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Meg Jolly • Director
Meg's primary occupation is being an author. She works approximately 10 hours per week for BookSniffer Inc.
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Eric Knight • Secretary & Director
Eric's primary occupation is being an author. He works approximately 10 hours per week for BookSniffer Inc.
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Sean Hansen • CEO & Director
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Overview
BookSniffer provides an affordable solution to authors and publishers looking to market their works. Readers using the app are able to discover and fall in love with new writers every day, and writers are able to advertise and reach fans on their own terms and within their own budgets.
Our recently released app, available for iOS and Android, already has an impressive average rating of 4.6 stars, with 1,600 authors and more than 3 million books on our platform. In a growing, $154 billion mobile app market, we believe we’re already off to a great start.
The Problem
More and more authors have chosen the self-publishing route in recent years. This seismic shift has turned the industry on its head. According to Bowker, over 1.6 million books were self published in the US in 2018 (source).
Working writers- whether self- or traditionally-published - are an extraordinarily resilient bunch. Yet, these steely authors are facing exorbitant and rising marketing costs. This state of affairs puts the newest authors, with the least financial resources, at a major visibility disadvantage.
The Solution
BookSniffer helps indie authors and publishers alike reach rabid readers at a reasonable cost—and helps book lovers discover new voices on a safe, fun, next-generation platform.
The Market
BookSniffer operates at the intersection of two major global industries: the $154 billion mobile app market (source), which is expected to grow at a CAGR of 11.5% through 2027 (source), and the $122 billion book market (source), which comprises more and more indie authors.
There are 45,000+ authors in the U.S. market today (source). Over 1.6 million books were self-published in 2018 (source), and the number of ebooks sold and published by independent and small-press authors has already overtaken the number of ebooks sold and published by Big 5 publishers (source).
Our Traction
In October of 2020, BookSniffer opened the castle gates and offered a limited Beta version of its sponsorship products. Within 30 days, BookSniffer generated nearly $30,000 in sales on a shoestring marketing budget.
BookSniffer recently rolled out an updated version of its .com website, and is in active development of new features for its iOS and Android applications.
Traction with authors:
Technical milestones include:
An advanced, proprietary, next-generation book search engine
Over 3 million titles on our platform, including the latest bestsellers
Technologies to index millions of additional books per month in the coming months
Direct author-to-reader messaging
A proprietary book memes and quotes engine to allow readers to share fun and meaningful content
Advanced graphical library builder, designed for readers to share their favorite reads with friends and family
An advanced authors portal, with self-serve tools where authors and publishers can purchase advertising on the BookSniffer platform
Easy-to-use tools for authors, including AdMakerMcAdmakerFace, a free tool helping authors make attractive book ads they can use anywhere
KeywordThingy, a product to help authors find and identify thousands of advertising keywords, customized to their titles, with just a few clicks
Hundreds upon hundreds custom server-side applications to enable the above, many of which we believe may be patentable
What We Do
Authors on BookSniffer can:
Create custom book landing pages to display books and link to social media
Send messages, news and deals to fans and followers
Create book ads using our AdMakerMcAdmakerFace tool
Build lists of thousands of relevant keywords for advertising using our KeywordThingy tool (in Beta)
Purchase reasonably priced Sponsorships to display books more prominently on shelves and in keyword searches (in development)
Readers can:
Access book deals we’ve collected from across the web
Build and share custom virtual libraries
Rate books within our proprietary BookSCAPE system, which allows ratings based on Story, Characters, Action, Prose and even Editing
Follow authors to get news about their latest releases, as well as direct messages with exclusive content
Search for books using a super advanced search engine
Host private book discussions and clubs (coming soon)
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The Business Model
BookSniffer generates advertising and subscription-based revenues from independent and self-published authors, ad agencies, and publishers.
BookSniffer attracts readers through its advertising and referral programs.
How We Are Different
Goodreads, a social media network with approximately 90 million users (source), provides shelving and other search and organization features similar to BookSniffer. However, after being purchased by Amazon, Goodreads no longer offers self-serve advertising, and authors aren’t able to connect directly with readers.
Another popular platform, BookBub, a book deals newsletter and marketing platform with approximately 15 million users (source), rejects more than 80% of applicants for featured placement due to low availability (source).
