Get Discovered
Appear where readers are looking.
- Comprehensive calendar
- Interactive bookstore map
- Weekly email newsletter
- Personalized notifications
Result
Reach readers beyond your existing audience
Lit Circle for indie bookstores and lit orgs
Fill more seats.
Sell more books.
Get discovered.
A shared calendar, map, and newsletter that helps readers find your events and helps you turn that attention into attendance, sales, and measurable results for your bookstore / organization.
Getting people to your events
is harder than it should be.
You're doing the work of booking authors, planning events and promoting them everywhere you can. But:
- Your events live on your website, and readers don't know to check
- Social posts reach fewer people every year
- You're competing for attention with every other event in the city
- Reporting results to publishers takes time you don't have
Great events deserve better discovery and better follow-through.
Our approach
Shared discovery for
independent bookstores
& literary organizations
We bring together events from across the city into one place so readers can see everything happening. Your events become part of a visible, connected literary scene.
When readers browse they see all the events. When they subscribe to our newsletter(s), events flow to their inbox automatically. And that makes every event easier to find.
Drive Attendance
Turn discovery into people in seats.
- High-intent readers actively browsing events
- Tags and filters surface relevant events
- Clear RSVP and ticket links on every event
Result
More people see your event, RSVP and attend
Sell More Books
Turn interest into revenue and loyalty.
- Sell online via your store
- Link your affiliate IDs (Libro.fm & Bookshop.org)
- Featured book section on every event page
Result
Increase sales tied to your events
Bookstores keep 100% of affiliate revenue.
Save Time
Expend less effort managing and promoting listings.
- Simple event submission
- Integrations with store mgmt tools in progress
- Detailed event analytics and reporting coming soon
Result
Less busywork, more time to focus on your store or organization
Interactive map
Be part of the literary
map of your city
Readers don't just discover events, they discover places. Our map makes it easy to explore lit-focused places in your area, helping new readers find you for the first time.
Evanston
Chicago
Oak Park
Coming soon
Get paid for the work
you're already doing
Publishers already offer co-op dollars to support events. But claiming them usually means pulling together screenshots, links, and performance data by hand. We're making that easy.
- Automatic tracking of event performance (views, clicks, engagement)
- Clean, structured report templates
- Space to add your own promotion efforts (email, social, in-store)
- Export and submit in minutes
- Enter your attendance and sales and you'll have a database of all of your past events in one place
Anatomy of an event
Every event becomes a
high-converting page
FAQ
Common Questions
What does Lit Circle cost?
Lit Circle is entirely free for now. And we'll always have a free subscription tier that enables independent bookstores and literary orgs to list themselves and their most important events on the platform at no cost. We're currently exploring options for how to pull revenue into Lit Circle in ways that serve everyone's interest. That could take the shape of promoted events (optional, small fees to be featured in prominent spots on the homepage / newsletters). In the future we may opt to charge bookstores for more premium tiers (unlimited events, co-op reporting) and most likely will opt to charge literary orgs for premium tiers (unlimited events, cross-promotion with bookstores). If/when they happen, premium subscription fees will be modest and affordable. We're building this platform to benefit you and seek to do so in ways that are financially viable for everybody.
Do I need to change my ticketing, ecommerce setup or events system?
No. Lit Circle is designed to sit alongside the tools you already use. Event pages can link to your existing ticketing, RSVP, ecommerce, affiliate, or store pages. We are working on adding Eventbrite integration. If there is another integration you'd prefer, just let us know!
Do you take a cut of book sales?
No. Purchase links send readers to your store or your affiliate channels. Lit Circle does not process the transaction or take a sales commission.
How much time does this take?
A few minutes. Our goal is simple event submission with reusable bookstore details. We are also working on import options for stores that already maintain event calendars elsewhere.
What if I only host a few events?
That still works. The map, calendar, and newsletter are built to help readers discover both frequent event hosts and stores with occasional high-value programs.
How does co-op reporting work?
The reporting workflow is planned to collect Lit Circle performance data and your own promotion notes into a clean export you can use with publisher co-op submissions.
When can we join?
We are opening access in stages. Join the waitlist and we will contact you when bookstore onboarding is ready.
What can we expect down the line?
Soon you'll be able to co-host events with publishers, outside orgs, etc. We're working with Bookshop.org, Libro.fm, and several industry web and POS platforms to make Lit Circle work across the spectrum of tech needs.