Bitlit, an app that connects readers with e-book versions of print books they own, has renamed the company Shelfie. The company works with more than 300 publishers and has 100,000 titles available for users to download.
Galley Cat caught up with Kamil Szybalski, vp of growth at Shelfie, to discuss what’s new with the company.
GC: Why did you rebrand?
KS: The act of taking a picture of a bookshelf is already a largely recognized social media tag, i.e. #Shelfie. It was very natural for us to rebrand to Shelfie primarily because our app is exactly about that, taking a picture of your bookshelf, digitizing your collection, getting discounted e-books and discovering your next read. We found that user understanding and adoption was significantly increased post-rebrand.
GC: Which publishers did you add?
KS: Harper Collins, Tor, Harlequin, Angry Robot, Nimbus, Brindle and Glass.
GC: How did you update the iOS app? Which features did you add?
KS: The iOS app has gone through a complete overhaul and the Android app should be at par some time in early September. We’ve worked with our users to completely overhaul the apps functionality and as such, improved usability. At a high level, we have made the process of taking a Shelfie, claiming e-books and discovering new reads completely different. If you haven’t opened the iOS app in a few months, we strongly encourage you to try it, we’re confident you’ll be pleasantly surprised at the new experience. Put simply, we’re making using our app as natural as possible.
GC: What is new about the discovery function?
KS: Our users have told us that they enjoy seeing other peoples Shelfie‘s and what books they are reading. We’ve also heard that users enjoy discovering new books on Shelfie‘s, primarily after looking at someone else’s Shelfie. We’re slowly rolling out this discovery feature on iOS, so stay tuned. As I mentioned, Android will follow sometime in early September.
In the end, we’re working towards building a discover component that will feel like Instagram for books or a perfect Goodreads.