Subscription Tools to Help New Authors Monetize
Case Study: Prose
Prose, a digital publishing platform for aspiring authors, partnered with Melt Studio to strengthen their product and add monetization tools. Together, we transformed Prose’s MVP—fixing bugs, refining the user experience, and introducing a powerful subscription engine. In just three months, the platform was relaunched with new features that boosted author engagement and revenue potential.
THE CHALLENGE
Build Subscription Features on Top of a Buggy MVP
Prose needed to evolve from a basic MVP into a functional, scalable platform with monetization tools. Key challenges included poor UX, platform bugs (email notifications, post publishing, etc.), and lack of mobile optimization. Subscription features like paywalled content and Stripe payments had to be built from scratch—while improving reliability and preparing the platform for growth.
INITIAL STATE
OUR SOLUTION
From Platform Fixes to Full Subscription Infrastructure
Requirements
Simplification
We reviewed and clarified user stories for better alignment. Our team worked to simplify the tech roadmap, reduce bugs, and lay the foundation for subscription logic—ensuring each feature fit Prose’s business model and user needs.
Application
Building
We implemented Stripe integration, subscription paywalls, author tools for gated content, and gamification features. All features were built with a JavaScript-first stack using React and Node.js, maintaining scalability and user clarity.
Prototype
Release
Over three months, we conducted six demos and rolled out iterative updates. The new version launched with major UX improvements, author monetization tools, and bug fixes—resulting in a 16% revenue lift within two months.
DELIVER STATE
CUSTOMER FEEDBACK
More Monetization, Better User Experience
Authors now access intuitive tools for managing paid content and tracking subscribers. Mobile responsiveness and email flows were fixed, and new analytics help authors monitor growth. The Prose team continues evolving the platform using our foundation.
Trusted by Startups Across the U.S.
We have delivered products for startups from Anchorage to New York.
Sebastien Gouin-Davis
Amatis
February 3, 2025
let me know if i can support, but i have no skin in the game.
also, if you were to bless it, i could post it (so that it's not coming from you guys) and just say something like
"These are people that I've worked with for 5 years and have become good friends with. They are doing this radical thing and it seemed like the kind of thing that could help this community. I asked Michael to bless me posting this, but this is unrelated to Establish.
I am also happy to hop on a call or slack with anyone who might be interested but looking for references or even just guidance on app development side."
but also you can just say "naw, it muddies the waters" and I'll shut up 😛
I may just have him do a talk for everyone
Sounds really great
oh that would be really cool
He has a great deck about how it's better to go to the grocery store and buy buns and tomatoes and lettuce to make burgers, and focus your energy on the "secret sauce" - where most startups spend all their time becoming tomato farmers.
February 3, 2025
Sang - Duk Seo
Every Mother
August 6, 2025
A quick shoutout to Melt, it's been several months now and it's clear that our new dev team has been crushing expectations all around. Shoutout to Camila who has been killing it on uhc and flex, especially on uhc, which basically gave us documentation for a platform that only exists in their dreams. Considering she's doing this without a test environment which uhc guaranteed us, Camila has put in a lot of elbow grease to make this implementation seemingly smooth sailing. Additional shoutouts to Yuli and Miguel who both have stepped into the shoes of past RPS teammates to support internal operational functions as well as put the pedal on the gas to churn out product developments. Lastly to Yulys and Austin who have seamlessly taken in the project reigns from Natali alongside the rest of Melt. Special shoutout to Sebastian who is always helping from the shadows but more recently has been contributing a great deal of effort to help resolve some longstanding revenue analytics issues. So thank you to our Melt teammates for being able to hop in immediately, helping EM put some very big pieces into place at this critical moment of our company's growth! 🎉🎉
August 6, 2025
CONTINUE THE JOURNEY
The SaaS Startup's Journal
Step-by-step guides, know the best Tech Stack for your StartUP, build cost-effective teams, and more...
