The Storyscape

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Storyscape is a web-based platform that celebrates literature by offering book-oriented news and entertainment through the lens of pop culture and digital media.  Founded by Dominique Taylor in 2016, Storyscape provides entertaining interviews with authors and book reviews via video, helping instill a love for reading beyond our formative years. 

 

As a new business, Pace SBDC’s client Dominque Taylor sought guidance on a range of issues, including developing a business plan, assessing and forming her business structure, and analyzing business start-up costs and financial projections. She also sought market research regarding millennial reading trends, as well as guidance on improving her pitch for a literary arts web series she conceptualized, which “aims to introduce viewers to the authors, editors, librarians, book clubbers, and other literary influencers shaping the world of books. It's a Reading Rainbow for millennials."

 

Pace SBDC Business Advisor Sandra Cely worked with Dominque to develop her business plan using the NYS SDBC Entreskills for Entrepreneurs web program, as well as to build out her company financial projections and project budget. Sandra also collaborated with the SBDC Research Network to provide the client with targeted market research regarding reader purchasing and reading trends. To improve her presentation, Dominique also enrolled in a two-part pitch workshop and competition hosted by the NYSBDC.   

 

With these efforts, Storyscape was able to launch her business, and subsequently won a $50,000 award at the National Black Programming Consortium Pitch Black Forum to produce four episodes of the literary arts web series project. Dominique competed among seven finalists seeking development funds, and presented to a panel of public media and industry executives including Eric Freeland from PBS, Dennis Dortch from Black & Sexy TV and Deniese Davis, the producer of web series “The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl.”