Matchmaker By Daydream Made
We're so excited to finally share something new with all of you.
We started Daydream Made five years ago. The blind date books came later. We've been wrapping and sending those for about two years now, and the Matchmaker is the thing we've been working toward for a while. It's the biggest thing we've built, and honestly it's been our favorite part. This business has always been our creative outlet, something the two of us get to make together, and the Matchmaker is all of that in one place.
[Check Out The Matchmaker]
We think about this part a lot. People work hard for their money, and spending it on a book you can't see takes a real amount of trust. No title, no author, not even a cover to go on. Books are personal. What you read says something about you, and picking one blind is a small leap. But some of the best things we've ever read are ones we'd never have chosen for ourselves. That's really the whole idea: you take the chance, and we do everything we can to make it a good one.
Why we built our own version
A blind date with a book isn't a new idea, and it can get crowded. We didn't want to just wrap a paperback in brown paper and call it a mystery. We wanted something that actually felt like us, and a way to get our books in front of more people without it costing a fortune to take a chance. So we built the Matchmaker. It's really just a tool to help you find your way through everything we carry, whatever mood you're in:
- The Classic Match: a few quick questions and one good match.
- The Blind Date: tell us what you're into, like a first date.
- The Perfect Gift: for picking a book for someone else.
- Surprise Me: one tap, no questions, if you'd rather just be handed something.
However you start, the goal's the same. We want there to be a book here for everyone.
How it works
A quick word on this, because we're proud of it. There's AI involved, yes, but honestly the AI is the least interesting part. The real work is the cataloguing. Every book we carry, we review and tag by hand: the mood, the pace, how it leaves you feeling, who it's really for. That index is years of work, and the Matchmaker is only ever as good as it is. When you answer the questions, the AI's job is to figure out what you're actually after, match it against the catalogue, and write you a little note on why it landed on that book. It won't make something up, and it won't force a bad fit. If nothing we have in stock is right for you, it'll just tell you so.
Your Daydream Library
We also wanted a proper way to thank the people who keep reading with us. Every book has a library card tucked inside, and entering the code on it starts your Daydream Library, a spot that keeps track of what you've read and gets better at matching you the more it learns. Every eight books you add, the next one's on us, and you get to pick which one. And when you make an account, we'll drop one credit toward a free book in there right away, just for joining.
The thing we care most about: that card is in every book, no matter where it came from. Whether it's our shop, an event, a store that carries us, or here online, it all works the same way. We could have made this only count for orders placed on the website, but a lot of the people we love most found us in person, and we weren't about to leave them out.
If you want to peek
Some people will want to know what they got, and that's completely fine. It always has been. The Book Revealer is right there for it. No judgement: check before you read, make sure you don't already own it, or just settle your curiosity.
We also did something that isn't the obvious business move. When you reveal a book, the Matchmaker will point you toward what to read next over on Bookshop.org. Bookshop.org sends money to independent bookshops instead of to Amazon. Every order there supports actual local stores. We're a small independent shop ourselves, and we'd rather send you somewhere good than nowhere, even when that somewhere isn't us. (They're affiliate links, so if you buy something a little comes back to us at no extra cost to you.)
Gifts, and a few things to find
Buying a book for someone else is hard enough when you can see the cover. Buying a blind one for them is a lot to ask. That's what the Perfect Gift mode is for. Tell us what you know about the person and we'll help you get it right.
And one last thing: have a poke around. There are a few surprises hidden in the Matchmaker, a couple that only show up if you keep coming back, and one in particular for the genuinely curious. We're not going to spoil any of it. Go find them.
If a quiz isn't your thing, you can always shop the normal way at daydreammade.com. The Matchmaker is just here to make our shelves easier to wander.
Mostly we wanted to say thank you. Five years of this has meant a lot to us, and none of it works without people willing to take a chance on a book they can't see. If you've got a question, an idea, or something you think we got wrong, we'd really like to hear it. Reach us any time at .
Taylor & Jeff, Daydream Made
