The All-in-one platform for indie books & the community.
Here is everything the platform does. More added from user feedback, and the roadmap as we go.
A vault for unpublished work
Your manuscript is encrypted on your own device and only ever stored as ciphertext. Nobody, including Thing.pub, can read it without a key you grant.
End-to-end encryption
Every manuscript is encrypted in your browser with AES-256-GCM before it uploads; our servers only ever hold ciphertext.
Registered-device locking
Reading keys unlock only on the devices a reader registers, capped per account.
Per-reader watermarking
Every reader's copy is watermarked with their identity and a timestamp, plus a hidden forensic marker, and it self-heals if tampered with.
No download, copy, selection, or print
Downloading, selecting, copying, right-click, drag, and printing are all blocked in the eReader, and each attempt is logged.
Screenshot deterrence and tracing
Screenshots are deterred and the content hides on focus loss. A screen can always be photographed, but each copy carries a per-reader watermark, so a leak points to the one reader it came from.
Timed, expiring access
Set when each reader can open a book and when their access expires, enforced on the server.
Instant revocation
Pull a reader's access in one click; their notes and progress are kept in case you re-invite them.
Encrypted and crawler-closed
Manuscripts sit behind sign-in, closed to search crawlers, and stored only as encrypted text, so scrapers and AI never reach a readable copy.
Security flags
Your Security dashboard flags attempts to copy, screenshot, or download, with a per-reader strike count, so anyone deliberately working around the protections is easy to spot.
Bring the book you already wrote
Import the file you have, keep your structure and formatting, and take it through private reader rounds on the way to launch: a small alpha read, wider beta feedback, then ARC copies.
List books you published elsewhere
Import by ISBN to pull title, metadata, and a cover for off-platform books, and keep a private writing-progress meter on Home.
Universal import
Drop in .docx, .epub, .txt, or .md, from Word, Scrivener, or anywhere else.
High-fidelity conversion
Headings, lists, links, footnotes and endnotes, and images carry over, and so do block quotes, callouts, drop caps, scene breaks, and text-message conversations, with a fidelity report that flags anything adjusted.
Automatic chapters and contents
Chapters, parts, and front matter are detected and your table of contents is built for you, no manual tagging.
Draft to ARC lifecycle
A book starts in Draft and goes live at Published. In between, run whichever private reader rounds fit, Alpha, Beta, ARC, in any combination you want.
Continuous autosave and version history
Every edit saves itself, and a dated version timeline lets you roll back safely with one click.
Cover art, or an accent cover
Upload front, back, and spine art (the front auto-crops to the 5:8 book ratio), or pick an accent color for a clean cover.
Series and collections
Group books into a series with custom order, a series cover, shared taxonomy, and a public series page, teasers for unreleased titles included.
Rich metadata and taxonomy
Tag genres, tropes, narrative structures, and representation so the right readers can find your book.
Content warnings and comp titles
Add typed or custom content warnings with intensity, and name your comp titles.
Credit co-authors and contributors
Add each contributor by name and role, from co-author to editor to illustrator, credited on the book's public page.
An eReader built for early access
Kindle-grade reading comfort, your highlights and notes everywhere, and a direct line to the author, all inside a protected eReader.
Distraction-free eReader
A clean paginated or scrolling eReader that remembers your exact spot and restores it the moment you return.
Reading comfort controls
Tune text weight, letter and word spacing, margins, and page tone, with a reading ruler, screen dimming, and a warm-light tint.
E Ink and low-vision mode
A pure black-on-white, high-contrast page mode built for Boox-style E Ink devices and low-vision reading.
Fonts and typefaces
Choose from a set of built-in reading typefaces, upload your own, or read in a custom font the author ships with the book.
Focus mode and pace-aware time left
Go full-screen with an optional on-screen clock, and choose a time-left estimate that learns from how fast you read, page progress, or no readout at all.
Your highlights, your colors
Highlight the passages that stay with you, in colors you name and make your own, and they carry from book to book.
Reactions and notes
React to a passage with a one-tap emoji, or keep a private margin note just for you. If the author allows comments, you can send one straight to them.
My Notes, everywhere
Every highlight, reaction, and note from every book in one searchable, filterable place, each with its quoted passage.
Answer the author inline
NewAuthors can ask a quick question mid-book; you answer in a tap sheet and choose whether to share by name.
Finish prompts and next-book peek
Rate and review the moment you finish, then preview the next book in a series and apply for access without leaving the page.
Your library and reading log
Organize Currently reading, Finished, and custom shelves, log off-platform books by ISBN, track re-reads, and keep a reading goal and daily streak.
See how your story lands
Engagement that tells you something real, anonymized by default. You see how the crowd reads while every reader stays anonymous.
Invite funnel
Watch invited, accepted, opened, and finished, step by step, for any book.
Completion and reader progress
See completion rates per book and across your catalogue, plus a roster of who opened and who finished, with stage dates.
Reading-depth curve
An anonymized look at how far the crowd gets through the book, start to finish.
Reading heatmap
Darker means longer average dwell per section, book start to end, unlocking once enough anonymized sessions exist.
Dwell and engagement time
Average and median reading time per session, measured from how people actually read.
Reader sentiment
Star ratings, would-recommend signals, and reaction hotspots that show exactly where the book landed.
Ratings by stage and craft
Split ratings by reading stage (alpha, beta, ARC, published) and by craft: characters, prose, plot, and pacing.
Pulse Surveys
NewShort, skippable chapter-end check-ins with results by question, chapter, act, and placement, compared across books, plus CSV export.
Review and comment management
Every review and reader comment in one view, with a star-threshold filter and a side-by-side book comparison.
Named only by consent
Everything is anonymized by default; a reader is named only when they choose to share, and they can take that back anytime.
