I'm building nook.pub because I want a blog and portfolio of my own. Since I'm already making one, I started thinking about whether it could also be a home for other people who want to write and keep things on the internet.

I have a soft spot for personal blogs: people writing because they have a thought, a story, or a small thing they want to remember. It doesn't have to become a business, attract an audience, or produce something every week. Sometimes you write a lot; sometimes you don't. That feels normal to me.

Note 01 — Don't charge for a quiet month

Monthly and yearly subscriptions assume people will use a service steadily. I don't want someone to feel bad about paying for a blog during a month when they aren't feeling creative, or to lose their little corner because they needed a break.

Note 02 — Keep the useful parts together

A personal site can need a custom domain, more than a handful of pages, or room for a long post. Those don't feel like luxuries to me. My intention is that features like these shouldn't be split into plans or held back to encourage an upgrade.

Note 03 — What pays for the lights?

nook.pub costs me about $20 a month to run right now. I'm okay paying that: I need the site too. If more people use it, one idea is to share the actual monthly cost evenly. At today's cost, the arithmetic would look like this:

  • $20 shared by 1 person: $20 each
  • $20 shared by 100 people: $0.20 each

The real bill can change, so those numbers are just an example, not a price or billing promise. I'm still thinking about what would make cost-sharing clear and fair for everyone.

Note 04 — Support should mean support

Some people might want to donate a little extra because they like what I'm trying to make. I'd like that to be optional and separate from access: donating shouldn't buy better tools, and not donating shouldn't make anyone feel like they don't belong.

This is a solo project and these are my notes as I build it. Shared-cost billing and donations aren't implemented yet. For now, I'm working on the platform itself and figuring things out as I go.

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