First, what are we building?

Book DNA helps readers find books they'll actually love, and track the ones they've read.

We started by building a website that turns book discovery into something serendipitous.

Readers find their next read through curated lists and unexpected detours. We've interviewed 13,000+ authors to ask about their favorite books across a range of topics, themes, and moods. You can follow their recommendations or wander into bookshelves where you can keep getting lost.

Already have a book you love? Drop it into search and see where it leads you.

Try it out at BookDNA.com.

Now, we're building the other half: a private, personal way to track your reading and get personalized recommendations based on your tastes.

Think Goodreads, but for readers who want a calm, private space to track what they read, keep notes, and explore books that match their Book DNA.

Second, why are we building it?

Because book marketing shouldn't be this hard.

Goodreads doesn't care about authors, Amazon is forcing authors toward paid ads, and beyond that, authors are mostly on their own.

We do something different: we connect your book to the readers most likely to love it, through book lists you create, in your voice. It's free, it takes a little of your time, and it works because readers actually want it.

Because authors deserve a direct path to readers.

It has never been easy to be an author, but right now it feels especially bleak. We want to create more chances for authors to get noticed and gain momentum. Is the next Toni Morrison or Brandon Sanderson giving up because they can't get their book read? Not on our watch.

We want to help authors with two key things:

• Reach the right readers: We help you match your book with readers who actually read and love books like yours (for free, in authentic ways readers love). And, if your book has that magic spark, we help it gain more and more momentum.
• Collect fans automatically: As we grow, you'll get a direct way to notify readers who loved your previous books when the next one comes out (with their permission, on terms readers trust). We want authors to own their fan relationships, not rent them from a platform. Goodreads should have done this years ago.

We are inspired by Royal Road, Kickstarter, Brandon Sanderson’s fan-driven model, and other experiments that are rethinking how book discovery works.

Because books shouldn't be sold like toothpaste.

Books are magic, and they deserve to be treated that way. How do we pitch books more like an experience instead of a product? How do we share the love that one reader feels about a book with readers like them? These are the questions that drive every feature we build.

Are you Oprah?

I get this question a lot. I am not Oprah 😀.

No, I get asked this a lot, but I'm not Oprah 😀.

Book DNA isn't a massive burst of exposure. We're slow and steady exposure, month after month, to the readers most likely to love your book.

I tell authors that Book DNA should be one of the 100 things they do to market their book. My goal is to become five of those 100 things within a few years.

Will you join our quest?

We are bootstrapped by choice. I funded Book DNA with my own savings and a lot of sweat equity. Now we are asking readers and authors who believe in our quest to make it sustainable.

A yearly membership keeps us independent.

What your membership does:

• Funds the product: Every dollar goes directly into building new features for readers and authors.
• Keeps us independent: Free from the incentives that ruin other platforms over time (I'm looking at you, Goodreads, who I used to love).
• Gets you perks: Reader and author memberships come with their own perks (click below to check those out). Plus, a direct voice in what we build next.