I’m Building a Book App Without a Tech Background

Tropera didn’t begin eight days ago.

The idea had been living in my head for much longer than that. I had already imagined the app, thought about what it could become, created pieces of it, and dreamed about the kind of community I wanted to build around it.

But eight days ago, something changed.

I stopped treating Tropera like an idea I might build someday and started treating it like something real.

I started showing up for it every day. Building the brand. Growing the community. Creating the waitlist. Sending the first emails. Writing the blog. Sharing the process. Making decisions I had been putting off because I didn’t feel ready yet.

So no, Tropera is not only eight days old.

But eight days ago is when I stopped waiting for it to become real and started making it real.

And somehow, in only eight days, it already feels like everything has changed. 🤎

Tropera started with a feeling I think a lot of readers know well. You finish a book you loved, and you want another one that makes you feel exactly the same way.

So you search.

You scroll.

You watch recommendation videos.

You read reviews.

You ask strangers on the internet.

And somehow, you still end up thinking:

Okay… but what should I actually read next?

I kept wishing there was one place where I could say exactly what I wanted : the tropes, the mood, the feeling, and actually discover books that matched.

So I decided to build it.

There was just one tiny problem.

I had absolutely no tech background.

For a long time, I think I believed there would be a moment when I finally felt ready.

When I knew enough.

When I had the perfect plan.

When everything made sense.

That moment never came.

Instead, I started while still having questions.

A lot of them.

I learned one thing, then realized there were ten more things I didn’t understand. I built something, changed my mind, deleted it, and started again.

And I’m still doing that.

But Tropera exists today — even in its very early, imperfect form — because I stopped waiting to feel qualified to build it.

I wish I could tell you that building something of your own looks like sitting in a beautiful coffee shop with your laptop for eight uninterrupted hours.

For me, it looks a little different.

It looks like working on Tropera before my kids wake up.

Answering DMs on my lunch break.

Writing emails during nap time.

Opening my laptop after bedtime.

Having a brilliant idea and then immediately having to stop because someone needs a snack.

Some days, I feel like I could build an entire company before dinner. Other days, I barely get through my inbox. But I’m starting to understand that both kinds of days count.

When I created the Tropera waitlist, I didn’t know if anyone would join.

Then one person did.

Then another.

This week, I sent my first real email to the readers who joined early. I stared at the send button for way too long.

Then I pressed it.

And people opened it.

They clicked.

They replied.

And while I was busy worrying that I hadn’t been productive enough, more readers joined.

Today, there are 51 people on the waitlist.

Fifty-one people who looked at an idea that is still being built and said:

I want to see where this goes.

That means more to me than I know how to explain.

I’m only eight days into intentionally building Tropera, so I definitely don’t have all the answers.

But I know this now: You do not need to know everything before you begin. You do not need eight free hours to make progress. You do not need a perfect plan to take the next step.

And a day that doesn’t look productive from the outside can still move your dream forward (still hard for me to understand that by the way).

Sometimes progress is building a new feature.

Sometimes it’s sending an email.

Sometimes it’s answering one message from someone who believes in what you’re creating.

It all counts.

Tropera is not finished.

I still have a long list of things I don’t know how to do.

I still change my mind constantly.

I still have days when I wonder if I’m doing enough.

But eight days ago, I had an idea I was trying to build.

Today, 51 readers are waiting with me.

And maybe that’s the biggest thing I’ve learned so far:

You don’t have to see the entire path before you take the first step.

You just have to start.

And then, somehow, one step becomes eight days.

One reader becomes 51.

And a someday project starts becoming real.

🤎

Maïka
Founder of Tropera

P.S. If you’re building something too — a business, a book, a creative project, anything, I’d love to know: what are you waiting to feel ready for?