Literary Matchmaking
August 2, 2024
Alexa Schlosser | Original article: ibpa PubSpot
Book an Author is a nationwide matchmaking platform connecting authors and institutions, with a mission to revolutionize the publishing industry by democratizing authentic storytelling at K-12 literary events. Founded by Yobe Qiu and Serena Li, this innovative platform signals a transformative approach to how authors and institutions intersect. We caught up with Li to discuss the platform.
Can you tell us about the inspiration behind creating Book an Author?
Serena Li (SL): Both Yobe Qiu and I started out as self-publishers. We each have consulting businesses helping authors realize their publishing dreams. During the pandemic, Yobe and I met through the author community, and we are both passionate about helping each other and authors like us to grow.
Coming out of the pandemic, we saw an increasing need for in-person literary engagements. There’s nothing that inspires students more than meeting their favorite authors. We also saw a need for a way to easily conduct business between authors, publishers, and educational institutions. Amazon, Faire, etc., are wonderful platforms, but they aren’t dedicated to the literary community, and they don’t understand the pain points of the publishing industry.
Yobe and I contemplated on how we can scale our services, but, ultimately, we realized the most effective way to benefit the entire community was to utilize our network, resources, and professional expertise to create a platform that helps educational institutions discover and book authors based on their requirements and constraints. We want to build an ecosystem that offers literary services in a comprehensive way, from discovery to booking, from bulk orders to fundraising. Our tagline is “Your Gateway to Literary Connections.”
We hope to use technology to disrupt the publishing industry!
What specific challenges in the traditional process of author booking does Book an Author aim to address and solve?
SL: Schools and institutions are looking for authors/speakers, but there isn’t a comprehensive directory of them. Authors are trying to sell author visit services to institutions, but it’s impossible without knowing the right person. All author bookings are currently done via agency or personal/professional connections with little transparency.
The Book an Author platform will solve this problem by connecting the audiences with the authors directly, streamlining the entire process from discovery to payment. It also offers capabilities for all literary needs such as direct author bulk purchase, fundraising for nonprofits and schools, and educational resources for all users.
Can you explain the process for authors or publishers to create a profile on Book an Author and how they can effectively showcase their expertise and storytelling?
SL: The sign-up process is very easy. On our platform, you are either a “service provider” or an “institution.” A service provider would be an author, publisher, agent, printer, or illustrator, and an institution would be a school, library, bookstore, or a nonprofit or for-profit organization.
Each user gets a personalized dashboard, which consists of your private chat inbox, wallet to collect money, and a customizable profile.
As a service provider, you can list your services: author visit, coaching services, etc. This allows you to be searchable in the directory. The listings can be searched by keywords, tags, location, and price.
In addition to listing your products and services, authors and publishers can also register for author-institution matchmaking. We also want to make doing business easy for institutions. In addition to an easy-to-navigate directory, we allow institutions to post “calls for authors.” This allows the institution to specify what they are looking for. The system then notifies the authors and publishers if there is a “call for author” that matches their criteria. Authors and publishers can then respond to the call for authors by submitting their custom proposals. If selected, the entire booking process can be done within the platform.
Can you elaborate on the platform’s features that focus on diversity, inclusion, and belonging, and how they play a role in connecting authors with institutions?
SL: With Book an Author, we are the champion of supporting local, authentic storytellers, and supporting diversity, inclusion, and belonging. Coming from the background as creatives of color, we want to take a proactive stance to allow institutions to discover authors based on their criteria.
One way we do this is through the “tags” in listing, which functions a lot like hashtags in social media. An author can tag their profile as “Veteran Owned” or “Black Owned,” for example, which can then be easily searchable. Each listing can also be tagged based on themes, so authors can find each other and connect with one another, especially those who write on similar topics.
Each listing shows the profile photo of the maker, which gives a human touch.
In addition, we also aim to provide authors and institutions resources on topics like “10 steps for crafting a memorable school event,” “10 considerations when booking an author,” as well as monthly curated bookshelves to help schools celebrate various history months with their students.
How does the platform facilitate efficient communication and collaboration between authors and institutions?
SL: Each Book an Author user can chat with the product/service listing owners directly on the platform. We allow real humans to connect with real humans. Whether it’s planning for an event, or discussing business, we make chatting secure and easy between all the users in the community.
We also allow all users to be held accountable for the quality of the user experience on the platform. When an institution books a service from an author, the institution can rate the service and provide a private or public review. We also offer the institution money-back guarantees to ensure the scope is fulfilled before we release payment to the author.
As the demand for diverse literary content and community-focused engagements continues to grow, how does Book an Author plan to adapt and evolve to meet the changing needs of authors and institutions?
SL: Book an Author is ever-evolving. Since beta launch, we’ve collected user feedback and improved the site daily. We plan on ultimately creating an ecosystem for all literary services, whether it’s booking author/speaker, or booking editing services, and eventually growing internationally.
What future developments or enhancements can users expect to see on the Book an Author platform?
SL: We are rolling out a no-fee literary fundraising/auction app for nonprofit organizations after the pilot with schools. We are also allowing authors to list various other products and services, including gift sets/merchandise. We are working on facilitating more in-person interactions for the literary communities, including author retreats.
We are very open to accepting suggestions from the community. You can reach us directly at founders@bookanauthor.com.
What advice would you give to self-published authors and independent publishers looking to utilize Book an Author to enhance their visibility and connect with institutions for events?
SL: We encourage everyone to take advantage of the Book an Author platform to enhance visibility and connect with others. For those who do not have a website, or are not tech-savvy, Book an Author allows you to have your very own author profile/mini-landing page with your own unique URL. It also allows you to have your own author storefront so you can sell books and services. For those who are uncomfortable with traditional sales approaches, this platform will let you do business right at your fingertips, so you can focus more of your time to do what you do best.