Interview: Book Clubs Have A Diversity Problem, This AI App Is Changing That
There’s never been a better time to be a reader. From Goodreads and The StoryGraph to BookTok and the book club boom, discovering your next read is easier than ever.
In 2024, book club events on Eventbrite jumped 31% from the previous year, especially among Gen Z and millennials. Modern clubs now include activities like crafting and wine tastings, and formats like silent book clubs are growing. Yet, most still center books by white authors.
It’s one of the reasons why Ifeoma Igwe created Mylitcorner, a web app that uses AI to help users find book clubs tailored to their reading choices. POCIT spoke to Igwe about Mylitcorner, how her experiences as a Black author shaped the web app, and how she merges her career in tech with her love for books.
Navigating Publishing as a Black Author
Mylitcorner first started as a social media page for Igwe to market her upcoming book, Away in Bliss. Eventually, the page became the foundation for the web app. “I just figured that the problem was bigger than trying to sell the book that I self-published as a Black author. “It’s impossible not to notice the kinds of bias minority authors face in the publishing industry.”
Igwe believes a key issue authors of color face is the difficulty of being discovered. “On all these platforms, like Goodreads and BookTok, are mainstream books, and mainstream books are usually made by white authors,” she says.
She believes the solution for this lies in book clubs, but not traditional book clubs. “A traditional book club has one host who determines what’s read, and they’re very effective in getting people to read books they typically wouldn’t know about.”
Bringing AI to the Book world
This is where the use of AI comes in. Mylitcorner uses AI to match people with readers with similar book tastes. “The AI aspect is going to be able to do that on a much bigger scale.” The AI recommends different books to people, and then groups them together in a book club. Mylitcorner only focuses on books by BIPOC, so every book on the platform is by a BIPOC author. “That’s how I can get people to read books by minority authors,” Igwe says.
So far, Igwe is manually assigning users to groups. “When you sign up, you answer what your favorite genre tropes, author type, thing. I would look at that and then compare that to the genres of books on the platform, then just group people like that, and then try to change the groups monthly. But what I’m doing manually is what AI would able to do automatically when there’s a much bigger audience.”
The web app also allows you to meet and connect with different people, as the books you’re being recommended are based on your preferences. So, the book club you will be suggested to join will change monthly. “There is no host who dictates what books are read every month. Next month, we think you’ll enjoy this book, and these are the other groups of people who we think will enjoy this, so we put them together,” Igwe says.
Using Tech to make an impact in publishing
When POCIT sat down with Igwe in 2023, she felt that tech was distracting her from her natural goal. After her job offer for a data scientist role at the R2 Factory, an AI startup owned by Rolls-Royce, was withdrawn due to economic instability, she felt deeply disappointed.
Nevertheless, she managed to change her perspective and shifted her focus to the other skills she was naturally good at, such as literature. “I put my dreams on hold because I thought a career in this industry would stabilize me well enough to chase them, but I’m glad for the early wake-up call,” she told POCIT.
Mylitcorner has allowed Igwe to do something impactful. “Now that I’m sure that I want to be an entrepreneur, I’m able to use tech to do something that I care about in an industry where I feel like I can make an impact on people who look like me,” she says.
When asked about her future plans for the app, Igwe said she’s focusing on “increasing our brand or awareness to get people to join the app and see the value in it.” As the user base grows, she’s also thinking about scalability and is open to the right angel investment to help take Mylitcorner to the next stage.
Featured image credit: Ifeoma Igwe
