Why I Created Jotter

Most of my ideas don't arrive fully formed. Jotter was no different.

Jotter has been building in my mind for years.

Over a decade ago, I found myself close to the publishing world in a way I had never expected. At the time I was an executive within the Insurance industry, when I found myself agreeing to act as a literary agent for a colleague to help him get a book published. In doing that, I spent time trying to understand how the industry actually worked — not the romantic version people imagine from the outside, but the real system behind the scenes. I spoke with writers, publishers, and people who had spent years inside the industry. I even interviewed the CEO of the largest publisher in the country.

What struck me most was not that publishing was difficult. Great creative work has always involved dedication, talent and time. What struck me was how much control and value sat with intermediaries rather than with the people who actually created the work, or the audiences who wanted to read it.

Writers spent years honing their craft, often in isolation, only to enter a system where a small number of gatekeepers decided what had a chance of being seen. Readers, meanwhile, discovered books through channels that were increasingly fragmented, impersonal, or driven by whatever happened to be pushed hardest. It felt inefficient, outdated, and fundamentally unfair.

I remember thinking: there has to be a better way than this. A model;

where readers pay less, but writers get more.

where the audience has a greater say in what rises.

that removes barriers and opens the door to people from any background, any geography, any stage of development.

that uses the connective power of technology and community to promote literacy rather than erode it.

That idea stayed with me.

Then, over time, another concern started to become impossible to ignore. Reading and writing were not just being underserved by the traditional publishing model — they were starting to lose ground more broadly. Especially among younger audiences. More time was moving to short-form feeds, endless scrolling, and fast, shallow content loops. We were building a world optimised for reaction, not reflection.

That matters more than people realise.

Reading is not just a hobby. Writing is not just an output. Stories are one of the oldest technologies humanity has. They teach empathy. They build imagination. They develop critical thinking. They help people make sense of themselves and others. They create connections. They make us less lonely. They allow us to try on new worlds and return with something useful for our own.

When reading and writing decline, something bigger declines with them.

That is what led me to create Jotter.

A home to read, write, and connect

Jotter is built on a simple belief: people still love stories. The challenge is not that storytelling has lost its value. The challenge is that the systems around stories have not kept pace with the way people now discover, connect, participate, and build identity online.

We wanted to build a home where people could read, write, and connect through stories. A place where reading becomes more social, writing becomes more accessible, and the distance between creators and audiences is reduced. A place where community helps drive discovery, feedback helps writers grow, and participation creates momentum for everyone.

That is why it's called a revolution.

Because for me, Jotter is not just a social literary platform. It is a call to action.

A call to take literacy seriously again.

A call to give writers a fairer model.

A call to help younger audiences reconnect with stories in a way that feels native to the digital world they live in.

A call to build something that is not only meaningful, but scalable and enduring.

Over the last two years, my good friend and co-founder Phil and I have invested in creating Jotter. We have spoken with hundreds of readers and writers, with the most common response being overwhelming support for what we are doing.

We cannot afford to let reading and writing become second-class activities in a culture increasingly shaped by speed, noise, and simplification.

Jotter is our attempt to push in the other direction.

So please join us to help create a place where stories are not just consumed, but lived with, discussed, shaped, and shared.

And in doing so, help a new generation read more, write more, and connect more.

Thank you.