Post by K'Sennia Visitor on Oct 22, 2021 2:04:58 GMT
This Founder Created A Social Media Platform For Authors That Aims To Disrupt The Publishing Industry
Amy Shoenthal
When Allison Trowbridge was writing her book, Twenty Two, she found herself incredibly frustrated by the process. As she started talking to other authors, she found she wasn’t alone in that sentiment. This experience is what sparked the seeds of an idea - why was there no social media platform for authors to market their books and forge deeper connections with readers? That’s exactly what Trowbridge hopes to achieve with her soon-to-be-launched platform, Copper.
Amy Shoenthal: How did you come up with the idea to create a social media platform for authors?
Allison Trowbridge: I wanted to build the tool I needed and wish had existed when I was early in my book journey. I wrote my book while getting my MBA at Oxford, which by the way, I don’t recommend doing. That was a crazy season of life. I found myself very frustrated with the clunky process of bringing a book to market.
A lot of the real frustration came from this sense of shameless self promotion that an author is expected to do. We’re writers, and then we’re expected to know how to create visual or video content and how to reach an audience. The platforms that exist really serve readers but not authors.
That’s why you see authors really struggling to dance on TikTok or do Instagram reels. It requires a very different skill set.
Every author I talked to, whether a first-timer or multi best seller, had expressed a similar frustration. I shared this with a professor of mine, who pointed out that no one had yet disrupted this industry. That there might be an opportunity here. She really guided me in the right direction.
ADVERTISING
When you look at every social platform that exists today, they have taken off by targeting an underserved creator group and making them stars. So you have photographers on Instagram, dancers on TikTok, gamers on Twitch, crafters on Etsy and musicians on SoundCloud. No one has ever made authors the stars.
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Shoenthal: So how exactly does Copper work? How does it address this issue for frustrated authors?
Trowbridge: I like to call it the LinkedIn of the book world. It’s a two sided marketplace between authors and readers where they can go to connect with one another. Only authors can be verified so it’s very clear who is who. The user experience helps authors have meaningful conversations with existing readers while allowing them to reach new readers using the discoverability piece.
Copper is like a readers’ recommendation engine where you can share lists of book recommendations. Every author and every reader has their bookshelf on their profile.
I was with a best selling author recently and she was giving me all her recommendations. I was literally writing them down on a scrap of paper at a restaurant and realized this should be easier.
Books right now exist as independent products. We want to create a social experience around it. It uses the credibility of authors and readers to drive recommendations of different books. Readers can comment on the book and have discussions while they're in the middle of reading it or once they're done. So, if there's a spoiler, we have a little ‘S’ icon that shows a little spoiler alert section, and then it blurs out. We want people to jump in and be able to discuss at any point while they’re reading without giving anything away.
This process gives the author insight into how people are reacting to their books as they’re reading them. It's just wild to me that there's no place right now where readers can have discussions about the book, and then the author can see in real time what people are reacting to.
Shoenthal: It's like a real time book club, which is a very ‘how does this not exist yet’ product. How did you come up with the name?
Trowbridge: I always associated copper with social movements. Abe Lincoln on the face of the penny goes back to the anti-slavery movement. Second, so much technology has been taking our full attention when it should be more like infrastructure around our lives. It should help us be more human, the way copper plumbing or copper wiring just helps us live our lives and connect with one another. It's old timey but also new. It carries electricity. It has healing properties. These are all the things a book can do. Last, I also learned that the most iconic brand names have a “ca” sound in them.
Shoenthal: You have this very cool group of advisors who are best-selling authors themselves, like Adam Grant. What does their involvement look like?
Trowbridge: They’re part of our founders circle. We’re looking to these great literary citizens who, like Adam, have a mindset of transforming the lives of their readers but also seeking to serve and support other authors. That’s right in the bullseye of what we're building on this platform. In addition to the reader connection, we want to foster that community amongst authors. That’s why we’re partnering with a group of authors who we feel represent the book world at large, and then bringing them in as advisors.
Adam is actually the one who pointed out one of the biggest gaps — that authors don't know how people are reading and responding and reacting to your book in real time. So now, instead of just seeing reviews, they're actually getting to be a part of the conversation. Readers can host discussions, kind of like a Reddit thread, about the book. Authors can jump in, or host their own discussions as well. I realized as an author that the books that go the farthest are the ones that have a community of readers. It’s not just the author connecting with the readers but the readers connecting with one another.
Shoenthal: Is that one of the things you think is missing from the publishing industry?
