eBook App Development Guide To Make An App Like Wattpad

Rise Of eBook App Development

Mobile applications have become an important part of our lifestyle. We tend to check our phone every second minute. The heavy usage of mobile apps has resulted in the high revenue generation of many businesses and hence, there are thousands of apps being launched in the market every day on every platform. 

According to Statista, the revenue of the eBook marketplace is expected to reach USD 23.12 billion by 2026. There are a lot of statistics on the internet showing the usage and importance of eBooks and their success over the years. By 2018, the US had approximately 90.5 million e-readers which are expected to grow exponentially in the coming years. 

For a bookseller, getting eBook app development services has proven to be beneficial as it helps in the growth of sales and revenue. The benefit is not only on the number of books but also, customer loyalty. Your app will enable the users to purchase the book from the app instead of going to the store and buying it. 

When a consumer likes your app like Wattpad and enjoys a book, you’ve built a strong client base, and that client keeps coming back to your app, increasing your income stream.

Types Of eBook Apps

There are mainly two types of eBooks with a subtle difference between them, looking from the user perspective. Before getting started with the eBook app development process, you must decide which one you will be focusing on. 

Actual eBook Reading App

A person who is a real reader allows other people to read books at any time and in any format including pdf, epub, fb2, etc. Your eBook app will enable its users to pick, download and stream any book online or offline at any period. 

App For Online eBook Stores

This will be the best choice for the booksellers who offer digital copies of the books as their products. There are many existing apps of this kind in the market like Amazon Kindle, Wattpad, Google Play Books, Apple Books, etc. 

When you reach out to the right mobile application development company, they will let you know the right app for you. You will also be informed about the functionalities and technologies you must choose to make your app deliver the best services and stand out from the competition. You will also know the ways to earn money from your app and the right marketing strategies for your target market.

eBook App Development Journey

For an excellent eBook app development journey, you must choose a one-page business model plan like Lean Canvas. This will help you manage all the vital information and create a workable business model to organize all your important data. 

Here we have discussed some of the important points you must keep in mind for your eBook app development to make an app like Wattpad:

Exciting Niche

You don’t have a large audience when you’re just starting with your ebook business. As a result, pick a single probable speciality that will appeal to a large number of bookworms. Define the speciality that appeals to you. It may range from comic novels to romance and mystery, thrillers, drama, and adventure, among other genres.

Choose a cool niche that is characterised by genre, theme, locale, author ethnicity, and so forth. The possible niche will aid in the growth of your app’s readership, allowing you to gradually focus on numerous niches.

Creating Reader Personas

To adopt the appropriate marketing techniques, the app must first determine its target audience. And determining the target audience for an ebook app is more difficult than determining the target audience for other mobile apps. Not everyone enjoys comic books, not everyone enjoys romance novels, and not everyone enjoys historical literature; some individuals prefer literary fiction or fantasy.

Hence, when you are planning to go for eBook app development, you must make sure you have researched the market thoroughly. You should be able to answer questions like how many people prefer reading eBooks, how often they want to read and how much money they can spend on purchasing and reading?

Functionalities For eBook App Development

In your planning process of eBook app development, you must also keep the features into consideration. These features and functionalities determine how will your app function in the marketplace and users like it. Below are some of the main features for your eBook app: 

• Store Listing: It’s a crucial function to include in a Wattpad-style reading software. You must have product listings in the app, even if you have an online store. Make the listing pattern and design as user-friendly and interesting as feasible. Also, make the buy/purchase and call to action buttons as easy as possible.
• Advanced Search Filter: Use tags that are relevant to your niche, such as genre, author name, book title, rating, and so on. These tags allow people to quickly locate what they’re looking for by just typing it into a search engine. Also, according to the speciality, create categories that are similar to tags to make the app easier to navigate.
• Audio Books: Bookworms can enjoy their favourite novels on the move with audiobooks, even if they have a hectic schedule. As a result, millennials love this function since they can listen to the book while commuting. However, incorporating human voice can be costly, thus text-to-speech might be used instead.
• My Library: With this feature in your ebook app development, customers may manage purchased and downloaded books, periodicals, read and unread books, and more.
• Personalized Reading: Allow your eBook app’s users to customise their reading mode with some useful options. Bookmarks, navigation, notes, and highlights, font size and type, page customization, night mode themes for eye safety, backdrop effect, dictionary, and more functions are included.
• Gamification: This feature is widely used to increase app user engagement by providing various prizes to encourage users to read more.
• Payment Process: Integrating a dependable payment gateway to allow consumers to pay for books and subscriptions online is unavoidable. It should be secure enough to keep users’ financial information safe.
• Content Uploading: Many reading apps include content uploading capabilities, allowing writers to submit their works in exchange for app reviews.
• Social Sharing: It is beneficial to the health of ebook apps to include social networking features such as Facebook, Twitter, and community features such as Goodreads in the app nowadays. The Goodreads community has been integrated into the Kindle platform. Users’ reviews and ratings can be automatically published to their Goodreads accounts if they so want.

How Can You Earn Money From eBook App Development?

Apps frequently adopt a freemium model, in which users may download the app for free and then purchase books from an in-app shop. Another option is to provide a monthly or yearly membership that allows customers to read as much as they like on the app.

Many ebook apps, such as Wattpad, employs a mixed revenue model to maximise the app’s potential. With a monthly membership to Wattpad, consumers may read as much as they want from its selection of books and magazines. It also continues to sell books in the classic sense.

Cost Of eBook App Development

The cost of eBook app development depends on many factors including features and functionalities included, technology stack used, platforms integrated, cost of hiring the right developers or development company, etc.

An MVP for eBook app development like Wattpad takes about 5-6 months on average for a mobile app development business. The cost of developing an MVP is between $15k and $20k, depending on the complexity and quantity of features. Furthermore, the location in which the development business is based has a considerable impact on the cost of developing an ebook app.

Final Words

eBook app development linked to online ebook stores will continue to expand in market niches, providing a handy method for consumers to discover new reads in a certain speciality. This will also help in generating cash for indie writers and small publishing companies. While starting an eReader business is difficult and takes a significant investment of both time and money, the profit potential is not insignificant.

We at Apptunix provide both development and consulting services. We’ll gladly share our knowledge of eBook app development for both platforms – Android or iOS if you have any questions. For a consultation and a quote, please use our contact form.