An award-winning Bristol company is due to appear on BBC's Dragon's Den this week after gaining thousands of supporters in just a few years. Books That Matter is the UK's leading book subscription box based in Bristol, delivering to a band of loyal subscribers every month.
Business owner and entrepreneur Molly Masters, 25, conceived the idea for Books That Matter while still at university after being introduced to swathes of women writers during her studies. Her English Literature degree highlighted how men-orientated the curriculum is at England's schools prior to university level.
Just last year men authors continued to dominate the national GCSE curriculum. Only 0.7 per cent of GCSE English Literature students study writers of colour while 7 per cent study women authors, according to The Bookseller.
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Each box focuses on a different author each month to introduce subscribers to new and diverse literary voices. The subscription box is ideal for both avid readers looking to find more uplifting women writers and those keen to maintain reading in their spare time.
The company was invited to face the five Dragons on the hit BBC show, now on its 19th series, after reaping huge success during the pandemic. Since its conception in 2020, Books That Matter has amassed an online community of 66,000, with between three to four thousand regular subscribers.
“The past two years have been crucial to Books That Matter’s growth, having quadrupled in size," Ms Masters commented. "I spent the lockdown period rewatching old episodes in the Den for inspiration, and I couldn’t have ever imagined facing the Dragons, but of course, we leapt at the chance and it offered the ideal opportunity to catapult our business.
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"We’re ecstatic to now have the opportunity to tell more people about what we do and promote diverse feminist literature to the masses.”
The coronavirus pandemic was a contributing factor to the successes of many subscription-based companies. A report conducted by Royal Mail found that in 2020, 55 per cent of new subscription box users signed up in order to ease the “lockdown blues”, according to RetailWeek. From recipe box HelloFresh to florist delivery service Bloom & Wild, Royal Mail forecast that the subscription box market would be worth £1bn in sales in the UK by 2022.
Ms Masters said she hopes the company's appearance on Dragon's Den will expose their work to a wider audience interested in feminist literature, with many exciting ventures to come further down the line. The team is already aspiring to launch a second brand under the Books That Matter umbrella company alongside a collaboration with one of the world's leading companies in the industry.
With representation, diversity and providing a platform for marginalised voices at the core of its work, Books That Matter strives to make a tangible difference in the publishing industry. The business aims to make these texts accessible to people across the UK.
Each subscription box costs £17 per person - with discounts when you buy in bulk - that typically includes a book and several gifts each month. Previous boxes have featured books by authors including Bernadine Evaristo, Sally Rooney and Jamila Jamil.
The award-winning concept - gaining accolades including Female Start Up of the Year with Enterprise Nation and Great British Entrepreneur of the Year Award - will aim to impress the Dragons on Thursday night's episode.
Tune in to BBC1 to watch Books That Matter appear on Dragon's Den on Thursday, March 10 at 8pm.
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