Shepherd - Preview of "best books read in 2023" :)

Author

Ben Fox
August 13, 2023

What's new for August?

  1. What are we building in August and September?

  2. Thank you for your feedback on the 2 new pages for the "best books read in 2023" feature. Want to see results?

  3. July: Traffic, bookstore clicks, and sales

  4. Ben's life updates and reading list...

Funsize:

  • I am changing the format of this newsletter. It will have shorter updates in the email and link out to longer updates (for those who want more details).

What are we building in August and September?

I hoped to start working on the improved front page and search, but we realized we needed to ship the "best books of the year" feature to ensure we didn't miss the deadline.

So... we are working to build the backend and frontend for the new "best books read in 2023" format. 

How will it work?

  • October 1st - We will email authors who want to share their 3 favorite reads made between October 1st, 2022, and September 30th, 2023. 

  • November 1st - We will publicly unveil all these pages and category pages. We want to get this out in time for the holiday explosion of book sales.

You can sign up to take part and read details about this new format here. 

What is coming in October/November?

We will start working on the new front page and improved search feature. That is likely two months of work.

Thank you for your feedback on the new "best books read in 2023" feature. 

Your feedback was extremely helpful, and you will notice a lot of tweaks based on that feedback. I tried to reply to everyone who had questions as well. If I missed your question, please hit reply.

Want to see the two new pages?

Scroll down that page to see the category page as well. 

Traffic, bookstore clicks, and sales

For July:

  • We had 423,000+ visitors and 563,000+ pageviews. 

  • We sold ~$60,000 worth of books we can track (actual number is higher).

  • We had ~40,000 clicks to bookstore partners. 

Traffic is up slightly versus last month, but otherwise pretty flat. Traffic is up 228% over the previous year.

Traffic from Google was flat in July. That is part of the process and slightly frustrating (search traffic has been flat since January). I trust that growth will return as we get further along. 

For a big-picture perspective:

  • In 2022 we had 1.8 million visitors.

  • In 2023 we've already had 2.9 million visitors (through July)! Woohoo! 

Check out the full info on our traffic, clicks, and sales stats page.

What else is going on?

For August, I am biking from Bordeaux to Paris to Mont Saint-Michel. 

The total route should be around 1,300km. I am currently taking a two-day break outside of Orleans. I just finished nine days of biking. I've gotten fortunate with the weather. I need my jacket most mornings. 

I will be slower at answering emails during this month. 

What am I reading?

I hope your summer is going fantastic :)

Ben

P.S. Picture of m son biking through an amazing rail trail outside of Sarlet, France. I took my son on an overnight bike tour trip a few weeks ago. He is six years old and biked 57km over two days. We had a blast :). 

Do you like what we are doing?

Please help us create an awesome book website for readers and authors :)

How do we help authors?

In the last 12 months, Shepherd has helped 3.8 million visitors find new books and connect with authors like you. 

I want to help you reach new readers, sell more books, and build a larger fan base.

What are some of the perks?

I am launching three new formats in 2023.

The goal is to help you meet readers and sell more books. 

Click those links to learn more and signup here to take part.

What else?

  • In July, Founder Member will be featured in a special front page section.

  • We will launch a premium feature in September or October to help authors launch their new book! We will show your new book throughout the website to get exposure from readers most interested in it. Founding Members will get one new book launch each year. 

  • More perks coming!