Building Book DNA: reading log, global search, and importing from Goodreads.
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 Shepherd and 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 with 3 goals.
Three hurrahs for our 800+ members! We need to reach 1,500 members over the next two years as we bootstrap this platform. Readers and authors can become members (both get special perks, and more perks are coming as we grow).
I am feeling…
I am feeling good, my Christmas shopping is done, and I am ready to relax with my family and enjoy the holidays.
The Book DNA beta is coming along nicely, and being able to use something you have only seen in mockups for 6 months is an amazing feeling (and a big inspiration for my eventual goal to learn to code).
We are on track to start testing the beta in late January! Apply here to be a beta tester.
The beta is coming to life 🤩
We’ve been testing our reading log page, which shows what you are currently reading and your past reads.
And our global search page, where you can search for books to add to your TBR and more.
Import from Goodreads (and others)
I’ve got a 19-page spec written on how I want to import everyone’s reading history from Goodreads (and others). I want to make it really easy, but it is a tough situation because they don’t provide much information in their CSV file.
This is the first feature we will add once the basic beta is up and being tested with users.
Reminder: What will be in this first MVP?
Only the basics.
The TBR (to-be-read) section, where you can add what you want to read next. You can add private notes, add a book to your “read next” queue, and see what other books you have read from that author/series. Plus, some simple sorting and keyword filtering of this list.
The book log section, where you can see what you are currently reading, as well as what you have read and how you rated it in the past (and edit those log entries). Plus, some simple sorting and keyword filtering of this list.
Global search so that you can search and find a book to add to your TBR, reading stack, or log.
The process to rate/log a book (and edit that).
The process to add a book to your TBR.
The process to add a book to your currently reading stack.
The first version of our giant book database. This database is still pretty messy but functional. And we will be working to consistently improve it, given how important it is to everything 😀 .
What is going on outside of Shepherd?
Just getting ready for Christmas and today is my son’s last day of school!
What am I reading now?
I just finished…
The last book in the Sun Eater series was a fantastic read. This is one of the best science fiction series I’ve read in many years. I’m looking forward to what the author writes next.
I am reading...
Genghis: Birth of an Empire by Conn Iggulden. This was my pick for our family book club, and I am about 75% done. It is fantastic, and I’ve really enjoyed it! I’ve had it on my TBR list for a while.
Have a great week,
Ben
P.S. Some beautiful street art in Italy from a trip I took this Fall.