BookSniffer has lots of space, and we don’t require bidding wars for our authors to access it.
Platforms like Amazon suggest per-click bid prices as high as $2 or more for some keywords. This is because they use an auction-based system, where the highest bidder gets the most visibility. You can’t sell a 99c book at $2 per click. It’s unsustainable, and it doesn’t only hurt authors – it also hurts the readers out there who want to find new voices. If new authors can’t afford to advertise, readers won’t know they exist. The only winner in this scenario, with an ever-increasing “slice of the pie”, is the platform - and in some cases, the cost of the click exceeds the price of the pie.
BookSniffer has a better approach.
BookSniffer offers fixed-bid advertising. That’s right - no highest bidder auctions. Right now, in 2021, our maximum cost per click is 18 cents flat – and sometimes lower.
The Vision
We believe BookSniffer has the opportunity to solve a major industry challenge: making room for new authors while creating fair and affordable advertising opportunities for authors at any stage in their career.
Although we expect to appeal initially to indie authors and small-press publishers during our product launch cycles, we believe that as our platform, user base, and potential marketing reach grow, our advertising products become viable to the broader market while maintaining our ability to serve new and emerging voices.
OUR LEADERSHIP
BookSniffer is proud to be a diverse, majority-woman-owned company, composed of individuals who have been successful in various industries. Our Board of Directors is made up of authors who have worked together to slay the book marketing dragon.
We've also been fortunate to attract a brain trust of brilliant minds from the technology, legal, and finance industries who have helped bring our mission to life.
On the marketing side, we’re excited to partner in 2021 with Harmon Brothers, makers of some of the world’s most vibrant and viral video ads, such as SquattyPotty, Purple Mattress, and Lumè Deodorant.
Why Invest
The power in the book business is largely concentrated in the hands of a few behemoths, at the detriment of the hard-working, talented authors who bring fantastic stories to life, who educate, who inspire, who thrill and entertain.
We hope you'll join us in our author-and-reader powered revolution.
Maximum Number of Shares Offered subject to adjustment for bonus shares
*Maximum Number of Shares Offered subject to adjustment for bonus shares. See bonus info below.
COVID Relief
This offering is being conducted on an expedited basis due to circumstances relating to COVID-19 and pursuant to the SEC’s temporary COVID-19 regulatory relief set out in Regulation Crowdfunding §227.201(z).
Offering maximum.
In reliance on this relief, financial information certified by the principal executive officer of the issuer has been provided instead of financial statements reviewed by a public accountant that is independent of the issuer, in setting the offering maximum of $250,000.
Expedited closing sooner than 21 days.
Further, in reliance on Regulation Crowdfunding §227.303(g)(2) A funding portal that is an intermediary in a transaction involving the offer or sale of securities initiated between May 4, 2020, and February 28, 2021, in reliance on section 4(a)(6) of the Securities Act (15 U.S.C. 77d(a)(6)) by an issuer that is conducting an offering on an expedited basis due to circumstances relating to COVID-19 shall not be required to comply with the requirement in paragraph (e)(3)(i) of this section that a funding portal not direct a transmission of funds earlier than 21 days after the date on which the intermediary makes publicly available on its platform the information required to be provided by the issuer under §§227.201 and 227.203(a).
Investment Incentives and Bonuses
Early Bird*
Friends and Family - First 72 hours I 15% bonus shares
Super Early Bird - Next 72 hours I 10% bonus
Early Bird Bonus - Next 7 days I 5% bonus shares
Volume*
Tier 1 perk - ($1000 +) Advertising credit of $1,000
Tier 2 perk - ($5,000+) 110% value in advertising credit on the platform
Tier 3 perk- ($10,000+) perk 2 + 5% bonus shares
Tier 4 perk - ($25,000+) perk 2 + 10% bonus shares
The 10% StartEngine Owners' Bonus
BookSniffer Inc. will offer 10% additional bonus shares for all investments that are committed by investors that are eligible for the StartEngine Crowdfunding Inc. Owner's bonus.
This means eligible StartEngine shareholders will receive a 10% bonus for any shares they purchase in this offering. For example, if you buy 100 shares of Series B Common Stock at $0.36 / share, you will receive 110 shares of Series B Common Stock, meaning you'll own 110 shares for $36. Fractional shares will not be distributed and share bonuses will be determined by rounding down to the nearest whole share.