Trowbridge: One of my greatest moments as an author was when one of my readers reached out to me and said, ‘I'm in London, can I can I meet you?’ I was at Oxford at the time, so I met her at a pub and it was just an explosion of emotion. To have the opportunity to connect with her made all of the struggles I had getting my book published worth it. To see firsthand the impact my book had on her is what I want to create virtually for authors.
I read a stat that said 81% of Americans want to write a book someday. That means not only is there a group of existing authors, there's also this huge group of people who want to tell their stories and don't yet know how.
Publishing has been kind of a black box industry where if you're on the outside, you don't know how to come in and get started. I want to break down some of those barriers and really allow new content to be discovered by readers and build a marketplace where new voices are heard. I want to drive greater diversity and inclusion across the board.
Shoenthal: What were some obstacles you had to overcome while building this?
Trowbridge: I think the difference between making or not making it as a startup is having the grit to keep pressing on. You have to have people in your corner telling you you're not crazy, this can be done.
I incorporated thinking I would be a publishing house. Then I decided there was a bigger need for a platform. It was like I had built a car and was driving it off a cliff. At which point I realized I needed to build an airplane, so I started building that as I flew it.
The whole process really grounded me in my own conviction for the idea. It's been a super challenging and very humbling experience. What we're going to market with is a product I don't think we could have come to without the learning experience we had, especially during the fundraising process. We knew we had a great idea, it just was underfunded and we needed more to build what we wanted. It has truly taken a village.
Earlier this year, we announced a $2.5M pre-seed round led by Wave Capital. Sara Adler really just caught the vision. They specialize in marketplaces, and she’s the one who recognized that this was a two sided marketplace between authors and readers, something no one had ever built before.
Shoenthal: What is your biggest hope for Copper?
Trowbridge: I hope we become the LinkedIn of the book world. I hope every person who picks up a book goes to Copper to connect with the author, connect with other readers and build community.
URL: www.forbes.com/sites/amyschoenberger/2021/10/18/this-founder-created-a-social-media-platform-for-authors-that-aims-to-disrupt-the-publishing-industry/?sh=67fe3b436d74&fbclid=IwAR1igzDW1NUw2_Ft1UmVMBf2SymWQanL5-cT1hP8MAykQkFLZvZtYWPRydU
Amy Shoenthal
When Allison Trowbridge was writing her book, Twenty Two, she found herself incredibly frustrated by the process. As she started talking to other authors, she found she wasn’t alone in that sentiment. This experience is what sparked the seeds of an idea - why was there no social media platform for authors to market their books and forge deeper connections with readers? That’s exactly what Trowbridge hopes to achieve with her soon-to-be-launched platform, Copper.
Amy Shoenthal: How did you come up with the idea to create a social media platform for authors?
Allison Trowbridge: I wanted to build the tool I needed and wish had existed when I was early in my book journey. I wrote my book while getting my MBA at Oxford, which by the way, I don’t recommend doing. That was a crazy season of life. I found myself very frustrated with the clunky process of bringing a book to market.
A lot of the real frustration came from this sense of shameless self promotion that an author is expected to do. We’re writers, and then we’re expected to know how to create visual or video content and how to reach an audience. The platforms that exist really serve readers but not authors.
That’s why you see authors really struggling to dance on TikTok or do Instagram reels. It requires a very different skill set.
Every author I talked to, whether a first-timer or multi best seller, had expressed a similar frustration. I shared this with a professor of mine, who pointed out that no one had yet disrupted this industry. That there might be an opportunity here. She really guided me in the right direction.
ADVERTISING
When you look at every social platform that exists today, they have taken off by targeting an underserved creator group and making them stars. So you have photographers on Instagram, dancers on TikTok, gamers on Twitch, crafters on Etsy and musicians on SoundCloud. No one has ever made authors the stars.
MORE FOR YOU
Spring Health Notches A $190 Million Series C At A $2 Billion Valuation, Making CEO April Koh The Youngest Woman To Run A Unicorn
A Year After Unleashing War Crimes Against Indigenous Armenians, Azerbaijan’s Threats And Violations Continue
The Secret To Being The Wildly Popular Mayor Of Miami? Surround Yourself With Amazing Latina Women
Shoenthal: So how exactly does Copper work? How does it address this issue for frustrated authors?
Trowbridge: I like to call it the LinkedIn of the book world. It’s a two sided marketplace between authors and readers where they can go to connect with one another. Only authors can be verified so it’s very clear who is who. The user experience helps authors have meaningful conversations with existing readers while allowing them to reach new readers using the discoverability piece.
Copper is like a readers’ recommendation engine where you can share lists of book recommendations. Every author and every reader has their bookshelf on their profile.
