Startup Spotlight #33: For Every Influencer, a Book

Today's featured startup is trying to marry social media with a beloved yet unlikely medium.

Jan 07, 2025

DashBook is a service that lets users turn their best social media content into physical books.

But it’s not about simply publishing a raw collection of posts. DashBook transforms that content into a “real” book, taking care of preparation, editing, formatting, and even adding illustrations.

For instance, a series of posts about someone’s journey toward healthy eating could become a charming diary. Meanwhile, TikTok videos with recipes could turn into a stylish cookbook. DashBook also supports offering branded merchandise, such as tote bags or aprons featuring book-related designs, which readers can purchase alongside the book for an additional cost.

The platform operates similarly to Kickstarter. Initially, preorders are launched with a funding goal and deadline. If the required funds are collected, the book is published and sent to buyers. Remaining copies are sold through DashBook’s online store. If the funding goal isn’t met, contributors receive their money back.

Authors earn up to 30% royalty on book sales.

DashBook also supports authors by helping with marketing and sales. For each planned publication, the platform creates a detailed marketing calendar that outlines tasks for both the publisher (e.g., contacting bookstores) and the author (e.g., posting book announcements with prepared materials like formatted sample pages with illustrations).

Authors also get access to a dashboard that tracks book sales, including the sources of those sales, to help them understand the impact of marketing activities on revenue.

DashBook collaborates with influencers who can help promote upcoming and published books. It offers a partnership program where influencers earn commissions for books sold through their referral links. Influencers can negotiate commission rates based on their audience size and influence.

Launched in France in 2021, DashBook has published 113 books with a combined social media audience of over 26 million followers. Currently, the company is preparing 492 books for publication and crowdfunding. Last month, the startup secured its first €2 million in funding.

What’s the Gist?

Spines, another online publishing startup, uses AI to help authors prepare their books for publication, significantly reducing preparation time. For an extra fee, authors can opt for human editors and illustrators. However, Spines follows a different business model: authors pay upfront for book preparation and publication but retain 100% of sales revenue.

DashBook, on the other hand, only publishes books likely to sell. To ensure profitability, DashBook collaborates with influencers who have large social media followings — their followers are the intended customer base. If the book performs well, DashBook benefits further by keeping 70% of the revenue, while the author receives 30%.

For influencers, publishing books provides an additional monetization method and a way to gain new followers. Books can attract readers who stumble upon them online or in stores, expanding the influencer’s reach.

While books might seem like a dated or weak monetization tool, the numbers tell a different story. In 2023, the global book market was worth approximately $137 billion and is projected to grow to $165 billion by 2032. Notably, self-published books are a rapidly growing segment, with their market increasing 17% annually — 17 times faster than the overall book market.

Besides, despite the rise of digital formats, physical books remain more popular. For example, only 20–27% of people in the U.S. and China purchase e-books, compared to just 5% in countries like India and France.

Key Takeaways

Six months ago, the founder of Patreon - the popular platform where fans can financially support their favorite creators - made a bold statement: "Subscribers are dead, and content creators are entering a new era.”

The concept of "the death of subscribers" stems from how content creators have spent years fighting to build their subscriber bases, as subscribers were traditionally their primary audience. However, the value of having "subscribers" has dramatically decreased as people began following accounts indiscriminately.

This has led to two major problems. First, users' feeds have become so crowded that they can't possibly see all the content from their subscriptions - with creators' posts and videos reaching only a tiny fraction of their total subscriber base. Second, in services without traditional feeds (like Telegram), users end up with countless unread channels and groups they once subscribed to.

Adding to this challenge, social networks have shifted their focus to "engagement metrics" (likes, shares, comments) when deciding what content to show users, as these platforms thrive on constant activity. Users are now more likely to see viral posts from strangers than content from creators they actually chose to follow. Some social networks even deliberately promote controversial content with opposing viewpoints to spark heated discussions - all in the name of driving engagement.

This "new era" means creators must find fresh ways to connect with and retain their audiences, as the traditional subscription model has lost its effectiveness.

Interestingly, books might offer part of the solution. While not a complete answer, they present several advantages:

First, long-form content allows creators to fully develop their ideas and viewpoints beyond the constraints of social media posts. This is particularly valuable now that creators can't rely on followers seeing a series of related posts over time.

Second, books provide a more authentic and less aggressive monetization strategy compared to paid online courses. This is particularly relevant as paid content subscriptions are starting to face the same oversaturation issues as free subscriptions.

The industry is now focused on helping creators and audiences forge new connections beyond the failing subscription model. Take Tiun, for example, which claims to have developed a new approach for how the next generation will consume and pay for online content. Their platform allows users to make one-time purchases for specific content on subscription-based sites. An innovative feature is that once a user's individual purchases exceed the monthly subscription cost, they gain free access to that site's content for the remainder of the month.

Publishing books by influencers represents another potential solution. While not perfect, this approach has clear benefits. History often moves in cycles - just as people shifted away from books toward shorter content formats, they may now return to books as a more comprehensive medium for sharing ideas, opinions, and information. This is especially true if these books are thoughtfully created, well-researched, and professionally produced.

The recent investor interest in startups like DashBook, Spines, and other book publishing ventures suggests this might be more than just speculation.

Company info:

DashBook

Website: https://www.dashbook.fr/en/
Last funding round: €2 million, 08.12.2024
Total funds raised: €2 million over 1 round