The LA Times recently wrote about Bindery Books, a publishing startup that lets book influencers run their own imprints and choose which titles get published. For years, fan communities have been treated primarily as distribution engines after the book is written. The communities are then used to build hype, drive preorders, and market the anticipated book.
But Bindery Books are pulling fans into the decision phase.
instead of tacking fans on the end, pull them up earlier
At a surface level, Bindery looks like a membership platform for book tastemakers. Influencers can build audience hubs, offer paid tiers, curate their shelves, and earn affiliate revenue.
But it goes deeper! If a tastemaker builds enough trust and size with their audience, they can unlock their own publishing imprint. Bindery handles the production part while the tastemaker helps decide what gets acquired and brings it directly to their community.
When the person closest to the readers helps choose what gets made, a few things shift.
The feedback loop shortens. Reader sentiment is not guessed at from a distance because it’s being pulled to the front.
Promotion is embedded from the beginning vs slapped on at the end.
Niche and underrepresented genres have a different path to publishing when someone inside the fandom/community is doing the championing.
And perhaps most importantly, the tastemaker role starts to evolve. Less influencer in the stereotypical sense. More operator/curator. In some cases, closer to publisher!
I don’t believe publishing is suffering from a content shortage. There are plenty of manuscripts and ideas and talent. What is scarce is earned closeness to the reader. It’s amazing to see Bindery taking that seriously.
Quick takeaways:
Before you release that product or service or offering, talks to your fans and customers! Survey them, ask them questions, call them.
If you want stronger launches, reduce the distance between the people making decisions and the people who care most about the outcome. I see too many people waiting until it’s “perfect” and I don’t even think they’re having the right people define what perfect is!
Trust is slower to build but more durable and longer lasting than reach.
You can follow Bindery Books on Instagram here.
