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Show HN: The missing link of a bookstore's tech stack (bookhead.net)

95 points by greenie_beans ↗ HN
Hi HN!

I built Bookhead because I used to work as a bookseller and I wasn't happy with the software options when I decided to sell my own collection online (with the hopes of one day growing so I can open my own brick & mortar). So I decided to make my own bookselling app...a classic hacker distraction.

Bookhead has two main parts: 1. an inventory management app that allows a bookseller to list their books anywhere they want to sell books (like Squarespace, Biblio, eBay, Shopify (coming soon!), etc) 2. an e-commerce platform with a CMS for selling books and letting a store control their online brand

I have a very exciting roadmap that I'm not ready to fully reveal, but it's all based on books. I'm building a sorta Zapier-like platform for independent booksellers. Everything is so fragmented and disconnected, which makes it hard for booksellers to do their work. I'm hoping to change that. I have a blog post that lays out my vision here: https://bookhead.net/blog/fragmented/

The current iteration is like "data engineering as a service for books." A book is a powerful thing. I'm hoping to give a bookstore everything they need to sell books online. Inventory, e-commerce, marketing, etc. It's a crowded market but I've had fun making the bookselling app that I believe should exist.

If you know any booksellers, please let them know about this! I'm onboarding my first customer right now and the biggest bottleneck is the other bookselling software providers, despite my intention to collaborate instead of compete. It's frustrating to wait for two weeks for a point of sale provider to setup an integration. It's almost like they don't care about their customers. Some providers even require ethernet cables for their software...still partying like it's 1999. Perfect for early-adopter booksellers frustrated with current tech who understand the power of automation.

I'm currently looking for funding so I can focus on this full-time. My biggest problem right now is time (aka money) because I have to sell my time to make rent etc, and can't focus on this project like I need to. I've gotten good validation from booksellers and other technically savvy folks in the industry (I've heard from two different companies that they've considered building something like this), so I believe I have something valuable. I'm not interested in funding from somebody who doesn't share my love for books or doesn't support my mission: help people use technology to promote literature. I believe that literature is one of humanity’s most prized creations, and we can use technology as a tool to keep this gift alive.

Please email me at sam@bookhead.net if you know of booksellers who might want to be an early adopter, or know of any funding opportunities that might be a good fit.

11 comments

[ 3.4 ms ] story [ 27.9 ms ] thread
trevoragilbert
This looks really nice! I'm not a bookseller so I can't speak to the value props, but it's clearly coming from a well-informed position based on your background.
hotpotat
Curious, if you’re integrating with their POS why is it a subscription instead of taking a percentage of sales?
101008
What are the main advantages over Bibliopolis and BookRouter (the most popular solution used across the world)? I am not asking in a bad way, I am really interested because as a book collector I checked this space in the past but it seemed too crowded (and with a real winner)
jackconsidine
eCommerce for booksellers is an interesting problem. Many bookstores use IndieCommerce / Bookweb which has an unconventional status (a trade site? non-profit?). Where the frontend is lacking, it seems to make retail operations easy. Pretty sure that the ordering from distributors all the way through the inventory and POS sort of work out of the box. We've had a time adding a same-day delivery carrier integration to IC because they don't have a lot of development resources.

I know some stores that use Shopify or Adobe Commerce. When it comes to books, there are a LOT of SKUs (think IC has 2-3 million on it's built-in catalog). 5 years ago, that was a big challenge for folks wanting to sell on Shopify (which is IMO the best eCommerce platform)

SethMLarson
I use bookshop.org and have had a great experience. Not sure I'll try anything else.
jacktheturtle
looks great. what's your tech stack and background?
joemi
Interesting project! I'm in charge of all things technical at the book store I work at, so this piqued my interest. We've solved for ourselves many of the problems that Bookhead solves since we've been open for a few decades, so this doesn't seem like something we'd want to switch to, but I'm still bookmarking it and keeping my eye on it. Also I hope you don't mind me offering some suggestions/observations...

- If you're _not_ using AWS, I'd explicitly mention that somewhere. I know there are a lot of indie bookstores who care about avoiding Amazon and any Amazon services. If you _are_ using AWS, well, you might find that you get more business from indie booksellers by not using it.

- I'd add an explicit list of supported POS systems in the Overview of the docs. This was one of the very first things I wanted to check. (My store's POS isn't supported, btw.)

- I'd add an explicit list of supported channels in Overview of the docs, as well. This was also one of the very first things I wanted to check.

- I'd focus on adding Square as a supported POS. From what I see in the ABA forums, this kind of thing might appeal to the bookstores using Square as a POS. Especially if you can load the book data you have into their POS, possibly based on SKU? Maybe that actually would warrant a separate product you could offer (or that someone else could make).

cpymchn
Interesting project Sam. Thanks for sharing. Can you share how your catalogue management works and w/ cover images? Are you ingesting ONIX from publishers? Or is catalog creation downstream of the bookstore owner ordering the book?
rognjen
I wish you the best of luck which is why I'll tell you that in my experience

> I have a very exciting roadmap that I'm not ready to fully reveal

actually means:

> I've made up a list of cool / fun to build features with no user input whatsoever

bravesoul2
I prefer the "Sync your inventory everywhere" as the tagline. "Share your books with the world" is a bit trite for 2025 (might he OK for 2001). But "Sync your inventory everywhere" is more exciting as it implies more sales as well as how that is possible and that its supposedly easy. You could work on that tagline a bit more as well as I'm sure it can be improved.