Proposal & Scope of Work

Platform Modernization and E-Book Reading Portal

A proposal to rebuild dnapublications.in on an owned API, PostgreSQL and Redis platform — unifying every marketplace order, computing royalties as an auditable system, and migrating existing Firebase data — delivered alongside a new DRM-protected e-book reading portal integrated into the same website.

storefront routes live today

files coupled to Firestore

₹1,00,000

total investment, two phases

existing e-book reading features

01 — Current Platform Assessment

Where the platform stands today

The current site is a working business, not a prototype — 69 storefront routes, a 33-page admin console and a full author portal. This assessment is the basis for the scope that follows: what to keep untouched, what to re-architect, and what has to be built new.

Component	Status	Basis
Razorpay checkoutPayments, order confirmation, transaction records	Keep as-is	Fully wired and working. Carries forward unchanged into both the storefront and the e-book Vault.
Zoho Books invoicingGST invoicing, contacts, place-of-supply mapping	Keep, connect	Active and well-maintained. Becomes a downstream service of the new unified order hub rather than a rebuild.
Shiprocket shipping	Keep, connect	Existing integration retained and connected to the same order hub.
Firestore as database of recordBooks, orders, authors, royalty data	Re-architect	A document store standing in for what should be relational, auditable financial records — spans 67 frontend and 20 backend files.
Royalty calculationroyalty-utils.ts and related admin/author pages	Re-architect	Real business logic exists, but with no relational store behind it every statement is a client-side calculation, not a traceable record.
Amazon / Flipkart orders	Build integration	Mentioned only as marketing copy today — no API integration exists. Orders from these channels are outside the platform's view entirely.
Kids' book sales	Consolidate	Exists as a separate section today; not yet part of a unified order hub or royalty engine.
E-book reading & DRM	Build new	PDF-viewer libraries are installed but unused — there is no reading experience, licensing or DRM of any kind today.

02 — Scope of Work

Part A

Website & Backend Platform Modernization

Replace Firebase with an owned API backed by PostgreSQL for everything that must reconcile — orders, royalties, inventory — and Redis, already in use for background jobs today, extended into a full caching and session layer.

2.1

Backend API & application server

Dedicated REST API (Node.js/Express) as the single source of truth, replacing direct Firestore reads/writes from the frontend
Authentication and authorization for admin, author and customer roles
API-level input validation, rate limiting and structured error handling
Separate staging and production environments

2.2

PostgreSQL database design

Relational schema covering titles, editions, authors, customers, orders, order line items, royalty ledger entries and the kids' book catalogue
Referential integrity between orders, royalties and inventory — no more disconnected documents
Indexed queries for reporting: sales by title, by channel, by author, by date range
Automated daily backups

2.3

Redis caching & session layer

Extends the existing Redis/BullMQ install (currently job-queue only) into a full caching and session layer
Cached catalogue and pricing reads to reduce database load under traffic
Session management for logged-in customers, authors and admins

2.4

Unified marketplace order hub

API integration with Amazon (Seller Central / SP-API) and Flipkart (Seller API) to pull order data automatically
Orders from Amazon, Flipkart and the direct website normalized into one order table
Existing Zoho Books and Shiprocket integrations connected to the same hub instead of running as isolated add-ons
One admin view for total units sold, by title, across every channel

2.5

Royalty calculation engine

Royalty logic moved from client-side utility functions into a server-side, database-backed engine
Every sale from any channel posts a traceable line item to the author's royalty ledger
Configurable royalty rates per title, author, edition and channel
Auditable statements an author can be shown, with full traceability back to individual orders

2.6

Kids' book sales portal

Existing kids' books section folded into the same catalogue, order hub and royalty engine as adult titles
One admin view, one royalty calculation, one inventory count across both product lines

2.7

Firebase → PostgreSQL data migration

Scripted, verified migration of existing books, orders, authors and historical royalty records
Data validation and reconciliation pass before cutover
Old Firebase data retained as a rollback copy until the new platform is confirmed stable in production

2.8

Admin & author portal updates

Existing 33-page admin console and author portal retained visually — the data layer underneath is what changes
Updated views wherever the order hub or royalty engine changes what's shown: combined marketplace order list, royalty ledger detail, kids' book reporting

2.9

Quality assurance & testing

Functional testing of checkout, order sync, royalty calculations and admin workflows
Migration verification against the live Firestore dataset before go-live
Staging sign-off prior to production deployment

Not included in Part A: Amazon and Flipkart seller-account registration and their own API/subscription fees — these are billed directly to DNA Publications by the marketplaces and confirmed with you before any provider is connected. Hosting/server costs and catalogue data entry beyond the migrated dataset are also outside this scope.

03 — Scope of Work

Part B

E-Book Reading Portal — "The Vault"

A reader buys a book and opens it inside a protected, web-based reader on the same account they checked out with — no file is ever downloadable. This is entirely new capability: no reader, licensing or DRM exists on the platform today.

