When Django De Gree, II sold his book last year through a third-party digital site, he made $150 on 77 books after waiting nine months for a check.
He founded Focus On Words to empower independent authors to sell directly to consumers, providing the authors with digital profiles, marketing services and the agency to understand why certain advertisements work better than others.
“Around 90% of authors don’t sell more than 250 books over the life of their book, but we see authors spending thousands of dollars trying to make their book successful,” De Gree said. “And the challenge that people have is that the industry doesn’t give the author any data or money fast enough to be able to make really efficient and effective decisions.”
Focus On Words pays authors within 72 hours of a sale rather than the typical three months to a year. Authors accustomed to making 5-50% royalties on total sales can make 85-90% on the platform.
In paying quickly and directly, De Gree said the company empowers authors to make marketing decisions earlier.
“If you were actually able to get all of the money and then make strategic decisions about where you spent that money, whether it’s on printing or advertising or anything else, suddenly the author is empowered to do more with their book,” De Gree said. “Which, typically authors are getting so little money and it’s taking so long, they’re just like, ‘Okay, what do I do? I’m going to run this one $100 ad,’ which isn’t even a drop in the bucket.”
Developing Focus On Words
The startup’s Charlotte-based team of nine worked hand in hand with authors to develop the site before publicly launching in February. In the last month alone, users have surged from 300 to 800.
Authors can visit Focus on Words online, create a profile for free, and begin selling their books and receiving 85% royalties. The paid version—$20 a month or $200 a year—sees 90% royalties while providing a sales platform where authors can learn about customer acquisition costs and how to read data analytics.
Focus On Words runs ads and does marketing on behalf of authors, De Gree said, prioritizing attribution so authors know exactly what worked.
“Our customer is the author, and we’re trying to help them figure out how to sell their next book,” De Gree said. “So giving attribution to the author actually gives them the ability to then make smarter decisions on their marketing in the long term, because they’re like, ‘Okay, this podcast did this, this QR code did that, this ad did this other thing.’”
In addition to selling directly to customers, De Gree said most authors want their books embedded in shelves—wooden or virtual—with other books.
“Authors are typically not given the opportunity to sell their books directly to bookstores, and it’s one of the biggest things they care about,” De Gree said. “So we’ve actually rolled out an online bookstore. Rather than telling them, ‘Hey, you have this website where you can do things,’ we just say: ‘This is you building your profile in our online bookstore,’ and then we’re offering them a number of services to help them sell their books better.”
De Gree said authors can also use Focus On Words as a gateway to other sales platforms.
“If you sell on Amazon or Barnes and Noble or Books a Million, you can just use our site as a link tree alternative, if you really just don’t want to sell with us,” De Gree said. “That’s completely fine — we want to empower the author in whatever ways we can, and we understand some people just don’t want to do anything extra. So we just give that to the authors for free.”
The startup has raised pre-seed funding, and De Gree also recently pitched to a large audience at CED’s Venture Connect in Raleigh. Looking forward, De Gree plans to bring social elements to the platform while considering a brick-and-mortar bookstore in Charlotte for independent authors.
QUICK BITS
Startup: Focus On Words
Founder: Django De Gree, II
Founded: 2023
Team size: 9
Location: Charlotte
Website: www.focusonwords.com
Funding: Raised pre-seed
De Gree said spending time with authors and talking through marketing services has helped him understand their needs better.
“If someone says I don’t understand them, I need to drive to better understand them,” De Gree said. “So as authors have started to say thank you, rather than ‘I don’t get it,’ that’s when I know that we’re actually finally on the same page. So that’s just been amazing, hearing them say thank you.”
Anyone thinking about writing a book or looking for support as an author can visit Focus On Words online.
