Launched yesterday. Here's what I learned.
Yesterday I launched Avooq on Product Hunt. The result was exactly what you'd expect from launching without a pre-built audience — silence.
I'm not discouraged. It confirmed what I already knew: distribution is the problem, not the product. Users who find Avooq generate full novels. The question I'm chasing now is whether they come back — and whether they'd pay to do it again. That's my PMF signal.
What Avooq does: describe the story you want to read or write, get a complete coherent novel instantly. The Entity Tracker keeps every character and plot thread consistent across hundreds of pages — the core technical problem nobody had solved for long-form AI fiction.
Currently focused on finding the readers who can't find the exact story they want — and getting them in front of the product.
If you've found PMF in a consumer creative tool — what was the moment you knew?
I literally just launched my own project (Pawspace, a digital memorial for pets) and got the exact same response: zero traction. Crickets.
It definitely sucked for a minute, but reading this makes me realize you are 100% right. It's a distribution problem. Someone grieving their dog isn't scrolling Product Hunt looking for tools.
I'm just going to pack up the PH launch and head straight to the niche subreddits and Facebook groups. Thanks for the reality check. Good luck with Avooq!
Thanks, Lifu!! And good luck with to you too with Pawspace!!
This resonates. I launched recently and realized traffic alone doesn’t convert — the messaging and timing seem to matter more than I expected.
Great framing — "distribution is the problem, not the product" only really lands after a silent launch. I had the same experience with my indie app (a lightweight memo tool): the PH day produced almost nothing, and what actually moved the needle was showing up inside smaller communities where my target user already hung out — niche subreddits, IH threads where people debated workflows, a couple of Discord servers. One genuine reply beat a week of broadcast posts.
For Avooq, have you considered seeding it inside writing communities (r/writing, NaNoWriMo forums, writing Discords) by contributing to ongoing discussions first, then mentioning the Entity Tracker angle only where it's actually relevant? "Consistency across hundreds of pages" is a far stronger hook for writers than "instant novel." Which communities feel most underexplored right now?
Exactly this — one genuine reply beats a week of broadcast posts, and that's been our experience too. The communities that feel most underexplored right now are reader-focused rather than writer-focused. r/suggestmeabook have people actively looking for their next read, not just talking about craft. The Entity Tracker angle lands better with writers, but the 'generate exactly the story you want' angle lands better with readers who've exhausted their favorite authors. Two different hooks for two different communities.
Launched TalentedAtAI yesterday — same experience, same
lesson.
The silence on launch day without a pre-built audience is
clarifying rather than discouraging. It confirms the real
work is distribution, not the product.
The Entity Tracker solving consistency across hundreds of
pages is the right problem to solve — that's exactly where
long-form AI generation falls apart. Curious how you handle
contradictions when the model introduces them mid-novel.
On PMF for consumer creative tools — the signal I'd watch
is whether people come back unprompted, not whether they
complete a novel. Completion is a one-time event. Return
visits mean they're integrating it into how they create.
Agree, Sansur!! In terms on how I handle the contradictions.... The Entity Tracker maintains a live state of every named entity and flags when a generation step would contradict an established fact. It doesn't prevent the model from trying, it catches and corrects before the output is committed. It holds together across full length better than anything I'd seen before building it. Very complex thing to build, btw, but crucial for books
Really like how you’re thinking about this especially separating distribution from actual product value.
For creative tools like this, the PMF signal usually shows up less in initial usage and more in return behavior. It’s when users don’t just generate once, but come back with a clearer intent like refining a story, exploring variations, or continuing something they started. That shift from curiosity to reliance is usually the strongest indicator.
One thing that might also be worth looking at is how quickly users understand what Avooq is capable of in that first interaction especially with something as powerful as long-form generation. Sometimes the gap isn’t the product itself, but how clearly that value is experienced early on.
Curious to see how this evolves, its a really interesting space.
The shift from curiosity to reliance is exactly the right frame. What I'm watching is whether someone comes back with a specific story in mind — not just to explore the tool. That intent shift is the signal. On onboarding, you're right that the gap is often clarity not capability — working on making that first generation feel inevitable rather than experimental. Thanks for the input, cza_desginer!!
You’re welcome :)
That’s a really strong way to frame it, making the first generation feel inevitable rather than experimental.
I’ve seen that even small cues early on (like showing a strong example or lightly guiding the first prompt) can help users get there faster.
Are you leaning more toward guiding that first experience, or keeping it open?
Silent launches are actually very normal, so don’t take it as a bad sign.
