Marc Köhlbrugge

Literal - Track your reading and discover your next favourite book

Literal is the place to keep track of what you've read and discover your next favourite book through the people you trust. It's designed around the idea that trust beats algorithms when it comes to book recommendations and that we are all trusted by someone.

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Anna H
I've been using Literal for some time now and I'd simply describe it as inspiring. It allows me to not only discover books that others read in a very close-knit and personal way but also shows me the paragraphs / sentences that people highlighted. As a lover of words, that gives me an even deeper insight into whether I would like a book and how others perceive it. Congrats on the launch, can't wait for the things to come! :D
Noah Syrkis
I’ve been linking to my literal profile on my website and CV for a while now. It’s probably more representative of me than either. We just need a literal favicon on font-awesome. For now I’m using an asterisk haha.
Sebastian Stockmarr
@noahsyrkis Thanks Noah! And here's the svg until font-awesome gets up to speed https://www.dropbox.com/s/gftzpo...
Sarah Christine Gill
I've been using Literal for a few months now and I truly adore it. It is one of the few places on the internet that leaves me with MORE energy after spending time there. It's also so much more than 'a better Goodreads' (though it really is a million times better). I love how other people's shared Moments have convinced me to try a new writer or genre, I love the nudge to share how a book made you feel instead of trying to force those nuances into a 5 star rating, I love that I am reading more than ever before and I love how much everyone on there really just loves sharing what they are reading. I love it!!!! Great work! Can you talk more about what we can expect from Clubs?
João Paulo Pesce
I was looking for a Goodreads replacement and switched to Literal some time ago! I'm loving it. I was wondering: what are the plans for monetization in the future?
Piet Terheyden
@joaopesce Hi João, thank you! We're planning to stay free and monetize through commerce, so you'll be able to purchase books from book shops (not Amazon of course, but any shop including local book shops) through Literal and we will receive a (small) commission on it. At the same time we want to give money back to the people that are actually responsible for a sale - meaning greatly curated book shops, but also book shops or personal profiles.
Aske Dørge
I love Literal. It's been inspiring to see the small team build something so good, so fast. Design is on point, and over 6 months, I've only come across a single really arcane out-of-print book that I couldn't find on the platform. Everything else is there, which is really impressive! More importantly though, it made me read more. For a number of years I've been trying to increase my book consumption. Literal made that a lot easier for me. The app makes it super easy to add books to my "Want to Read" list from IRL conversations, and I've discovered a tonne of interesting books through friends on the platform as well. I'm reading my way through the SciFi classics, business books to close gaps in my developer background, and trying to get into modern lit. by reading my way through some recent Nobel winners. Follow me at https://literal.club/aske
Daniel Bower
Huge Literal fan! Now we can all abandon the world of Good Reads decay.
Geffrey van der Bos
Oh man. I just put all my reading on Oku.club. Now I want this. What's Literal's value prop that could convince me? 🤓
Sebastian Stockmarr
@geffrey Hah, yeah, we had planned on launching later the same week actually, but postponed it to not have too much noise since there's a lot of overlaps. Right now I'd say Oku is the place to be if you're into goals/tracking and we're a bit heavier on the community stuff with clubs and highlighting. Would actually love to hear your thoughts on it, if you'll be giving it a shot!
Pallavi Khanna
Signed up for Oku a while ago. Just signed up for Literal and love how easy it is to be a part of a community + follow relevant people.
Sebastian Stockmarr
@pallavi_khanna Hey Pallavi – happy to hear, it's exactly what we've been trying to nail! Still not quite there, but we hope that clubs can be a good way into it.
Catalin Popescu
Pretty great solution that allows me to see what my friends are reading.
Alexey Shashkov
Hey Guys! This is super cool idea! Good job! Joined! 🙌🙂
Sebastian Stockmarr
@shashcoffe Cool – what's your @handle? Would love to see what you're reading!
Alexey Shashkov