From Farm to Mac App Store: How Heberti Built Pinery for Authors

Building Pinery with Heberti Almeida

Summary

From a stormy Brazilian farm to the Mac App Store. Former Square engineer Heberti Almeida spent seven years turning a side project into Pinery, a focused Markdown writing and self-publishing app for Mac. We cover privacy-first on-device AI, clean ePub and PDF export, subscription pricing that sustains indie software, and how tractor time can sharpen product thinking.

Who this is for

Indie hackersTechnical foundersAuthor-creatorsAnyone seeking a calm, private, production-grade writing workflow

Product snapshot

Pinery: Markdown editor for writing, designing, and exporting booksExports: ePub 3, clean digital PDF, static websiteFocus: Distraction-free writing, live preview, customizable typography and designPrivacy: File-based, offline friendly, iCloud optional, exploring on-device AI proofreadingModel: Mac App Store with monthly and annual subscriptionsEarly traction: ~600 users and 40 subscribers within the first month

Key takeaways

A single-purpose tool can beat feature bloat when the output quality is excellentPrivacy by design creates trust and a durable product moatProduct Hunt and creator newsletters can drive meaningful early traction without paid adsSubscription pricing is the most reliable way to sustain indie software and ship updatesAlternating deep work with physical work can accelerate problem solving and reduce stress

Frameworks discussed

1) Privacy-First Authoring

Keep manuscripts local as plain text MarkdownOffer optional cloud sync controlled by the userAdd on-device AI for proofreading and tone adjustmentsNever transmit manuscript text to third-party LLMs by default

2) Lean Publishing Loop

Write in focus modeLive preview for structure and flowDesign pass with typographic controlsExport to ePub or PDFShip and iterate on reader feedback

3) Calm Tool Product Strategy

Decide the core outcomeRemove non-essential featuresObsess over export fidelityEmbrace opinionated defaultsDocument power features without cluttering the UI

4) Indie Pricing Rationale

Map pricing to a single successful outcomeFavor annual plans with a fair monthly optionUse App Store subscriptions for sustainable updatesExpect some pushback and stay the course

Links and resources

Pinery websitePinery on the Mac App StorePinery on Product HuntHeberti on XAI for FoundersRyan Estes