The peeps over at bookmarq kindly agreed to answer some of our questions about this new social reading app. Are you using bookmarq? We'd love to know your thoughts! 1. What can you tell us about bookmarq? Why should readers use it? Bookmarq is a peer-based book discovery platform. Whereas Goodreads aims to connect authors to readers, we focus on connecting readers to other readers. Our goal is to help you find book suggestions from your friends and influencers, not algorithms or advertisements. Readers should use it if they'd like to catalog their books with a beautiful user interface, and have the ability to follow friends, and be followed by others.
2. Design is obviously very important. What key ideas did you have in mind when designing bookmarq?Design is one of our core values. I came up with the idea for bookmarq when I realized that it was very difficult to connect with my friends over books, or find book suggestions from my influencers. Yet, I could do just that through photos on Instagram, or music through Spotify. I discovered Goodreads soon after, but it was difficult for myself to get to use it. We designed and architected our app to make it easier to connect with friends and influencers. Emphasizing a visual experience, we increased the size of the book covers, and make it easier to navigate through the app.
3.What features does bookmarq have and what are you hoping to implement? Can users import lists from, say, Goodreads?Yes! Users can import their books from Goodreads when signing up. Because we are still very early stage, we are limiting our features to make sure we "get it right". Eventually, we plan on creating groups that people can join, and even a way to keep up on your reading habits! There's a lot coming in the next few months.
Being an early stage startup, your feedback is very important to us. It will literally help shape the product to your liking! If you have any questions, comments, or rants, please feel free to send them our way. You can download the app through our home page.
