The document describes Bookship, a social reading app that allows users to read and discuss books with friends. The app is mobile-first and allows users to share comments, photos, links and videos about what they are reading. It also provides background information about books and suggests new titles. The app aims to create an interactive experience for both informal and organized book clubs, libraries, authors and businesses. It plans to generate revenue through free basic features and paid subscription tiers for additional services.

1. Bookship
A new social reading experience.
Because reading is better with friends.

2. Books are social. Reading is not. Yet.
There’s no good way to share your reading
experience while you’re reading
An app-centric social reading experience is
inevitable

3. Bookship
A social reading app
Mobile-first, camera-ready, emoji-friendly
Invite friends, family & co-workers to read along
Post & react to comments, photos, links, video
Extract quotes right from a picture
Get alerts when your friends post
Keep in sync by sharing your locaHon
Curated background content on your book & author
Browsable book suggesHons from leading
tastemakers, book reviewers & best-seller lists
Available on iOS & Android, coming soon on Kindle Fire
Great for:
• Organized book clubs
• Informal social reading with friends
• Corporate Reading Groups
• School study groups

4. The market
Social readers, book clubs
• 55M Goodreads users
• 5M Americans in book clubs
• 2% of England in a book club
Bookstores, Libraries, Authors
Corporate Reading Groups
• 1.5M+ businesses w/
10+ employees in US & UK
Longer Term:
• Students, EducaHonal InsHtuHons

5. Subscription business model
Basic service is free
For “bookworms” ($0.99/month)
• >2 simultaneous readings, groups of 10+
• curated background content
• personalized book recommendaHons
Bookstores, libraries, authors ($2.99/month)
• Groups of 10+, self-joinable groups
• Management tools (automaHon & reminders)
• Branding
Corporate Reading Groups ($25/month)
At scale: Book promoHon & sales
Available market = ~$500M/year

6. Adoption strategies
Book clubs are inherently social
• target them first
Android/Kindle Fire app stores
• Extremely underserved
for books apps
Engage book bloggers & authors
• Tool to engage their audiences

7. Competition
Kindle Notes
• Anonymous, hard to share, private
• The anHthesis of social
Goodreads
• RaHngs & Reviews the wrong model
• Discussion forums not mobile, not suited for private groups
• Web-centric, clunky, not about sharing during reading
Book club apps
• Focused on meeHng scheduling & selling books to you
• Typically iPhone only
• SomeHmes require proprietary reader
• Don’t work for physical/audio books
Messaging apps (WhatsApp, Facebook)
• Not books-aware
• Discussions lost in a sea of random social media.

8. The team
Mark Watkins, Founder
• VP R&D for Endeca Search
Acquired by Oracle for $1.1B
• Co-Founder and CEO of goby
Apple #1 Travel app, acquired by Telenav
• Head of Product for Telenav (Nasdaq: TNAV)
Award-winning pioneer of GPS navigaMon apps
LifeHme voracious reader
• Currently group-reading Thucydides, Evicted, and Wind,
Sand & Stars on Bookship

9. Advisory Board
Dr. Thomas Jensen
• Novelist, Entrepreneur
SVP R&D PTC, Think3, Torrent
Ben Williams
• CEO of Firecracker,
an Ed-Tech company
James Fell
• Head of Design, Mint,
Founder, WeCreatedIt, VP Design, goby

10. Reading is changing
More young reader engagement
More social
More electronic/mobile
More audiobooks
More episodic/serial
More distributed
More media Me-ins: Movies, TV shows, youtube…
Isn’t it time there was an app for that?