FAQs

We are not accepting contributions right now. However, this may evolve in the future.

Unsans is a project driven by passion, and we also want to keep it sustainable (naturally). It is most certainly not a growth-at-all-costs startup.

That’s not our focus. Scale is secondary to coherence and integrity.

Yes, but quality takes precedence over frequency.

Unsans exists for readers who believe that books matter — not as objects to collect, but as instruments that quietly shape how we see, decide, and understand.

Unsans is created by a lifelong reader with a deep interest in thinking, writing, and intellectual clarity.

Traditional display advertising is unlikely, and we are not considering it at this time.

Unsans is fundamentally different from Goodreads and Amazon; these latter platforms aggregate opinions. On the other hand, Unsans examines shifts in assumptions, frames, and judgment. More specifically, Unsans focuses on cognitive impact: how a book alters assumptions, reframes problems, or sharpens intuition. Unsans does not focus on opinions or star ratings.

No, it isn’t, and we have no intention of becoming one. Unsans does not review, rate, critique, or summarize books. Rather, it focuses on its impact on society and the social zeitgeist, and on its cognitive impact on the reader.

No. Unsans is independent and unaffiliated with publishers, authors, or institutions.

No. Unsans avoids advocacy and ideology — political or otherwise — in all its forms. Rather, it focuses on how books influence thinking, and in no way does it decide what readers should believe.

Unsans is a curated library of books examined for how they change the way a reader thinks, judges, and perceives the world, not just what they explain.

Unsans is for discerning readers who care less about entertainment value and more about intellectual clarity and long-term insight; readers who do not care about reading speed or volume.

“Unsans” gestures toward thought beyond surface form: ideas stripped of all ornamentation and closer to their essence. It suggests thinking without defaults, and reading without inherited assumptions.

Not at all. Editorial inclusion is independent of monetization.

A few of the links are affiliate URLs. We have subscribed to affiliate programs because they help support the site. We hope to keep this wonderful service alive for our loyal readers.

We use affiliate links in some cases because we want to keep this service alive without having to resort to paywalls. Affiliate purchases help sustain the project.

Unsans strives to be a library of thought. A storefront does not fit in with its ethos.

The links provide a practical path for readers who wish to obtain the book.

A book’s age is irrelevant on Unsans; we curate books that have an impact on thinking, regardless of their era of inception.

Yes, and with a rider: the book’s popularity is secondary to its intellectual substance. Popularity is neither a requirement nor a disqualification; rather, a book’s impact on thinking — or lack of it — decides its presence (or absence) on Unsans.

Yes, but only when they meaningfully influence thinking without relying on doctrinal instruction.

Yes. Suggestions are welcome, though inclusion is selective. You may suggest a book that you feel is in sync with Unsans’ ethos. Its inclusion, however, is not guaranteed. Thank you, nonetheless, for taking the time to consider a book for Unsans.

Yes, we do. Intellectual value is not measured by agreement.

Books are chosen solely based on whether they introduce durable shifts in thinking rather than transient knowledge or trends.

Unsans curates books of enduring value; books that challenge assumptions, reframe problems, or strengthen how a reader reasons.

Purely technical manuals; formulaic self-help books; genre fiction; time-bound or trending books; books that aim to motivate rather than clarify are generally excluded.

We would direct your attention to how the question is phrased: mostly, but not always. We generally exclude fiction not because it lacks value, but because Unsans focuses on books that explicitly engage reasoning, judgment, and altering the reader’s worldview. Of course, this does not imply that we automatically and unthinkingly reject fiction. We do plan to include fiction, but only when it meaningfully reshapes how readers perceive reality or human nature.

Not at all. On the contrary, we hope to foster curiosity in the reader. These maps are meant to help readers decide how to engage with a book — or whether to engage at all.

Yes. The maps describe typical shifts, not universal ones. We understand that cognitive shifts occur differently in different readers based on their unique life experiences and prior exposure to ideas.

Some components are AI-assisted, but every inclusion follows a human editorial judgment. They are carefully structured and edited to meet Unsans’ editorial standards.

No — the focus is on thinking shifts, not content coverage. Unsans is concerned with effects on thinking, not internal structure and deliberately avoids summarizing content or chapters. It focuses solely on the central thematic idea of the book, and in that sense, it is not a summary or a gist of the book. Think of a book’s entry on Unsans as a document of after-the-fact impact: the intellectual shift occurring after the reader finishes the book.

This notion encapsulates a distilled insight that remains even after the details of the book fade. It is what remains with the reader long after the book has been put away in their library and forgotten.

A Cognitive Impact Map is a structured way of showing how a book interacts with a reader’s existing mental models. It describes structurally how it impacts their assumptions.

Unsans takes pains to avoid evaluating a book because evaluation distracts from understanding how ideas work on the mind.

These three notions reflect the three core ways books affect thinking and bring about a change in the reader’s thought processes: by questioning assumptions (challenging), redefining problems (reframing), and sharpening intuition (strengthening).

No. Unsans avoids quoting copyrighted text beyond minimal identification.

No, unless it has been explicitly permitted by the copyright owner.

Images are displayed via approved affiliate tools or other permitted sources.