This 10% Bonus is only valid during the investors eligibility period. Investors eligible for this bonus will also have priority if they are on a waitlist to invest and the Company surpasses its maximum funding goal. They will have the first opportunity to invest should room in the offering become available if prior investments are cancelled or fail.
Investors will only receive a single bonus, which will be the highest bonus rate they are eligible for.
*Investors participating in both the Early Purchase Bonus and the Volume Bonus may claim the greater of either bonus, not to exceed 15% in total.
Bonuses will be computed based on each purchase transaction. If an investor makes purchases of our stock in different transactions the bonus will be computed on each purchase meaning that the amounts from different pw·chases will not be aggregated to calculate bonus tiers. Investors are suggested to, if possible, purchase your shares in one transaction as soon as possible.
Fractional shares will not be distributed and share bonuses will be determined by rounding down to the nearest whole share.
Any advertising credits received when purchasing our stock will have no cash value and will be nontransferable. All advertising credits will expire two years from the date of your stock purchase. All advertising credits will be used at BookSniffer's then applicable advertising pricing and will be subject to BookSniffer's advertising standards at the time the advertising is run. Advertising pricing and advertising standards may be changed from time to time with no notice to you.
For an example of bonus calculation, if you bll.ly 100 shares of Series B Common Stock at $0.36 I share during the second 72 hours of our Early Purchase Bonus, you will receive 110 shares of Series B Common Stock, meaning you'll own 110 shares for $36. If you make a second purchase later, your bonus will be computed on the shares you purchased in that transaction with no regard to your earlier purchase.
Irregular Use of Proceeds
07.07.21
[The following is an automated notice from the StartEngine team].
Hello!
As you might know, Booksniffer Inc. has exceeded its minimum funding goal. When a company reaches its minimum on StartEngine, it's about to begin withdrawing funds. If you invested in Booksniffer Inc. be on the lookout for an email that describes more about the disbursement process.
This campaign will continue to accept investments until its indicated closing date.
Thanks for funding the future.
-StartEngine
05.28.21
[The following is an automated notice from the StartEngine team].
Hello!
As you might know, Booksniffer Inc. has exceeded its minimum funding goal. When a company reaches its minimum on StartEngine, it's about to begin withdrawing funds. If you invested in Booksniffer Inc. be on the lookout for an email that describes more about the disbursement process.
This campaign will continue to accept investments until its indicated closing date.
Thanks for funding the future.
-StartEngine
04.29.21
[The following is an automated notice from the StartEngine team].
Hello!
As you might know, Booksniffer Inc. has exceeded its minimum funding goal. When a company reaches its minimum on StartEngine, it's about to begin withdrawing funds. If you invested in Booksniffer Inc. be on the lookout for an email that describes more about the disbursement process.
This campaign will continue to accept investments until its indicated closing date.
Thanks for funding the future.
-StartEngine
04.19.21
[The following is an automated notice from the StartEngine team].
Hello!
As you might know, Booksniffer Inc. has exceeded its minimum funding goal. When a company reaches its minimum on StartEngine, it's about to begin withdrawing funds. If you invested in Booksniffer Inc. be on the lookout for an email that describes more about the disbursement process.
This campaign will continue to accept investments until its indicated closing date.
Thanks for funding the future.
-StartEngine
04.07.21
[The following is an automated notice from the StartEngine team].
Hello!
As you might know, Booksniffer Inc. has exceeded its minimum funding goal. When a company reaches its minimum on StartEngine, it's about to begin withdrawing funds. If you invested in Booksniffer Inc. be on the lookout for an email that describes more about the disbursement process.
This campaign will continue to accept investments until its indicated closing date.
Thanks for funding the future.
-StartEngine
03.23.21
[The following is an automated notice from the StartEngine team].
Hello!
As you might know, Booksniffer Inc. has exceeded its minimum funding goal. When a company reaches its minimum on StartEngine, it's about to begin withdrawing funds. If you invested in Booksniffer Inc. be on the lookout for an email that describes more about the disbursement process.
This campaign will continue to accept investments until its indicated closing date.
Thanks for funding the future.
-StartEngine
03.12.21
[The following is an automated notice from the StartEngine team].
Hello!
