A few years back, I wrote a book that was an international bestseller after signing up with a major publishing house.
Being a signed author is in a different league to being a journalist, I went back to London after the manuscript had been delivered, and was taken to an expensive restaurant together with the team that worked on my book, and was treated like a star.
After lunch I met the publicity department who were going to get the book some coverage, but as the day of the launch approached, no newspapers had sent me an email requesting an interview, no radio stations had called, in short, it looked as if nobody was interested.
My agent told me that sometimes it was like that, but that was rubbish. While I am an occasional author, I am mostly a journalist, I own and run four news wire agencies, and every day I have to evaluate stories. I that’s a great exclusive material in my book, and I knew that the UK national newspaper editors I worked for would have been delighted if they knew it was available for free by reading my book instead of paying me for it.
That afternoon, I went back to my office, wrote a story about some of the juicy material that the book contained, and the next day fed that directly into the news queues of all of the Fleet Street papers I worked for and some international media partners.
The result was wall-to-wall coverage, and a bestseller. No doubt there were trebles all round at the PR department at the publishing house that had zero involvement in the coverage.
But leaving that to one side, it shows that even back then authors have an uphill struggle to connect with potential readers. Even the professional PR’s with contacts don’t seem to be able to get coverage, I would go as far as to say that they were completely useless, and therefore. as I prepare for my next book launch, it was great to find out that there is a new alternative for authors reach readers by recommending similar books.
It’s a simple concept, if you are an author yourself, so you must have an opinion about other authors, and by choosing the best books often linked to a similar subject to your own latest work, you engage with readers and at the same time promote your own book.
Shepherd.com only started three years ago, and already last year had 5 million visits to people eager to find what the authors of their favourite books had recommended.
They have already built up a stockpile of interviews with over 10,000 authors, each selecting five favourite books around relevant topic or theme, or even a general mood as to why they love each recommendation.
Shepherd.com then connects the book lists with readers.
Speaking about the project, Ben said: “Amazon’s book results are mostly ads, and Goodreads does nothing for authors. There are almost no places where authors can market their books to readers without paying for ads. We need a strong and independent book ecosystem to help authors.”
And he is not just about supporting the biggest hitters, saying: “I don’t want to live in a winner-takes-all book market where we are stuck with the same big-brand authors.”
Ben admits he reads more than a hundred books a year, a passion he developed from childhood.
He said: “I can remember the exact moment when I learned to read. I was trying to read The Snow Baby and jumping from word to word. There was this magical moment when the words came alive, and it all clicked. It was one of the most amazing feelings in my life.”
He never lost that passion, and after a number of start-up projects, decided to create Shepherd.com, with a plan to tackle good reads on the scale of the operation.
Speaking about the success of the project, Ben said it was needed because the entire system of book promotion is broken.
He said: “Authors need more places where they can meet readers who would be interested in their book.
“Amazon’s book results are mostly ads, and Goodreads does nothing for authors. There are almost no places where authors can market their books to readers without paying for ads. We need a strong and independent book ecosystem to help authors.”
The idea for Shepherd is not to create a spike of sales, although it’s great if this happens, but rather to aim for long-term consistent exposure to bring in regular readers to a book.
Hard as it seems, a new author will be looking to sell between 50 and 150 books to anyone beyond family and friends, and Shepherd.com aims to help them reach this barrier.
Ben himself is funding the project, and it’s a bootstrapped start-up which means keeping costs to a minimum, and working with a small but dedicated team.
I asked him about whether there was a feeling that other authors needed services like this and not just me, and he agreed, saying: “I’ve interviewed hundreds of authors, and they are all incredibly frustrated as they are told to build an audience, post on social media, build their personal brand, start a newsletter… and none of that is working.
“Plus, it takes them away from writing. Most authors struggle to sell books outside of their family and friends, as there is no easy way to pitch your book to readers online.”
Although most statistics will show a decline in published books, that does not necessarily include self-published authors, who are actually a huge part of the publishing landscape now.
Ben aims to help these as well as big names like New York Times best-selling author Denise Kiernan who shared a list of her favorite books on the Manhattan Project and the making of the atomic bomb. Denise is the author of The Girls of Atomic City and an expert in this area. https://shepherd.com/best-books/the-manhattan-project
He also spoke to author Sam Kean on his favorite books about the wonders of biology. Sam is the author of The Icepick Surgeon, The Disappearing Spoon, and many other award-winning science books.
https://shepherd.com/best-books/wonders-biology
And Author S.B. Divya shared her favorite books for Shepherd.com about realistic, near-future science fiction. S.B. is the author of the book Machinehood (a Hugo and Nebular award-winning finalist).
https://shepherd.com/best-books/realistic-near-future-science-fiction
The service that he has created is entirely free for authors, helping them to reach readers through their recommendations and sharing their passion with those readers.
This year they are planning a lot of new features like their Bookshelves function where readers can filter to see books based on genres, topics, or the age of the person the book is for to mention but a few.
He added: “Books are the closest thing we have to magic. When I think about books that have changed my life, I never went out looking for them. I bumped into them, and I want Shepherd to help readers meet books in zig-zag ways.”
“I believe that books build better humans. And I want Shepherd to help everyone find a book that keeps them reading all night. We need more readers in the world. ”
I can’t help agreeing with him. I noted with satisfaction recently that the latest viral story to flood my inbox was letting me know that the secret to Elom Musk’s phenomenal business acumen is all the books that he reads every year. They then passed on the 25 books that he apparently liked the best.
Whatever you may think about Musk, he has an entrepreneurial flair, and if recommendations about his books can go viral, think about the potential for a list with 10,000 authors making recommendations.
Given that the process is so easy and quick, I would recommend it to anyone, especially new authors, where it also gives you where it gives you the chance not only to sell a few books but also to tell your mum you’ve been interviewed on Shepherd.com