Yes, Unsans is designed with transformation and commentary in mind.

Concerns are taken seriously and reviewed, and addressed promptly and in good faith.

All book cover images are owned by their respective copyright holders.

No. Sponsorship indicates support for the platform, not an endorsement by Unsans of the sponsor’s products, services, or views.

Not necessarily. Sponsorship availability is selective and subject to Unsans’ discretion to ensure alignment with the site’s tone, integrity, and reader experience.

Not at all. Sponsors have no role in shaping, editing, or approving content, and an offer to sponsor a page does not imply endorsement, agreement, or editorial influence over the book or its analysis. Editorial inclusion and analysis are entirely independent of sponsorship. In fact, very often, books have already been selected before any sponsorship consideration and are never added because of it. All analysis reflects Unsans’ editorial judgment alone.

While we welcome page sponsorship, we are selective about the kind of companies that we are open to, owing to the nature of our audience. We specifically look for companies that have products and services that reflect values which align with our own values and those of our readers.

A sponsored page indicates that a company supports the upkeep of that specific page.

Sponsorship is disclosed discreetly in a single, clearly marked location on the page. It is designed to be visible but non-intrusive and does not interrupt reading.

Page sponsorship helps sustain Unsans without introducing paywalls, intrusive advertising, or compromising editorial independence. It allows the project to remain accessible while growing deliberately.

No. Reader trust and intellectual integrity take precedence over monetization. Sponsorship exists to support the project—not to shape it.

Yes. Thoughtful reader proposals are welcome.

Unfortunately, no. Every book is evaluated against Unsans’ editorial ethos. That being said, we are grateful that you would consider a book for inclusion on Unsans.

Any suggestion that aligns with Unsans’ ethos. We would love to understand your explanation of how the book changed your thinking, not why you liked it.

Unfortunately, that is not always possible owing to the sheer volume of suggestions. However, our editorial team goes through the vetting process with the necessary diligence.

Absolutely. Concepts are designed to allow idea-first exploration as described in a previous entry.

They may evolve, but only with caution and continuity. We take a lot of pains to ensure consistency on Unsans.

Topics and concepts help readers (or browsers) decide on how their search is structured. For instance, they can take a top-down approach by using topics and zeroing in on the specific book in that topic. Concepts, on the other hand, are more of a bottoms-up approach that lets the user explore ideas and thus find books that talk about it.

We try to cover as many concepts as we can, ensuring that every concept should adequately describe the book’s conceptual substance without diluting meaning. A book may have only a single concept; on the other hand, a few may have a couple dozen of them. Usually, most books may have between five and fifteen of them.

Concepts capture specific ideas, concepts, or modes of thinking introduced or clarified by a book. A book can have multiple concepts associated with it, and a concept may apply to multiple books.

Topics are broad intellectual lenses such as philosophy, psychology, or decision-making; they describe the overarching classification or category of the book. A book can be in multiple topics; however, on Unsans we take pains to identify the singular and most definitive topic that the book should reside in. Ever so often, we may decide that the book is best described not in one but in two (or more, incredibly rarely) topics. But this is the rare case and not the norm on Unsans.

Unsans seeks to be factual and its copy represents that ethos. Words like “inspiring” and “life-changing” are (in our opinion) marketing buzzwords and may or may not be true, and even if they are they may have different impacts on different readers. Unsans operates not in the realm of feelings, but ideas.

Yes, with attribution and without misrepresentation, and with a URL linking back to Unsans. Please visit https://www.unsans.com/policies/content-sharing/ to learn more.

No, and we do not pretend that our content is a replacement for the actual book. Far from it, in fact. Unsans helps clarify relevance, and does not in any way substitute the very real experience of reading the book.

Not at all. Unsans is meant to help you choose more deliberately. We realize that every reader has a different focus, and they alone should decide which books work best for them.

No. Unsans does not issue recommendations or endorsements. Instead, it presents the intellectual consequences of engaging with a book: how it reshapes assumptions, reframes problems, or sharpens judgment without prescribing whether a reader should read it. The decision to engage with a book remains entirely with the reader.

The approach we recommend is that you start by browsing by ideas, not by popularity. Go to any particular book and start by clicking on the concept that most interests you: you will find all the books on Unsans that have elements of that concept in them. Go further from there. All the best!

Unsans is an ongoing effort and is deliberately slow-growing and selective. We want to grow strong with focus, not scattered. This is a deliberate strategy.

While the casual browser may get the impression that Unsans is academic, it is not really so. Its tone is intellectually serious but certainly not academic.

Absolutely. Access to content on Unsans is unrestricted.

Yes, it is. However, it assumes curiosity and patience.

Not at all. Unsans focus is on helping readers notice how their thinking changes.

No. Unsans provides synthesized observations rather than copied reviews.

No, not necessarily. Videos are embedded from publicly available platforms such as YouTube and other platforms.

No, we don’t. We are careful not to do anything that could potentially constitute a legal violation. All embedded content uses official mechanisms provided by YouTube, which implies their consent.

Videos provide alternative perspectives and explanations without replacing the book. We take care to include only videos that bring important conversations to the surface and provide lectures or discussions that deepen the book’s ideas, offering new or different perspectives.