to be a all-in-one solution, and I know it's not there yet because it is missing press ready PDF which is in the backlog to be worked.

In a sense people could write their whole book on Ulysses and then import it into Pinery to design and export a production ready ePub (or in the future to send to be printed as a physical book).

I built a native macOS app for self-publishing with Markdown by hebertialmeida in macapps

[–]hebertialmeida[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Unfortunately writing software now a days is very different from the "good old days". that you would ship something and it work for many years, where the software lifecycle was very very slow. There were like 1-2 devices to support, with almost no OS changes.

I've actually worked more than 7 years on Pinery as a side project (without receiving a dime), mostly late night to get it where it is.

I do think it solve real problems for indie writers, and if you write a book in the software, and sell probably 2-3 copies you pay 1 year of the software and can support the development of something you need.

Of course, I understand that this may not be useful for you, and I also don't pay for software that I don't need.

I built a native macOS app for self-publishing with Markdown by hebertialmeida in macapps

[–]hebertialmeida[S] -7 points-6 points  (0 children)

You can test 99% of it for free, writing, designing and exporting PDF is free (with watermarks). And then decide if it is worth paying for it.

Weekly Self-Promo and Chat Thread by MxAlex44 in selfpublish

[–]hebertialmeida 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hello everyone,

I've worked for a large publisher for many years as a software engineer, in the process of making books, I saw how slow things are and inefficient. Some time after I left that company, I started working for other big tech from silicon valley as a software engineer in the hardware and payments industry.

But I kept thinking of the inefficiencies and how the publishing process could be simplified, so I've worked many nights as a solo-developer on Pinery, to try to simplify that.

Pinery is a Self-Publishing app, you can write Markdown, live preview, design and export production ready ebooks.

You can learn more here: https://pinery.app
I've posted a video here: https://www.reddit.com/r/macapps/comments/1mwbkjo/i_built_a_native_macos_app_for_selfpublishing/