Currently there's no deadline, and I'm looking for as many stories as I can get. More stories lead to a larger variety which leads to more users and a greater network effect. Just to give you an idea, there are 10 million active users on Mxit (the platform I'm targeting) -- that's about 20% of our population.

That would be much appreciated! Admittedly, I do suspect that a lot of these stories might be too complicated for most South Africans, and eventually we'll want to move to stories that target South Africans very specifically. But that will follow once the platform has gain critical mass (enough users to sustain itself), and for that to happen I need an initial library of stories, and this is where you guys and girls could help a lot.

Thank you for the support and interest!

That's absolutely fine, when you're ready, let me know.

Quick update: I'm busy building the system. I'm planning to set up a public Trello board so that you can track the progress. Once a go-live date is established I will start putting the stories into the correct format and making more formal agreements with those that are interested (as indicated on the spreadsheet).

Hi Arfur9. Good idea regarding the charity drive! I've never done a charity drive before, so wouldn't really know where to start.

It's not a u-turn from kids to adults. It's just that I've found a way to regulate who reads what. So it's not the "same shelf" at all, it's different shelves altogether.

Thanks!

This is in many ways a cross-post from here (I was told that this is the right forum for the post). In a nutshell:

• I want to publish a small library of storybooks on Mxit (Africa's largest social network) with the aim of "getting people to read" in South Africa.
• Eventually we want the storybooks authored by South Africans for South Africans, but to get an initial library, I need some initial content.
• My proposition to the authors on chooseyourstory.com is a 25% royalty on all revenue generated (there will be a small amount of ad revenue) for non-exclusive rights to the storybook. This provides authors with an opportunity to earn a bit of passive income on the side.
• It will be possible to track stats on storybooks through a web front-end, and (depending on amounts) payments will be made monthly via PayPal.
• I will accept stories written for any age.

Please add your chooseyourstory.com username, stories and links to stories to this spreadsheet if you are keen to participate. I will message interested parties through chooseyourstory.com to formalise the agreements.

Makes sense. Perhaps me and Alex can even collaborate...

Definitely! Thanks!

GOOD NEWS: I CAN NOW ACCEPT ANY STORY WITH ANY CONTENT (NO MORE AGE RESTRICTIONS)

I have discovered a way to regulate who reads what, meaning that I can theoretically accept any story regardless of content. The same agreement holds: 25% royalty to non-exclusive rights.

Please add your chooseyourstory.com username, stories and links to stories to this spreadsheet if you are keen to participate.

I will message interested parties through chooseyourstory.com to formalise the agreements.

Thank you, I will have a look.