Teodora Radulescu, CEO Bookster: Leading the Literary Revolution at Bookster

Previously serving as Marketing & PR Manager and Head of Marketing, Teodora Radulescu has been the CEO of Bookster since April 2021. Business Review sat down with her to talk about both her journey, and Bookster’s, and the company’s impact on the Romanian book market.

Can you tell us more about the process of selecting and curating the books available on the Bookster platform? How do you ensure a diverse and engaging collection for readers? 

When attending to the preferences and developmental needs of such a big community of readers as ours, with over 140.000 booksters from 1.200 companies across Romania, diversity is an essential objective. Thus, we built a system that gathers data from several sources and feeds it to an algorithm that helps us get the right content, be it physical or digital, in the right quantities, to the right readers. 

We start with insights from the book market – what content is popular and generally appreciated by readers – we study bestseller lists, tops, and recommendations made by thought leaders in various fields. We also try to collect as many titles as possible and authors’ suggestions from our subscribers using the NPS (Net Promoter Score) and the recommendation feature in our platform. Another great data source that we look at is the behavior of our booksters – what they search for and what they frequently borrow through our service.  

Read more about

Bookster: In 2023, the most searched books were about physical and mental health

read more

Bookster hosts not only books but also online articles, podcasts, and various other types of video and audio content. We offer a wide range of reading materials: from motivational or self-help books to novels, professional development titles, fiction, poetry, autobiographies, and so on. Our team of editors constantly reviews potential new content to ensure quality and literary merit. This process helps us curate a collection that meets high-quality standards and provides a rewarding reading experience.  

How has the partnership with Goethe-Institut Bucharest impacted Bookster’s growth and expansion? Are there plans to collaborate with other foreign language institutes in the future? 

Partnering with Goethe-Institut Bucharest represents the first collaboration for Bookster with a foreign language institute in Romania, and it was born out of the desire to bring the German language and culture closer to our subscribers. Now, with their valuable titles added to the platform, users can access content in Romanian, English, French, Hungarian, and German.  

Our community responded quite well to the new content added, and this can only boost our belief that collaborating with other foreign language institutes is a win-win situation. Given their feedback, we intend to continue in this direction, and we are currently looking for other potential partners, either from institutes or from public or specialized libraries – Spanish and Italian are on our list of possible new languages. 

With the increasing popularity of e-books and digital reading platforms, how does Bookster differentiate itself and continue to promote the value of physical books and the reading experience they offer? 

I strongly believe Bookster is an experience for our subscribers, regardless of the preferred form of reading. From the user experience on our platform to the seamless delivery service, and let us not forget – from its convenience, given that it implies no costs for subscribers, to the creativity and playfulness of our campaigns, our booksters often tell us we are a breath of fresh air in their daily endeavours. 

We are also investing some resources and energy in digital content. Nevertheless, physical books are still the go-to reading materials preferred by most of them. Despite the logistical differences between reading classic books and using an e-reader, the advantages of the former remain clear – you feel more emotionally attached to physical books, you retain more information and stay more focused, and physical books improve your sleeping habits in the era of digital, they are like a well-deserved detox.  

The best part is that our platform is a unique combination of the emotional aspect of reading a physical book while also embracing the advantages of digital technology. Luckily, reading is becoming cool again (or, at least, we try to make it so), and we are happy that more and more people, no matter their age or area of activity, use Bookster to connect and discover their favourite authors and titles.  

Some people want to read but do not know what suits them or what to choose at a particular moment. For them, we just launched Booksy – the virtual librarian, an AI that finds the perfect book for anyone who talks to it. And it can be used whether you have a Bookster account or not. Booksy can also provide a matching song, quote, or poem that goes with the book for a complete and unique experience.  

How does Bookster collaborate with publishers and authors? Are there any initiatives in place to support local or independent authors and promote their works to a wider audience? 

Currently, at Bookster, we mainly collaborate with libraries, both public and private. But, to support upcoming authors and help them publish their books independently, we created another service – Booksprint, a self-publishing platform, easy to use and affordable, meant to turn every manuscript into a published book and bring it into the hands of as many readers as possible. 

Are there any plans to collaborate with educational institutions or schools to introduce Bookster as a resource for students or promote reading among younger generations? 

Through our CSR activities, various educational institutions benefit from Bookster – from schools previously without libraries to teachers that find support materials on our platform, kindergarten staff, or NGOs – we support their development so that they can support their causes better. We are always eager to help and establish new partnerships, so we have plans to grow our platform and provide an even more significant impact on the cultural level in Romania.  

Can you provide insights into the impact of Bookster on employee engagement, job satisfaction, and overall well-being within partner companies? 

We always knew Bookster was appreciated by our partner companies considering our high NPS score of 95. It is both an honour and a huge responsibility to keep improving our service. Reading is known to stimulate intellectual curiosity, enhance creativity, and encourage continuous learning – and all these benefits can positively impact employee engagement. Accessing a wide range of books and reading materials through Bookster can contribute to a positive work environment that supports workers’ personal and intellectual growth.  

But the pandemic and the changes in the working environment that came afterwards were the ultimate proof that Bookster brings high value to employees while representing a proper engagement tool for HR specialists. Throughout this entire time, we provided and promoted tailor-made collections that address a company’s values, trending subjects, or practical skills to develop. But at the start of these challenging last couple of years, we collaborated closely with our corporate clients to provide the mental health resources needed to adapt to the new reality. 

And now, given that one of the main objectives is the reconnection between employees and achieving collaboration in a hybrid workspace, we have developed a series of live events at organizations’ headquarters – Bookstivals. We invite readers to discuss interesting books and topics, indulge in some tasty snacks, and have fun and engage with their colleagues.