My abandoned app made a first sale

A while ago I launched Booknotes. It is an iOS app for importing your highlights from Google Play Books.

I was excited about the idea when I was developing it as it solved a problem I personally faced. However, close to launch and soon after the launch, the idea seemed not all that promising.

First, it solved a very unique problem. Importing highlights from Google Play Books to an iOS app. From what I observed, majority of Google Play Books users are Android users, and I was targeting too small group of people.

Secondly, projects in the niche of books didn’t seem to do very well. Of course, there are examples of successful companies like Blinkist or even bootstrapped ones like Readwise or KTool. However, these are the only ones that are somewhat successful in the field.

For the above reasons, I thought it is not worth putting any more effort in the app and just left it where it was.

However, recently something happened. A glimpse of hope. A light at the end of the tunnel. Someone purchased a premium version of the app.

This gave me a hope and made me think maybe I should keep working on it. Although I’m not convinced to fully focus on it yet, I decided to keep improving and perfecting it in my spare time and not abandon it completely. Maybe these small improvements will accumulate, and the app will become beneficial for many people.

What are your thoughts? Can one purchase be an indicator that there is a potential to the idea? Is it worth building product in the niche of books? Does lack of or small number of competitors indicate an untapped potential or a market not worth putting efforts in?