Booknet has the power to change the way writers engage with readers and vice versa, to empower writers to have more control over the publication and sale of their work, and to reward talented writers who know how to create commercial stories and build their network through regular engagement and sharing of new content. The Ukrainian company has seen staggering growth and success in Eastern Europe and Latin America since it first opened in Russia in 2015 and is turning its attentions to the English-language market, particularly the UK, as it breaks new barriers in publishing.

What is Bookscription?

Bookscription is a publishing sales model based on the concept of gradual eBook publication. Essentially, authors share their books as they write them, chapter by chapter, so readers follow the journey of the story as it’s revealed – unified in their knowledge of not knowing exactly how the plot will unfold. However, readers don’t pay per chapter – they pay per eBook and that price is typically the same as they’d be charged for the full and completed book.

In Latin America, where Booknet has been in operation since 2018 and has more than one million users per month, a Spanish-language book typically makes more money during its Bookscription phase (two to four months) than in the first one to two years of the completed book being available for sale. This distinctive method of readers being able to follow an author, read the latest instalment/chapter as they’re published, and being invested in the development/future of the story, appears to be changing reader habits – perhaps attracting a certain type of reader and reader behaviour to books in a way that completed books can’t achieve?

This bite-sized reading habit naturally fits in with the changing world we live in: a short commute to work, a bus ride home, waiting in a queue, sitting in a carpark waiting for a family member, etc. We are consuming information such as television shows, podcasts, audiobooks and social media content in short bursts – so why shouldn’t eBooks be the same?

Booknet research shows that many of their readers are simultaneously accessing multiple stories on Bookscription at a time. Booknet via Bookscription has become more like a social network – described by some of its authors as the YouTube of the literary world. Writers and readers can connect with each other through blogs and, more popularly, the comments sections. As new content is released, readers will often share their thoughts on the latest instalment and it’s good practice for the authors to respond in turn. This kind of access to authors in almost real time is exciting for readers and writers equally!

Bestsellers in progress

Essentially, as with all publishing, it’s all about writing books that are well-written, engaging, popular, and of interest to a growing number of readers. Authors can monitor data around their book such as the number of regular readers they have. It’s an incredible way of connecting with huge numbers of readers. For example, on the English-language Booknet, Ashleh Queen is a popular author; more than 38,000 readers have added her book ‘Contract Marriage’ to their libraries, and three years after the release it is still in the top reads on Booknet. At the same time, more than 7,800 readers added ‘His Dancer (Dark Romance)’ by Kathleen Hayat to their libraries.

According to Booknet data, one title on their Spanish-language site last April sold 10,425 copies in the first 24 hours. Eva Muñoz with her book ‘Queen’ made over £14,200 in the first day through the Bookscription model. Commercial authors on Booknet get 70% royalties on eBook sales.

Sale of Russian arm due to the War

The company founders are Ukrainian, and almost all our team members are from Ukraine. Since the closest big market for the company was in Russia, Booknet (known originally as Litnet) was first launched in Russia in 2015. It had a totally new approach to the raft of self-publishing and eBook offerings – namely a new model of book publishing and sales - Bookscription. In the full year of 2021, Litnet had sold more than 1.85 billion roubles (£22 million) worth of eBooks in the self-publishing category. This result was achieved despite the fact that, in 2015, there was already a monopoly in the market known as ‘Litres’, part of EKSMO, the largest book publisher in Russia. However, since March 2022, after the beginning of the war, Litnet ceased sales in Russia and Belarus. With 90% of staff working and living in Ukraine, there was no question as to whether or not to continue in the Russian market. Following sale of the Russian arm, the company’s attention is now firmly on building the success of Booknet and the Bookscription model in the UK, North America and other English-speaking countries.

CEO Sergiy Grushko, says, “Bookscription isn’t really a new concept – serialised novels being published weekly/monthly in newspapers and journals, while readers eagerly awaited the next instalment, was commonplace decades ago. What we’ve done at Booknet is take the concept and monetise it in a way that benefits readers and writers., and we can’t wait to see what happens next for our readers and writers.”