Story.am launched today. It’s a project by Nick Haskins that offers a hosted, Mediumesque version of his Aesop Story Engine plugin.
From the press release:
Story.AM allows users to sign up and publish stories within their own private “collection.” Story creating and editing is done using a new, experimental story creation tool with an intuitive drag and drop building experience. In addition to having the ability to craft interactive and compelling narratives from a front-end user-interface, users can also invite other storytellers to collaborate with them. In addition, users on the network receive their own profile, which shows their latest stories, and allows other storytellers to subscribe and be notified of new stories.
Nick has worked really hard on this project. I hope he gets his founding members he’s seeking, but I’m worried that it’ll be a challenge for him unless he gives a more compelling pitch or makes basic publishing on Story.am free.
I can’t quite figure out what the value-add is for Story.am versus a non-WordPress but free tool like Medium, which also includes built-in distribution channels. White-labelling with your own URL is certainly compelling, but from what I can tell based on the plans, that costs a lot more than the $144 basic “Founder” fee.
According to his Twitter, at least a handful of folks have already signed up, so maybe I’m wrong. I’m sure he’ll adjust as he learns market demands.
Either way, he’s probably put together one of the most intuitive “storytelling” tools with his Lasso editor than any of the other options I’ve seen, including yet another one I saw by Press75 today.