As you might know, Booksniffer Inc. has exceeded its minimum funding goal. When a company reaches its minimum on StartEngine, it's about to begin withdrawing funds. If you invested in Booksniffer Inc. be on the lookout for an email that describes more about the disbursement process.
This campaign will continue to accept investments until its indicated closing date.
Thanks for funding the future.
-StartEngine
03.12.21
We've had a "eureka" moment here at BookSniffer.
First: THE Question
We have extensive conversations with readers, authors, publishers, and investors every day, and the #1 question we get is this: Why would someone search for books on BookSniffer, as opposed to just going to Amazon?
Our answer is, well, we've got all this cool stuff! Library management, a really powerful search engine, tons of daily deals, book memes and quotes, and so forth.
"Yeah, that's cool! I like that stuff! But why would I search for books on BookSniffer, as opposed to just going to Amazon?"
The question persists... and what we're hearing is that we needed a simpler answer. Something really unique, easy to explain, a real, obvious value proposition that will appeal to a wider audience.
Second: Authors have been asking do to giveaways.
Book giveaways are a great way to get exposure for a title, get reviews, get followers, and get readers to fall in love with an author so they read the rest of their books. Book giveaways are not a new idea... but doing them well... no one has really cracked that nut yet. Authors and publishers want real value for their giveaway, rather than just giving people books who might not ever read them. We've had lots of authors ask us what we plan to do about giveaways, and we've been listening to ideas for over a year now on how to really do giveaways right.
Third: No affordable platform exists right now where authors and publishers can do extensive market testing on their books.
Those of us in the book business know there are three things that sell books: covers, blurbs (the short description of a book), and targeting. What we don't know (and constantly second guess): is our cover resonating? Is our blurb well-written for the audiences we target? Is it too long, too short, just right? Is the premise of our book enticing, compared to other books in our genre? In short, how well does my book "packaging" stand up to my competitors?
What if we could answer all these questions in one shot?
What if when readers search for a book on BookSniffer, they had a chance to win that book... or one of many other books being offered by our sponsors, just by giving feedback on covers, blurbs, and plot ideas?
Well, we thought, now that's a simple, unique reason to search for books!
Announcing BookLuckTM: a fun new book giveaway platform by BookSniffer.
On BookLuck, readers have a chance to win any book they search for... and by rating book covers, blurbs, and other data points, they can earn points to win more books. Or, if they fall in love with a book while checking it out, we show them where to buy it.
By hosting a BookLuck campaign, authors and publishers will get:
- Feedback on their covers
- Feedback on their blurbs
- Feedback on their book premise
- Comparative analytics to other titles in their genre, on all the above points
- Feedback on their audience targeting
- The ability to split-test concepts
- Also-like reports, so authors and publishers can learn how to better target their advertising
- More reviews
- More followers
- More SALES
We're going to do giveaways right. Fun for readers, and unheard of value for sponsors. We're launching BookLuck in the U.S. on March 17th, and we've already sold nearly 100 campaigns to authors and publishers in our early-bird offering. And in discussions with our team, we've decided our our idea is unique enough that it deserves patent protection - so we've filed for a provisional patent with the USPTO.
If you smell what we're cooking, please consider investing! The faster we can raise capital, the faster we can scale this platform and fully integrate it with the BookSniffer applications.
Hope you're well... see ya next time!
03.04.21
[The following is an automated notice from the StartEngine team].
Hello!
As you might know, Booksniffer Inc. has exceeded its minimum funding goal. When a company reaches its minimum on StartEngine, it's about to begin withdrawing funds. If you invested in Booksniffer Inc. be on the lookout for an email that describes more about the disbursement process.
This campaign will continue to accept investments until its indicated closing date.
Thanks for funding the future.
-StartEngine
02.26.21
Hi there fellow BookSniffers! We've got three important things to share with you today:
Our first Author Spotlight content series is live!
We try to go above and beyond for our author investors, and a great way we can do that is to feature those wonderful writers so our readers can learn about them and the worlds they create. Our first spotlight is author David Estes, international bestselling author of the Fatemarked series. David's work is ubiquitous in the epic fantasy genre, and for good reason... he's a brilliant author who knows his craft.
If you're an author investor with BookSniffer, watch for an email for us - we'll let you know when it's your turn in the spotlight!
We've launched our BookSniffer Secrets content series!
