State of Shepherd: 2023

Plus updates on the improved search feature and frontpage.

Every two weeks, I share my notes on building Shepherd.com.

I believe that books build better people. I am on a mission to help readers explore & discover books in new and unique ways. I want to create the magical feeling you get wandering around your favorite bookstore but for the online world. And I want to do this while helping authors to expose their stories, personalities, and books.

Three hurrahs for our 554 Founding Members who keep us independent and fund new features. My 2024 goal is to reach 1,000 members to fully fund our part-time developer and designer so we can keep building great new features for our community. 

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January 1st to January 12th

Mood check 🤪

Do not get the flu; it is not fun.

My son got the flu on December 29th; it was the worst he has ever been sick. And unfortunately, 4 days later, I got it. It knocked me out for a good week. Stay healthy out there.

How did Shepherd do in 2023?

Traffic

We had over 5 million visitors in 2023! 🥳

That is up from 1.8 million visitors in 2022.

Our biggest month was December 2023, with 543,000+ visitors. We got some really good press for our new end-of-year best books program.

The only bummer this year is traffic growth and Google. Traffic from Google has been entirely flat over 2023. We started the year getting around 10,000 visitors a day from Google, and that is how we ended the year. Google has become very chaotic, and they no longer know what they are doing. I hope they improve in 2024.

Income/Costs

Shepherd increased its income by 2.5x this year. That is great, given that we had no traffic growth through 2023. Our Founding Member program was a big help, and I aim to reach 1,000 members in 2024.

This year, we covered ~40% of our costs (with me covering the rest). For 2024, I’ve reduced our costs as much as possible and will cut back on new features. I will likely focus on only 1 or 2 new features this year. I aim to cover 80% of our costs this year and break even in 2025. As we get more traffic and Founding Members, all that revenue goes directly into new features.

What were the 20 most popular topic/theme/mood book lists for 2023?

1. The best books in the spicy fantasy genre

2. The best general witchcraft books for beginners (from an eclectic witch)

3. The best books on the Manhattan Project and the making of the atomic bomb

4. The best arranged marriage mafia romance books that will melt you

5. The best books on the life and times of Theodore Roosevelt

6. The best books on Winston Churchill and which book to start with

7. The best books to start with on the American Civil War

8. The best books on the John F. Kennedy assassination

9. The best books on Marcus Aurelius and his desire to live a good life

10. The best books about dinosaurs from a palaeontologist

11. The best progression fantasy books

12. The best books to read to your baby in utero

13. The best books to read if you think you are being emotionally abused

14. The best books about Napoleon, his rise to power, and his downfall

15. The best (and sexiest, and funniest) romances with plus-sized heroine

16. The best books on piracy and pirates

17. The best books about Albert Einstein for the non-scientist

18. The best books on Yugoslavia and the Balkans, and why these topics matter

19. The best books to understand Indian politics

20. The best books on Stoicism for beginners

What were the 20 most popular topic/theme/mood bookshelves for 2023?

1. CIA

2. UFO

3. Occult

4. Geopolitics

5. JFK Assassination

6. Conspiracy theories

7. London Blitz

8. Arranged marriage

9. Apartheid in South Africa

10. Rape

11. All Books (our wizard a lot of people start with)

12. Marie Antoinette

13. Nonfiction

14. Regency books

15. World War 2

16. The Book of Revelation

17. The Chinese Cultural Revolution

18. Auschwitz Concentration Camp

19. The East India Company

20. Fiction

What were the 10 most popular favorite reads of the year pages?

1. Frank Turner’s picks

2. Mary Doria Russell’s picks

3. Bill Bruford’s picks

4. Matthew Sadler’s picks

5. Danny Orbach’s picks

6. Gregory Ashe’s picks

7. Melissa Joulwan’s picks

8. David Humphrey’s picks

9. Guy McPherson’s picks

10. Dave McKean’s picks

How is the new front page and search feature coming along?

We are working through bugs now, and I hope to turn both features on next week.

I am super excited to show you the new and improved search feature and front page!

What else am I working on?

• I am working to set up all the Founding Members with our new book launch ad! I am 80% done here and will share stats in the February author newsletter.

• I am very behind on emails/tickets after being sick for a week. I am working to catch up on those.

• I am working to streamline a lot of our internal processes. I want to improve how they work for our small team and authors.

What is going on outside of Shepherd?

I had a wonderful visit with my dad and stepmom here in Portugal. We all got sick the last week, which was less fun, and I am glad to feel better finally. My son lost a ton of weight, and we had to take him to the hospital for an ear infection as the flu was waning.

What am I reading?

• M: Son of the Century - About Mussolini. I'm stalled, but I'm hoping to pick it up soon.

• The Last Devil To Die - I am 30% through the 4th book in this series about four pensioners solving cold murders. I found it through the best books of the year, and it is fantastic.

Thanks, Ben

P.S. From a trip to Porto in Portugal a few days before Christmas.