Having onboarded 150,000 writers in the beta phase, Pocket Novel connects writers with millions of readers, unlocking opportunities in India’s underpenetrated novel market.
The initiative intends to promote writers’ storytelling through visibility, lifetime earning opportunities, and distribution across various formats.
Pocket Novel aims to generate more than $100 million in annualised revenue run rate by 2025, tapping into the potential of India’s online novel reading market, which is expected to approach $6.5 billion by 2028.
Commenting on the launch, Rohan Nayak, co-founder and CEO of Pocket Novel, said, “We are building an ecosystem that shapes the essence of entertainment, which specialises in discovering and distributing unique and unheard stories. These are adaptable across formats and geographies, creating a robust model with millions of audiences.”
He also said that Pocket Novel is committed to creating a dynamic entertainment ecosystem using its IP creation engine to produce and disseminate content across various categories.
Discover the stories of your interest
In its beta phase, the platform has grown its writers’ community to over 150,000, with top-performing writers earning significant incomes, with some exceeding US$2500 every month. It aims to build 1 million writers and expand its library to 2 million novels by 2025.The platform consistently attracts high reader engagement, with an average daily reading time exceeding 100 minutes, and popular genres include Romance, Drama, Suspense, Fantasy, and Sci-Fi.
During its beta phase, over 2% of novels have received over 500,000 reads, while over 5% have exceeded 100,000 reads.
The platform’s revenue surged 500% in 2023, reaching $100 million ARR by 2025, making it India’s largest online reading platform, with over 1 million transactions in 2023.