3.1

Reading experience

Web-based reader — no separate app, works inside the browser on the customer's existing account
Responsive layout for desktop, tablet and mobile browsers
Table of contents, chapter navigation, and page or continuous-scroll reading modes
Reading preferences: font size and light / sepia / dark reading themes
Bookmarking and automatic "continue reading" position sync across sessions

3.2

Content protection & DRM

Per-account licensing — a purchased book is tied to the buyer's account, never a downloadable file
Content encrypted at rest (AES-256) and served only through short-lived, signed delivery URLs — the underlying file is never exposed to the browser
Device and session binding, with a limit on concurrent active reading sessions per account
Screenshot and screen-recording deterrents, implemented to the same standard used by Kindle Cloud Reader and Kobo
Dynamic per-reader watermark — buyer name, email or order ID rendered subtly into each page
Right-click, text selection, printing and direct download disabled inside the reader

An honest note on DRM: web-based content protection is a deterrent, not a guarantee — this is true of every major e-book platform, including Kindle and Kobo. What we're proposing stops casual copying, discourages redistribution, and makes any leak traceable back to a specific purchase. No vendor in this market can honestly promise more than that, and we won't either.

3.3

Purchase & access flow

Checkout reuses the existing Razorpay integration — no new payment gateway to configure or reconcile
Instant unlock: a purchased title appears in the reader immediately after payment is confirmed
Admin can revoke or reissue access — for example on a refund or support case

3.4

Reading dashboard — "My Library"

A "My Library" area added to the existing website and account navigation — not a separate app or login
Shows purchased titles, reading progress, and purchase/order history
Same visual design as the rest of the modernized platform

3.5

Admin & content management

Upload pipeline to convert a submitted manuscript into the Vault's protected reading format
Title, pricing and availability management from the admin console
Per-customer access log with manual revoke/reissue controls
Sales and readership analytics — titles sold, active readers, completion rates

3.6

Browser & device support

Desktop: Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari (current and prior major version)
Mobile / tablet: iOS Safari, Android Chrome

Not included in Part B: native iOS/Android apps, offline or downloadable reading mode, audiobook support, and manuscript formatting or proofreading — DNA Publications supplies the final, print-ready manuscript file for each title.

04 — Delivery Timeline

Both phases start together

The website platform goes live first, since it carries the business today. The Vault follows once it has been proven in testing alongside it.

Stage

Part A — Website Platform

Part B — E-Book Vault

Week 1–2

Build

Build (parallel)

Week 3

Testing / QA

Week 3–4

Go-live

—

Following

—

Go-live

05 — Investment

Two independent phases, priced separately

Each phase is scoped, delivered and invoiced on its own — approve one, both, or stage them if preferred.

Part A

Website & Backend Platform

Owned API + PostgreSQL + Redis platformReplaces Firebase as the system of record	Included
Unified marketplace order hubAmazon, Flipkart, Zoho Books, Shiprocket	Included
Royalty calculation engine	Included
Firestore → PostgreSQL data migration	Included
Kids' book sales portal integration	Included
Admin & author portal updates, QA	Included

Total — Part A₹ 50,000

Part B

E-Book Reading Portal — The Vault

Web-based protected reader & reading preferences	Included
DRM: encryption, signed delivery, device/session binding	Included
Screenshot/screen-recording deterrents & watermarking	Included
Razorpay-integrated purchase & instant unlock	Included
"My Library" reading dashboard, integrated into the website	Included
Admin content pipeline, access controls & analytics	Included

Total — Part B₹ 50,000

Total project investmentPart A + Part B

₹ 1,00,000

Variable, not included in either total: Amazon and Flipkart charge their own seller/API access fees directly to DNA Publications — third-party costs that scale with which providers are connected. Each provider's fee is confirmed with you before it's connected, so nothing is added without sign-off.

06 — Payment Schedule & Terms

Proposed payment schedule

Applied independently to each phase — Part A and Part B are invoiced on their own milestones.

Milestone	Share	Part A (₹50,000)	Part B (₹50,000)
Kickoff & requirements sign-off	40%	₹ 20,000	₹ 20,000
Testing / UAT sign-off	30%	₹ 15,000	₹ 15,000
Go-live	30%	₹ 15,000	₹ 15,000

This schedule is a starting point for discussion, not fixed — happy to adjust the split or timing.

Assumptions & exclusions

DNA Publications supplies final book content, cover art and marketing copy; manuscript formatting/proofreading is not included
Amazon and Flipkart seller accounts and API credentials are provided or applied for by DNA Publications; provider fees are billed separately by the marketplace (see Chapter 05)
Hosting/server infrastructure costs are separate from this development quote
Existing Razorpay and Zoho Books accounts remain owned by DNA Publications and are reused as-is
Native iOS/Android apps are out of scope for both phases in this proposal
A 30-day post-launch warranty period is included per phase for defect fixes; ongoing maintenance beyond that is a separate arrangement