I was with a best selling author recently and she was giving me all her recommendations. I was literally writing them down on a scrap of paper at a restaurant and realized this should be easier.
Books right now exist as independent products. We want to create a social experience around it. It uses the credibility of authors and readers to drive recommendations of different books. Readers can comment on the book and have discussions while they're in the middle of reading it or once they're done. So, if there's a spoiler, we have a little ‘S’ icon that shows a little spoiler alert section, and then it blurs out. We want people to jump in and be able to discuss at any point while they’re reading without giving anything away.
This process gives the author insight into how people are reacting to their books as they’re reading them. It's just wild to me that there's no place right now where readers can have discussions about the book, and then the author can see in real time what people are reacting to.
Shoenthal: It's like a real time book club, which is a very ‘how does this not exist yet’ product. How did you come up with the name?
Trowbridge: I always associated copper with social movements. Abe Lincoln on the face of the penny goes back to the anti-slavery movement. Second, so much technology has been taking our full attention when it should be more like infrastructure around our lives. It should help us be more human, the way copper plumbing or copper wiring just helps us live our lives and connect with one another. It's old timey but also new. It carries electricity. It has healing properties. These are all the things a book can do. Last, I also learned that the most iconic brand names have a “ca” sound in them.
Shoenthal: You have this very cool group of advisors who are best-selling authors themselves, like Adam Grant. What does their involvement look like?
Trowbridge: They’re part of our founders circle. We’re looking to these great literary citizens who, like Adam, have a mindset of transforming the lives of their readers but also seeking to serve and support other authors. That’s right in the bullseye of what we're building on this platform. In addition to the reader connection, we want to foster that community amongst authors. That’s why we’re partnering with a group of authors who we feel represent the book world at large, and then bringing them in as advisors.
Adam is actually the one who pointed out one of the biggest gaps — that authors don't know how people are reading and responding and reacting to your book in real time. So now, instead of just seeing reviews, they're actually getting to be a part of the conversation. Readers can host discussions, kind of like a Reddit thread, about the book. Authors can jump in, or host their own discussions as well. I realized as an author that the books that go the farthest are the ones that have a community of readers. It’s not just the author connecting with the readers but the readers connecting with one another.
Shoenthal: Is that one of the things you think is missing from the publishing industry?
Trowbridge: One of my greatest moments as an author was when one of my readers reached out to me and said, ‘I'm in London, can I can I meet you?’ I was at Oxford at the time, so I met her at a pub and it was just an explosion of emotion. To have the opportunity to connect with her made all of the struggles I had getting my book published worth it. To see firsthand the impact my book had on her is what I want to create virtually for authors.
I read a stat that said 81% of Americans want to write a book someday. That means not only is there a group of existing authors, there's also this huge group of people who want to tell their stories and don't yet know how.
Publishing has been kind of a black box industry where if you're on the outside, you don't know how to come in and get started. I want to break down some of those barriers and really allow new content to be discovered by readers and build a marketplace where new voices are heard. I want to drive greater diversity and inclusion across the board.
Shoenthal: What were some obstacles you had to overcome while building this?
Trowbridge: I think the difference between making or not making it as a startup is having the grit to keep pressing on. You have to have people in your corner telling you you're not crazy, this can be done.
I incorporated thinking I would be a publishing house. Then I decided there was a bigger need for a platform. It was like I had built a car and was driving it off a cliff. At which point I realized I needed to build an airplane, so I started building that as I flew it.
The whole process really grounded me in my own conviction for the idea. It's been a super challenging and very humbling experience. What we're going to market with is a product I don't think we could have come to without the learning experience we had, especially during the fundraising process. We knew we had a great idea, it just was underfunded and we needed more to build what we wanted. It has truly taken a village.
Earlier this year, we announced a $2.5M pre-seed round led by Wave Capital. Sara Adler really just caught the vision. They specialize in marketplaces, and she’s the one who recognized that this was a two sided marketplace between authors and readers, something no one had ever built before.
Shoenthal: What is your biggest hope for Copper?
Trowbridge: I hope we become the LinkedIn of the book world. I hope every person who picks up a book goes to Copper to connect with the author, connect with other readers and build community.
URL: www.forbes.com/sites/amyschoenberger/2021/10/18/this-founder-created-a-social-media-platform-for-authors-that-aims-to-disrupt-the-publishing-industry/?sh=67fe3b436d74&fbclid=IwAR1igzDW1NUw2_Ft1UmVMBf2SymWQanL5-cT1hP8MAykQkFLZvZtYWPRydU
