Building Book DNA: Book series tracking and tracking your favorite authors.
Notes on building a smarter, more personal way to manage your reading life, with recommendations shaped by your Book DNA.
Every 3 weeks, I share notes on building Book DNA.
Join the rebellion and help me create a smarter, more personal way to manage your reading life, with recommendations shaped by your Book DNA. Think Goodreads, but rebuilt for readers who want a private space to track what they read, keep notes, and get truly personalized book recommendations (like Pandora or Spotify for books). It is also designed from the ground up to help authors. We are on track to start testing the beta in February (apply here to be a beta tester).
Three hurrahs for our 750+ members who keep us alive! Readers and authors can become members (both get special perks, and more perks are coming as we grow).
I am feeling…
We are around a week from having the rough beta ready for its first real beta testers!
To start, I'll bring in 5 beta testers to give feedback and slowly expand from there. The next phase is to add some crucial features we know readers want: imports from Goodreads/StoryGraph, public reviews, user folders for organization, and a few small things. Plus, we will add our design vibe.
I’m waiting for one bug to be crushed, and then I will start using it as my main book logger as well (right now, I use a spreadsheet in Airtable).
Track the book series you are reading and your favorite authors.
I’m working with Roman (our part-time designer) to map out the UX for tracking book series you are reading and tracking your favorite authors. This is something that came up often in user testing and that I dearly want as well.
Plus, we want the ability to alert users when a new book in a book series they are tracking is released, or when an author they love releases a new book.
These are very rough mockups, but here is what we are playing with:
I feel we are getting close on the book series tracking UX versus previous tries. And we will soon adapt the Favorite Authors page to work similarly.
What is going on outside of Shepherd?
February was intense. I took a week off to take my son on a trip to Florence, Italy, and we had a blast. But upon return, I got sick for a week, which set me a bit behind. And a day after I was feeling better, I flew to the USA to visit family, and that will slow me down until I get back home in a week. I’m having a fun visit, and it is so much fun to play with my 2-year-old nephew.
What am I reading now?
I am reading...
Book 2 of the Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson. I read books 1 and 2 long ago, but I am finally reading through the entire series now that it has reached book 5. It is great so far!
Have a great weekend, and I hope your March is fantastic!
Ben
P.S. Photo of my son and me making pasta in Florence!