The social network that's actually about books
Everything good about social media, rebuilt around books and the people who read them: follow authors and readers, join book clubs, share reading lists, and turn up for author events. Vetted and human, private where it counts and social where it helps.
Book clubs and read-alongs
Per-book clubs with channels, threaded posts, reactions, mentions, a spoiler gate, buddy reads, and scheduled reads with RSVPs.
Hype squads and book teams
Rally your readers into a book team or hype squad for a launch, with custom roles, a forum, announcements, a timeline, join requests, and a built-in, shareable PR kit.
Writing groups and critique circles
Start an author-only team for a critique circle, a writing group, or a co-authored anthology, with the same roles, forum, and timeline, and the platform's protection on any work you share.
Roles and join links
Give a team custom roles on a capability matrix, and mint host-approved join links for teams and book clubs.
Follow and find people
Follow the authors and readers whose work you care about, and search a member directory by role and craft to find people to learn from and support.
Community activity feed
A running feed of what is happening around your books and the people you follow, each one a tap away.
Shared reading lists
Build reading lists, publish them, and follow and upvote lists from other readers.
Reviews and ratings
Rate and review books (drafts included), with a full reviews dashboard and rating distribution for authors.
Reply to readers in one place
Every on-page comment your readers leave collects in one dashboard, where you react and reply, so feedback becomes a conversation.
Events
Authors post Q&As, signings, and release dates; readers add them to an in-app calendar or export an .ics file.
Collaboration signals
Readers advertise the alpha, beta, ARC, and editorial help they offer; authors advertise what they welcome and their typical reply time, surfaced in Discover.
Safety controls
Block, mute, and report members, and manage your block list, so your reading space stays yours.
Beautiful pages, easy to find
Every book, series, author, and reader gets a shareable public page, and the right filters make the right book easy to find.
Faceted discovery
Browse books, series, authors, and readers, filtered by genre, trope, narrative structure, representation, and book stage.
Hide what you'd rather not see
Pick the content-warning themes to blur or hide and set how much mature content you see, and it holds across Discover, your feeds, search, and your reading.
Public book showcase pages
A single editorial page per book, with its own vibe theme, formats, comps, content notes, reviews, and an apply button.
Public series pages
A series hero with reading order and teasers for titles still to come, shareable with anyone.
Author pages and reader profiles
Shareable public pages for authors and readers, reachable by link, with private profiles redacted by default.
Customizable profile grid
Drag and resize a per-facet profile layout with your own accents, avatar, banner, genres, tropes, and representation markers.
Explore the catalog
Wander books by real taxonomy, genre, trope, structure, representation, and browse an author directory to find your next read and the people behind it.
Built to be found
Every public book, series, and author page is server-rendered with its own title, description, and link preview, plus a sitemap and canonical links, so search engines and shared posts bring readers to you, while your manuscript stays locked behind access control.
Build-in-public portal
A public Roadmap and Changelog, plus a Feedback board where anyone can browse requests, vote counts, and comments (a free login to vote or post).
Professional directory
Rolling outA vetted directory of booksellers, editors, cover artists, and narrators is being built, and applications are open now.
Recruit and run your ARC team
Invite, vet, and admit your readers, then control exactly who can read what, and for how long.
Invite how you like
Invite readers already on the platform by name, send an email invite to anyone not yet on it, or import your whole newsletter list from a CSV.
Precise access terms
Every grant can open on a date, expire, cap total views, and be revoked instantly, with notes and progress kept.
Opt-in, private by default
Readers accept or decline before anything grants.
Styled invite emails
Pick from several invite-email styles, preview each one live, and save the templates you reuse.
Reader dashboard
One board per book of pending, reading, and revoked readers, with resend, copy link, cancel, re-invite, and private notes.
Custom application forms
Build an ARC application with your own questions across a range of answer types, with conditional follow-ups and reusable templates.
Public, spam-proof apply
Readers apply right from your book's public page, no account needed, confirmed by a one-time email code to keep out bots.
Review and admit
Approve an applicant to grant read access instantly (with optional terms), or decline with a note.
Yours, and only yours
Free at the core, private by default. You own your data, and you control every setting yourself.
Free forever core
Reading, writing, collaboration, and everything that protects your work are free, always.
Human-verified access
A real person reviews every account and invitation, and AI-generated work is grounds for permanent removal.
Passwordless sign-in
Sign in with a one-time emailed link or code; there is no password to remember, ever.
One account, both sides
Read, write, or do both with a single Omni account, and switch how the app works for you at any time.
Transparent public ledger
A live page shows exactly what it costs to run Thing.pub and the founder hours behind it. No ads, no investors.
Private by default
Your profile, lists, progress, and communities are private until you choose to share; nothing is discoverable without your say-so.
Notifications your way
Choose email, in-app, or both for each kind of alert, with a weekly digest and a product-news toggle.
Own and export your data
Download everything you have made as a single file, and deactivate or schedule deletion with a 30-day, cancellable grace period.
Themes and accessibility
Light, dark, and high-contrast themes with typography presets, a keyboard-operable eReader, and reduce-motion support (WCAG 2.2 AA is our target).
Being built in the open.
Here is what is coming next. Track it on the public roadmap.
Direct sales and the store
Sell direct to your readers and keep the majority of every sale.
Customization shop
A shop for unique app themes, book themes, profile themes, and more.
Direct messages
Private one-to-one messaging between members.
A public events page
A browsable, public calendar of author events (in-app events already work today).
Audiobook and narration
Protected listening alongside protected reading.
Offline reading
Keep reading a protected book without a connection.
In-book search and dictionary
Search within a manuscript and tap any word to define it.
Ready to see it for yourself?
Join the waitlist for the closed beta, or start browsing the shelves right now.