Feature BookTech finalists Tech-tonic shifts


Following the success of the inaugural BookTech Company of the Year Award last year, the scheme returns at FutureBook 2016 with five new, nascent start-ups looking to disrupt the publishing space... or not, as Molly Flatt discovers; instead the quintet are seeking to engage and learn from their legacy counterparts, and perhaps collaborate, too


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HIRTY ENTRIES. THIRTEEN coun- tries. Bootstrapped teams, crowdfunded projects, beta- stage platforms. Spanish interactive game-book designers, Danish moti- vational reading experts, children’s e-book makers from Brazil. The diversit and ambition of the entries to our second BookTech Company of the Year Award makes me feel really rather warm inside. They reflect an unflagging confi- dence that every aspect of the indus- try remains up for creative grabs, whether that means offering book designers new, sophisticated soſt- ware or providing readers with an augmented realit literary layer that sits over real-life locations across the world. What’s more, the founders behind the submissions in no way come across as naïve idealists, eager to destroy the evil gatekeepers or force an unsustainable revolution. These are ardent but thoughtful business- people who are looking to enhance the existing market and build part- nerships with experienced insiders and established brands. One of the few things they share is a deep and personal passion for geting people reading more, a far from “disrup- tive” aim. It’s a passion that our five finalists share in spades. Publishizer, conceived in India and developed in Silicon Valley, was featured as FutureBook’s Startup of the Week back in February. It’s a matchmaking service for authors and publishers—“Kickstarter meets Tinder for publishers”—that helps writers to gauge interest in book proposals, and publishers to cherry- pick the projects that are right for them. When judging the entries, we felt that Publishizer tackles a


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perennial publishing problem in a unique way, and should provide the audience at the FutureBook confer- ence—where the finalists will batle it out in a live pitch-off—with plent of fuel for debate about the value of agents and the need for hybrid models that bridge self-publishing and the traditional trade. Kadaxis, based in New York,


aims to use the latest data science to usher in the next generation of book discovery. It offers authors and publishers metadata, market- ing tools and data APIs to beter understand their fast-changing audience, and provides readers with an entirely new book discovery mechanism. The intelligent gather- ing and analysis of big reader data


BookTech [aims] to highlight the most


exciting big ideas at the point where they most need investment, collaboration and feedback


is undoubtedly going to be a huge part of the future of the industry, and Kadaxis looks set to be one of its pioneers. British contender Joosr offers time-poor readers the chance to fast-track their self development with 20-minute summaries of popu- lar performance-boosting books. Delivered via a subscription model on a bespoke platform, the service is underpinned by such a clear behav-


ioural need, and executed so well, that it was a no-brainer for inclusion in the shortlist. Seatle-based Novel Effect is an app that uses voice recogni- tion to add perfectly timed theme music and sound effects to tradi- tional print books as you read them aloud. The judges loved the way it blends digital and real-world read- ing experiences, with its aim to turn the next generation into a hoarde of bibliophiles, and the way it offers an opportunit to rejuvenate classic books and backlists, in addition to new works. Finally, augmented realit


storytelling platform StoryTourist began as a non-profit initiative in co-operation with the Cit Library of Malmö, funded by the Swedish Arts Council, to develop digital tools for literacy in young adults. The platform, “a sort of Pokémon Go for stories”, it claims, turns books and stories into location-based treasure hunts. Currently at an early stage of development, it exemplifies our aim for BookTech: to highlight the most exciting big ideas at the point where they most need investment, collabo- ration and feedback. On a personal note, I’m delighted


to see that BookTech’s gender equal- it has improved by 100% on its launch year. In 2015 Write-Track’s Bec Evans was the only female founder on our shortlist, and this year we have two: co-founder Becci Edmonson (Joosr) and Johanna Forsman (StoryTourist). It may seem a small detail, but in a hugely male-dominated tech environment it’s a reassuring development. ×


The five finalists will make their pitches at the FutureBook Conference on 2nd December at 3 p.m. in the London Wall Suite, fielding questions from the judging panel and audience. You can follow the developments through #FutureBook16.


25 THE JUDGES


Paul Field is a seasoned inves- tor in the tech and publishing space. Paul launched Mail Online, the world’s biggest newspaper website and now applies his 20+ years of experi- ence to the start-up world as c.e.o. EMEA of New York-based Touch- Cast, and as operating partner at bMuse, an incubator which nurtures and launches “disruptive” start-ups.


Representing the traditional publishing world is Rebecca Smart, m.d. of Ebury. Formerly c.e.o. of The Osprey Group, Smart won FutureBook’s Most Inspiring Digital Publishing Person award in 2011. She is committed to pushing the boundaries of what it means to create, publish and sell books.


Completing the panel is Dan Kieran, c.e.o. and co-founder of Unbound. Unbound is one of the biggest recent success stories of the UK publish- ing scene, using crowdfunding to bring authors closer to readers and to produce prize-winning books such as Paul Kingsnorth’s Booker- longlisted The Wake and Nikesh Shukla’s The Good Immigrant.


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