Launching

A library is only as good as the people it helps. So getting the word out is just as, if not more, important than building a technically sound codebase. And that involves a launch.

Unfortunately for me, branding and marketing don't come. It's awkward. It's daunting. And frankly I have no idea what will work. So I just simply chose the simplest, least daunting things first. Then when I see what works and what doesn't I'll iterate. Here are a few things I tried.

1) Tell friends and family

I started by telling friends and/or family in the business. Telling friends and family was great because they are supportive. They always listen to what I have to say. They highlight the best parts of my framework. And they are kind when they give feedback. But on the other hand they won't tell my if my library is trash or the real deal. I'll need to get a broader audience to do that.

2) Post on discord

I'm on Discord, so this was a familiar platform. I found a few Javascript, Typescript, React, and Zustand discord channels. Most of these had a #showcase cahnnel. I posted on a few of these. These are easy to post to and it helped me get comfortable with promoting my library. However, the #showcase channels don't typically garner much attention because there is so much noise with other projects being posted.

3) Post on reddit

I posted on r/reactjs and r/javascript. Each of these posts got ~10k posts. The sheer number of eyes on my library was suprising to me. This was my first exposure to thousands of eyes on my framework. And I started getting stars and clones on my repo. It was exciting! Reddit is a great place to get lots of eyes on your project. But it's also a one time boost. Don't expect to get much consistent traffic.

4) Comment on reddit

I looked for questions related to Zustand and data fetching. I found a few questions and added answers or comments. This was a great way to get my library in front of people who are already interested in the topic. But it's also a slow way to get eyes on your project.

5) Answer/Comment on StackOverflow

I looked for questions related to Zustand and data fetching. I found a few questions and added answers or comments. Similar to Reddit, this was a great way to get my library in front of people who are already interested in the topic. But it's also a slow way to get eyes on your project.