On the BookSniffer site you'll soon see articles popping up giving tips and advice to authors at any stage of their career. Our first article was written by our very own JA Andrews... on the dread topic of writing your author newsletter! (Makes your stomach drop, doesn't it - no worries, JA has some great tips on how to make it fun and engaging.)
SO many authors are becoming investors!
We're grateful to every single individual who invests in BookSniffer. It's really special, though, when authors invest - that tells us that authors out there believe in what we're doing, and they see the value. When your target client market wants to own a piece of the pie, we think that's a heck of an endorsement.
Of the 155 investors who have participated in our StartEngine campaign so far, 93 are authors. When we add our founders and earlier-round investors, we're now proud to say we have over 100 author-owners of the BookSniffer platform!
OK, we have four things to share. Four and a half, really.
Coming REALLY soon... Publisher Accounts!
The demand is real. We've had lots of conversations with publishers lately who want their own publisher dashboard on BookSniffer, so they can advertise ALL their authors. We're building it now... along with something particularly fun that's also been in high demand. Look for our next update to see the newest property BookSniffer is rolling out!
Be safe, enjoy your weekend, and GO READ A BOOK!
Sean & Team Sniff
Venture Club
Venture Club Members earn 10% bonus shares on top of this and all eligible investments for an entire year. Not a member? Sign up at checkout ($275/year).
Tier 1 perk
Advertising credit of $1,000
Tier 2 perk
110% value in advertising credit on the platform
Tier 3 perk
perk 2 + 5% bonus shares
Tier 4 perk
perk 2 + 10% bonus shares
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Cancel anytime before 48 hours before a rolling close or the offering end date.
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With Regulation A+, a non-accredited investor can only invest a maximum of 10% of their annual income or 10% of their net worth per year, whichever is greater. There are no restrictions for accredited investors.
With Regulation Crowdfunding, non-accredited investors with an annual income or net worth less than $124,000 are limited to invest a maximum of 5% of the greater of those two amounts. For those with an annual income and net worth greater than $124,000, they are limited to investing 10% of the greater of the two amounts.
At the close of an offering, all investors whose funds have “cleared” by this time will be included in the disbursement. At this time, each investor will receive an email from StartEngine with their Countersigned Subscription Agreement, which will serve as their proof of purchase moving forward.
Please keep in mind that a company can conduct a series of “closes” or withdrawals of funds throughout the duration of the campaign. If you are included in that withdrawal period, you will be emailed your countersigned subscription agreement and proof of purchase immediately following that withdrawal.
StartEngine assists companies in raising capital, and once the offering is closed, we are no longer involved with whether the company chooses to list shares on a secondary market or what occurs thereafter. Therefore, StartEngine has no control or insight into your investment after the close of the live offering. In addition, we are not permitted to provide financial advice. You may want to contact a financial professional to discuss possible investment outcomes.
For Regulation Crowdfunding, investors are able to cancel their investment at any point throughout the campaign up until 48 hours before the closing of the offering. Note: If the company does a rolling close, they will post an update to their current investors, giving them the opportunity to cancel during this timeframe. If you do not cancel within this 5-day timeframe, your funds will be invested in the company, and you will no longer be able to cancel the investment. If your funds show as ‘Invested’ on your account dashboard, your investment can no longer be canceled.
For Regulation A+, StartEngine allows for a four-hour cancellation period. Once the four-hour window has passed, it is up to each company to set their own cancellation policy. You may find the company’s cancellation policy in the company’s offering circular.
Once your investment is canceled, there is a 10-day clearing period (from the date your investment was submitted). After your funds have cleared the bank, you will receive your refund within 10 business days.
Refunds that are made through ACH payments can take up to 10 business days to clear. Unfortunately, we are at the mercy of the bank, but we will do everything we can to get you your refund as soon as possible. However, every investment needs to go through the clearing process in order to be sent back to the account associated with the investment.
Both Title III (Regulation Crowdfunding) and Title IV (Reg A+) help entrepreneurs crowdfund capital investments from unaccredited and accredited investors. The differences between these regulations are related to the investor limitations, the differing amounts of money companies are permitted to raise, and differing disclosure and filing requirements. To learn more about Regulation Crowdfunding, click here, and for Regulation A+, click here.
Andrew Brickson
3 years ago
Any update?
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