The brief
Self-publishing made it easy to release a book and no easier to know whether anyone will buy it. Plenty of authors spend months writing for a niche with little demand, or one so crowded that a new title sinks without trace. KDMasterKey’s founders wanted a tool that lets a self-publisher test an idea before committing that time: analyse the keywords readers actually use, and turn the result into a clear judgement on whether the topic is worth pursuing.
Collecting the data was not the hard part. The hard part was presenting a large amount of noisy market data so that a writer, not a data analyst, could act on it.
What we built
- A keyword analysis engine. It evaluates a book topic through its related keywords, looking at signals of demand and competition.
- A profitability score. We could have shown users every metric and left them to work it out. We chose to condense the analysis into a score for profit potential, with the detail a click away. Most people want the answer first and the evidence second.
- A dashboard. Users enter keywords, see results and dig into the data through charts and reports.
- Market trends. Views showing how demand moves over time and where the sales potential sits, to help authors decide when and where to publish.
- An admin area. A custom back office where the KDMasterKey team manages the platform and its content.
- An app. A companion app alongside the web software, so users can check an idea away from their desk.
Technology
KDMasterKey is a web-based software product: a data-processing back end, plus an interactive front end for the charts and reports. The decision we would make again is keeping data collection and scoring separate from the interface. Scoring models need tuning once real users arrive, and with that separation the model can change without anyone touching the dashboard.
Deliverables
- Keyword research and analysis engine
- Profitability scoring system for book topics
- User dashboard with charts and reports
- Market trend insights
- Custom admin area
- Companion app
What this project shows
A lot of good software starts with one question users can’t easily answer. If you have an idea for a data tool or a SaaS product, see our custom software development service, read about the frameworks we use, or tell us about it.
