Exclusive interview with Bookworm's founder @meelworm (Amelia Goodman)

Hi, wormies!

First (though not foremost), what’s your wormie’s name? 

@meelworm :) hehe

Outside of work and reading, what's a passion or hobby you're obsessed with? How does this hobby reflect or contrast with your professional life?

I love crafting! I'm always working on several projects at once and have gone through maaaany phases of hyperfixations with different mediums. I've had a mosaic era, a screen printing era, a Sculpey (polymer clay) era, an embroidery era, & I'm currently in my pottery era. I love making things and keeping my hands busy. I also love hosting crafternoons—I'll invite friends (and friends of friends) over and we craft together. I'll set up craft supplies for folks to choose from, but I also encourage everyone to bring whatever they're working on or wanting to try. It's a total blast. 

One of my favorite icebreaker questions is: what's in your craft supply bin?

What’s one thing you want every Bookworm user to know about the team behind it?

We’re all volunteers here, driven by our love for books and worms. I started building Bookworm as a small project while I was still working full-time, just wanting to create a book tracker for myself instead of using G****eads. I never really thought it would grow into the incredible community it is today. At least once a week, I'm stunned by how this little baby larva idea has turned into such a gorgeous community—run by a team of volunteers who all bring their genius because they love Bookworm and are passionate about making it even better.

Take us back to the beginning, to way back when, to the inkling that this could be something. 

I vividly remember a moment from the early days of Bookworm, when it was still just an idea and I was tinkering with some designs. I was with my roommates, and I asked them what color I should make a button. One roommate challenged me, asking, "Why just one color?" I can still feel the reverberations of that realization– dams breaking, worlds colliding, fireworks exploding. It never occurred to me that I could break away from the tech industry's obsession with sleek, monochrome designs. I realized I could make Bookworm however I wanted. I could make it exactly as I wanted: colorful, filled with cute worms, and distinctively different from anything else on the internet. People often say they love the "early internet" vibe of Bookworm, and I always think (and sometimes ask), "Can you tell how much I loved Neopets as a kid?"

Then what happened?

The next big leap in design came when Natalie hopped on board in 2023, propelling Bookworm to a whole new level. She reached out, saying, "Hey, I love what you're doing and I have some ideas..." And truly, she's made Bookworm infinitely more delightful visually and in terms of user interaction. This is what I cherish about collaboration and having a supportive team. Our diverse skills mesh perfectly, allowing us to elevate each other's work. We're kind, we have fun, and I believe that shines through on Bookworm. We're a tight-knit team of six, with everyone except me contributing part-time, and it's amazing to see the beauty we've been able to create together!

It’s far easier to do nothing than it is to do something. I love talking to founders and figuring out their WHY. Why you? Why this? Why now? 

I worked across the tech industry for years, from giant corporations to small social justice non-profits. Everywhere I went, I was paid less than my male colleagues, expected to handle emotional labor in addition to my technical tasks, and faced sexual harassment on every. single. team. This cycle of burnout and tears, and the realization that the tech industry wasn't going to change, pushed me towards building Bookworm. Getting laid off in 2021 was the final nudge I needed to step back and think about what I truly wanted to do next. The only thing I knew: the answer wasn’t going to be to find another tech job just like the last few.

During my time off, I moved to Mexico City for a change of scenery and, between exploring a new place and finding a community, I started coding Bookworm as a way to step away from Amazon completely—Goodreads was my last tie, and I wasn't ready to let go of years of tracking books. After sharing it with my book club and friends, the response was overwhelmingly positive, fueling my resolve to avoid the 9-5 grind filled with harassment and undervaluation. Instead, I focused on Bookworm, freelancing as a developer to pay the bills while trying to turn Bookworm into a viable business over the last three years.

Now, we're at a point where we're just breaking even, not counting all the unpaid labor. March marks the first month our ProWorm subscriptions have covered the operational costs, like server space and app store fees—huge thanks to our ProWorms! My dream is to pay Team Worm for their incredible work. The current app ecosystem has unfortunately conditioned users to expect free apps, not considering the hidden costs of data selling or ad bombardment. We need to shift this mindset: Bookworm respects your data privacy and offers an ad-free experience, building a beautiful community together. However, as Bookworm grows, so do our costs, and those contributing deserve fair compensation. This is the only plug I’ll make (Ali here, I make no such promise.): if you value what we're doing and aren't a ProWorm yet, please consider supporting us by going ProWorm today.

Thanks for reading. 

Catch you on the page flip,

Ali (she/her/coadblue) 

P.S. Go ProWorm, Go ProWorm, Go ProWorm, Go ProWorm, Go ProWorm, Go ProWorm, Go ProWorm, Go ProWorm, Go ProWorm, Go ProWorm, Go ProWorm, Go ProWorm, Go ProWorm, Go ProWorm, Go ProWorm, Go ProWorm, Go ProWorm.