When it comes to industries that love confusion, book publishing ranks low on that list. The earliest "books" date back to the third millennium B.C. and were written on papyrus or clay tablets (open in new tab). We don't use clay now, but books look more or less the same as they did thousands of years ago. Even e-books, which burst onto the literary scene in the early 2000s, are not as popular as hardcover books. (Open in new tab) But if we look at the past year and a half, times are changing. Since the pandemic began, Americans are reading more than ever (open in new tab), and sales of printed books are reported to be at their highest level in over a decade (open in new tab). In a time when people are hungry for connection, book clubs, especially virtual ones, are exploding (opens in new tab). They also want not only a place to discuss books with fellow readers, but also a way to chat with authors and publishers. (Open in new tab)

These four female founders believe that both our reading habits and book clubs are ready for a change, and they are doing it with one app, and in some cases, one vibrator.

Cisco's former CTO, Padmasree Warrior, a self-described "reading obsessive" since childhood, after 30 years in the tech industry, has turned a new page in her career journey: in July 2021, she founded the social reading platform Fable (open in new tab ), which she founded. According to Warrior, reading frustrations often fall into three categories: not knowing what to read, not having time to read, and wanting to read with others, Fable tries to address all three.

It includes lists called "folios" curated by industry luminaries such as author Jasmine Guillory and Emmy-nominated filmmaker Tiffany Schlein, as well as a tracker for developing healthy reading habits (Fable's website includes a section called "Just a Day 30 minutes of reading a book a day will make you happier, healthier (open in new tab), and live longer"), and through its social networking component, Fable aims to help users get hooked on reading as a mental health habit and a community-building exercise. It aims to help users get hooked on reading, both as a mental health habit and as a community-building exercise. Warrior was inspired to enter the book world professionally after seeing research showing the mental health benefits of reading. There's always an element of learning something from reading," she says, explaining why she believes collaborative reading experiences flourished during and after the global health crisis. We all have our own interpretations. That in itself broadens our perspective.": "Circe" by Madeline Miller

For more information: Membership is free. A $9.99/month membership gives you access to premium features such as special reading groups, exclusive events with authors and curators, discussion guides, and more. Download. (Open in new tab)

Melissa Gill was dealt a double blow at the start of the pandemic: not only did she lose access to her typical support system by being ordered to stay home, but her husband left for a 300+ day military deployment. Feeling lonely, Gil turned to romance novels to get through the year. As she grew to love the genre, the question soon arose: why are people ashamed to talk about romance novels when they are one of the best-selling genres? Is she the only one who reads romance novels to get horny? And why are there so few romances by or for women of color?""If I wanted to find someone who looked like me [in a book], or my husband, or a friend, I really had to look," she explains.

After a soft opening in 2020, she officially launched Steambox (opens in new tab) earlier this year. It's a quarterly subscription service that delivers romance novels written by women of color, self-care items like bath bombs and candles, and sex products to members. The company also hosts virtual discussions with authors and readers about books and diversity in publishing. (In addition to his work on Steambox, Gil is also a co-creator of Dear Publishers (opens in new tab), a new equity initiative that has launched an online petition to hold publishers accountable for diversity in the publishing industry.)

Clearly, Gil was not alone in her former struggles: the initial Steam Box launch sold out within 24 hours. Her husband also returned home in February to a completely different house: Gill packs and ships everything herself, so now their entire room is filled with vibrators.

Book recommendation: "Take a Hint, Dani Brown" by Talia Hibbert

More info: 4 subscriptions per year starting at $55 (click here for membership options (opens in a new tab))

We love book clubs. Join our book club (opens in new tab).

Allison Trowbridge's journey to entrepreneurship began with a revelation: she was publishing books while graduating from Oxford Business School, but found the process of promoting her work exhausting. Trowbridge jokes that the experience made her never want to publish again (her book Twenty-Two: Letters to a Young Woman Searching for Meaning (opens in a new tab) was published in 2017), but it also made the author helped her understand how difficult it is for the majority of authors to successfully launch and market their books.

Combining these insights with knowledge of how people use book clubs for socializing, Trowbridge has created an interactive marketplace that allows authors to grow their audience while helping readers build a community with authors they respect and each other and Copper, (opens in new tab), has launched. (The company is still in beta. There is an early access waiting list (opens in new tab) to join the Copper community.) "As an author, I love that someone can read my book and it's like spending just eight hours with me in a very personal (way)," she explains. With book clubs, "you create an opportunity for people who have shared that same very intimate time to have a conversation about the books they've read." With Copper, authors can establish a real-time connection with readers, who can then share their own personal stories about the books they've read. Meanwhile, readers can create book lists and make and receive recommendations. For Trowbridge, this is a win-win situation.

Recommended book: "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Details: Free to attend.

Literati's origin story begins when founder and CEO Jessica Ewing decided to do "the stupidest thing anyone could do": abandon her successful career as a product manager at Google to become a writer. But that action showed Ewing that the book field had room for great improvement, and that neither the literary world nor Silicon Valley was at all equipped to handle it. The traditional book industry could deliver great stories but was in dire need of a modern, efficient publishing process update, and the tech industry could easily automate book marketing but sacrificed a bit of technology in the process.

Literati (opens in new tab) is a subscription service that curates both children's and adult books, the latter personally selected by public figures like basketball icon Steph Curry and Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai. Visionaries often select books around a central theme and sometimes host book talks and virtual events with authors. For example, Megan Rapinoe focuses on human stories that "drive readers to meaningful action." (Opens in new tab) (In September, she chose Tarana Burke's "Unbound.") Ewing explains the fusion of art and tech into one company, "Literati is, for me, a marriage of two sides of myself that have always been at odds." 'We failed to destroy books because people didn't really understand art, artists, and what art is. We are trying to create a more human experience by buying and reading books," he said. That analog orientation has paid off: the business, launched in 2016, has grown from 20 employees at the start of the pandemic to more than 140 in just one year.

Recommended book: "One Hundred Nights of Heroes" by Isabelle Greenberg

Details: $9.95 monthly membership fee for Kids Box, plus the cost of shipping the books you keep. Adult book club is $20/month for an annual subscription ($25 if paid monthly). It includes shipping and access to the "Literati" app where discussions take place and members can discuss the month's book selections directly with other members, authors, and book club leaders.

The original version of this article listed the Literati book club price as $9.95. This price reflects the children's book club price. Adult book club prices have been added.