For a tool like this, you know you’re close to PMF when people come back by themselves, keep building the same story, and feel a bit stuck when they can’t use it anymore. That’s the real signal.
Start with a small, specific group of users and focus on whether they return, not just whether they try it once.
I think this is especially true for physical products. I’m seeing that awareness doesn’t equal intent — and that’s been a big learning for me during my launch.
Exactly this. The return visit is the only signal I'm watching right now — not launch numbers. Thanks for framing it clearly.
Nice, congrats on shipping 🙌
Out of curiosity — how are you handling support or user questions so far?
I just launched recently and didn’t expect how quickly things can get messy even with a few users.
Mostly email so far, very manual. Surprisingly manageable at this stage — the conversations are actually useful for understanding what users expected vs what they got.
Interesting point. I’m currently running a Kickstarter campaign and seeing how difficult it is to convert pre-launch followers into actual backers. Have you seen specific tactics that improve conversion at launch stage?
Jaime the silence at launch without an audience is real — but the good news is distribution is a solvable problem. The readers you're looking for are very active in places like r/fantasywriters, r/worldbuilding, Wattpad communities and AI fiction Discord servers. Have you started showing up there yet? Happy to share what's working for outreach if useful
Yes, already showing up in some of those — Wattpad especially is working well., although there is, still, some hate towards AI content (it will change, for sure, once people realize the capabilities of it). The worldbuilding communities are next. Happy to compare notes on what's working for outreach if you want to share.
“Distribution is the problem, not the product” is usually a comforting lie founders tell themselves early.
If users aren’t coming back or paying yet, that is the product signal, not just distribution.
Fair point, and I'm not dismissing it. The honest answer is I don't know yet whether it's product or distribution (although I have paying customers) — I have users generating novels but not enough return data to separate the two. That's what the next 2-3 weeks will tell me.
That’s the right way to approach it, most people try to force an answer too early.
Letting real user behavior decide over the next few weeks is exactly how you avoid building the wrong story.
Hey, i am just seeing your milestone congrats! i am a graphic designer who supports founders with my design skill set. Let me know if you could use some support right now for your visual and brand identity. Thank you
Thanks a lot Samuel, covered for now 🙏
Yeah, Product Hunt silence is painful but also pretty honest feedback — it usually just means distribution hasn’t kicked in yet, not necessarily a product issue.
What’s interesting here is your PMF signal definition — repeat usage + willingness to pay makes a lot of sense, especially for creative tools where novelty can easily be mistaken for value.
We’ve also been thinking a lot about how early signals are rarely ‘launch moments’ and more like small pockets of users who quietly come back without prompting.
Also sharing something I’m building in parallel — You have an idea. $19 puts it in a real competition. Winner gets a Tokyo trip (flights + hotel booked, minimum $500 guaranteed). Round just opened, so best odds right now: tokyolore.com
Really interesting perspective, especially the point about “distribution not kicking in yet” vs. product issues.
I’m actually experiencing something similar right now with a live Kickstarter campaign — I had decent pre-launch interest, but converting that into actual backers has been much harder than expected.
Your point about early signals being “small pockets of users” rather than big launch moments really resonates. It feels like momentum builds much slower and more quietly than people expect.
Curious — how do you usually identify those early “pockets” and double down on them?
Product Hunt silence without a pre-built audience is the default outcome — it's not a signal about the product. The signal you're actually watching for is exactly right: does someone who used it once come back?
For a novel generator, that second visit is especially meaningful because the use case is high-commitment. Writing a full novel isn't a passive action — someone who comes back did it deliberately. That's very different from a utility tool people return to by habit.
The Entity Tracker solving long-form consistency is a real technical moat if it works well. Most AI writing tools collapse at chapter 5 when characters start contradicting earlier descriptions. If Avooq holds that together across hundreds of pages, that's the thing worth putting front and center — not the 'instant novel' angle, which sounds like every other AI writing tool.
What does your current user behavior look like? Are return visits within days or weeks?
This is a great breakdown, especially the distinction between “one-time novelty” vs. deliberate return behavior.
I’m seeing something similar from a different angle with a live Kickstarter campaign — initial interest doesn’t necessarily translate into action, and the real signal seems to be whether people come back or engage again before committing.
Your point about what to put “front and center” also stands out. It feels like many products focus on what sounds exciting rather than what actually sustains usage or trust.
Curious — in early-stage products, how do you usually surface and validate those stronger signals quickly?
Return visits are still early data — most users are within the first week. What I'm watching is whether someone generates a second and third novel. That's my PMF line. The Entity Tracker is deliberately front and center for that reason — it's what makes a second novel feel different from the first.
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