What are we building?

A private, personal way to track your reading and get deeply personalized recommendations.

We’re building a smarter way to manage your reading life, designed around privacy, control, and individual taste. 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.

Apply for early access to the beta here.

What will this app help you do?

Privately log what you read and why: Track your TBR, what you’re reading, and the books you’ve finished (including your ratings and notes) in a space that’s private by default and fully yours.
Book recommendations that match your taste: Book DNA learns from what you love and dislike to suggest books that are a better match for you, rather than what happens to be popular.
Keep your reading life organized: Your TBR and reading log stay easy to navigate as they grow, with smart organization built in. You can also use folders when you want to organize things your own way.

Explore our roadmap to see what we are building and where we are going.

Why are we building it?

Books should not be sold the same way as toothpaste.

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

Authors should have a direct path to interested readers.

It has never been easy to be an author, but right now it is especially bleak. Well-known writers have spoken openly about how broken the current discovery environment has become. Is the next Brandon Sanderson or Toni Morrison giving up because they cannot get their book noticed or read?

If your book is resonating, your audience should compound.

As we build this app, we are focused on tackling this discovery problem in three key ways.

Reach your most likely readers: Authors should not have to rely on ads to reach readers looking for a book like theirs. We will focus on matching readers with books based on individual tastes.
Keep the momentum going when a book resonates: When readers love a book, we want to help similar readers discover it and keep that momentum building.
Give authors tools to build lasting relationships with their fans: We want to build tools that help authors grow and stay connected with their fan base. This is something that platforms like Goodreads should be doing, but haven't.

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

Books build better people.

Reading a book puts you in another person’s mind. I think that is one of the most powerful experiences you can have, and a huge net positive for the world. The more we promote reading, the better the world becomes.

Books can even make the amazing Jack Black better!

Will you join our quest?

We are bootstrapped by choice. We want to stay independent and focused on building something that lasts. To start, I funded Book DNA with my own savings and a lot of sweat equity. To make it sustainable, we need the support of readers and authors who believe in what we are building.

By supporting Book DNA, you help us stay independent.

Your yearly membership goes directly toward building new features and improving the product for readers and authors.
We are committed to keeping Book DNA independent and free from the incentives that destroy other platforms over time.
Members get special perks and a direct voice in what we build next.

What's the Reader Membership include?

What's the Author Membership include?