Talers 2: Imagining the future
Hi guys,
This is Matthieu, the founder of Talers.
I'm putting aside the formal tone to make a big announcement: we're going to be running a crowdfunding campaign to finance the development of Talers 2.
The campaign will take place on Kickstarter and will run from October 22 to November 21, 2024.
Why a crowdfunding campaign, and what is "Talers 2"? I'll explain everything, and share my vision of Talers' future.
There's a rule in entrepreneurship: if you want to create a product that replaces another product that people are used to using, it has to be 10 times better. So I started Talers with the exciting ambition of bringing authors around the world a working environment that is at least 10 times better than Word.
When you're starting from scratch with very few resources, that's quite a challenge. Taking on such a behemoth is like David challenging Goliath armed only with his slingshot.
It's a challenge I'm far from the first to have taken up. There are a myriad of writing tools out there, often with very limited resources, and always with the same observation: writers lack a professional working tool.
As I often say, designers don't work on Paint. Musicians have a wide range of composition software, and video editing is certainly not done on the same tools as 20 years ago.
Despite the determination and passion of all the projects that preceded Talers, Word remained unchallenged by authors. No one has managed to do "10 times better". And writers still find themselves without a real tool to accompany their work.
We're here to change that.
Producing Talers 1, marketing it and communicating around it was a real pleasure. It wasn't just about developing software, it was also about meeting authors and collaborating with very different profiles, all of whom contributed to the tool as it exists today.
But this is just the beginning. A solid foundation has been laid, we have an elegant design, an application that's fast and pleasant to use, and, since the migration, a unique real-time synchronization engine, specially optimized for writing.
(Incidentally, I'd like to apologize and thank you for your patience during the somewhat unstable month that followed the migration).
So we have an excellent foundation on which to build the future of writing.
I imagined and realized the designs for Talers 2, and if you haven't yet seen the video on our new landing page, I urge you to go and watch it. Spoiler: your mouth may water.
Preparing the video for the crowdfunding campaign
What's New
Talers 2 will bring the following new features:
A slight but general redesign of the application, notably on the left and right panels:
use of colored icons to distinguish the various files on the left panel (texts, character sheets, images, etc.),
you'll be able to pin regularly-used items to the right panel,
additional buttons in the text area.
The left panel will now contain three categories:
the project, which contains all your documents to be exported,
Appendices, where you can store all your notes and research files,
the recycle garbage can, where you can find files you've deleted.
On your phone (or with your computer's webcam, but that's more sporty), you can take photos of your manuscripts to automatically add them to your Talers project.
We're going to implement character sheets. The idea is to help you create unique, coherent characters and make the experience fun! You'll even be able to define relationships between characters.
You can also create timelines. Perfect for making sure you don't get the order of events wrong.
Mind maps will help you create a complex plot and link elements together. I look forward to seeing your next thrillers!
We'll be experimenting with a voice dictation service specialized in creative writing. Given the current state of technology, this may work better in English than in other languages, but we'll do our best to offer the feature in as many languages as possible.
A mind map in Talers 2
The Arrival of AI
We'll also be integrating AI into the application. Like all tools, artificial intelligence is a double-edged sword.
One study asked two groups of individuals to write stories. The first group could use AI to help them write, while the second had to do it the old-fashioned way, using only their hands and heads.
The stories that were produced were then sent to readers, who were asked to judge and enjoy them without knowing whether the author had used an AI or not.
In the end, the readers preferred the stories where the AI had assisted the human. The quality of the result was on average superior in terms of the form and structure of the story.
On the other hand, these stories tended to resemble each other more, losing their originality.
With Talers, I want to strike the right balance: adding AI to help you improve the quality of your stories, without taking over from your imagination.
Talers 2 will bring the following AI features:
You'll be able to chat with an assistant who knows your story and your various characters. Perhaps the assistant will surprise you when you ask how the sultry relationship between Jennifer and John might evolve (John did something pretty uncool three days ago, after all).
In the appendix, you can create conversation files to save your discussions. For example, if you have a series of questions about Ancient Egypt and how bodies were mummified.
An instant correction button will give you general suggestions for improving your text. It's as if you had a beta reader at your fingertips!
Finally, the rewriting tool will evolve to give you complete freedom in how you want to improve or transform part of your text.
The Crowdfunding Campaign
Can't wait to try it out?
I can't wait to develop it!
But we need funding to do it.
We need 20K-50K€ to be able to develop Talers 2. 20K€ is the minimum to enable me to work full-time on the project. With 50K€, we'll be able to go full speed ahead without fear of going over budget.
If we raise even more, we'll be able to recruit new staff to work on other projects in parallel, which I'm sure you'll like just as much.
If you're ever interested in Talers 2, taking part in the crowdfunding campaign will be a great advantage, as you'll benefit from a 50% discount on Talers 2 for one year, valid regardless of the plan you choose.
The icing on the cake is that you'll also get the PRO version of Talers 1 free of charge for the duration of Talers 2's development.
Finally, if you like Talers, with or without a subscription, I encourage you to tell as many people as you can about it . We can't make a success of a project like this on our own, and it's with your help that we'll get there.
For more information on the crowdfunding campaign, I encourage you to visit the new home page. You'll also be able to propose your own ideas for Talers 2 and vote for the ones you like best.
Depending on the funds raised, we're committed to developing the ideas that receive the most votes during the campaign!
See you soon,
Matthieu
