How do you find new authors to read? - Page 3

Steve Anderson · 12-05-2010, 07:02 PM

Literature Map is a handy site that lets you enter the name of an author you know -- and gives you the names of similar authors.

If you're looking for historical fiction:

Historical Novels lists fiction by broad periods, such as Medieval Europe or 20th Century, and breaks it down further into themes such as "The Crusades" or "Europe Between the Wars."

War Through the Generations lists novels set during any wartime period that involves the US, though it's not restricted to US topics.

Have at it, people!

Steve

Grace Elliot · 12-18-2010, 10:48 AM

Book forums such as 'Goodreads' can be good. I joined several groups for my favorite genre (historical romance) and picked up some really good recommends for authors I hadnt heard of before.

Grace x
http://graceelliot-author.blogspot.com
Author of: 'A Dead Man's Debt.'

Reviews for 'A Dead Man's Debt.'
'I was so hooked my battery died and I had to connect my phone to the charger to finish it in one sitting'
'Grace Elliot has an amazing gift for writing. Her descriptions, her story progression, just the way she paints the pictures is absolutely beautiful. It is a delightful experience reading.'

Latinandgreek · 12-18-2010, 10:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grace Elliot

Book forums such as 'Goodreads' can be good. I joined several groups for my favorite genre (historical romance) and picked up some really good recommends for authors I hadnt heard of before.

Grace x
http://graceelliot-author.blogspot.com
Author of: 'A Dead Man's Debt.'

Reviews for 'A Dead Man's Debt.'
'I was so hooked my battery died and I had to connect my phone to the charger to finish it in one sitting'
'Grace Elliot has an amazing gift for writing. Her descriptions, her story progression, just the way she paints the pictures is absolutely beautiful. It is a delightful experience reading.'

Goodreads is great, I've read quite a few books based on recommendations I've seen there.

DiapDealer · 12-18-2010, 10:56 AM

I lift lots of 'internet rocks'. I usually find many promising authors lurking under them.

jehane · 12-19-2010, 12:07 PM

1. Word of mouth. THere's a lot of good recommendations right here in this thread. I also belong to a few other forums or groups for specific authors and invariably there are discussions of other authors. Since we're all fans of the topical author, there's a reasonable chance we'll have other author likes in common. Not always of course, but when you've been in a group long enough you can usually work out who else has similar tastes.

2. Author maps. Literature map (mentioned above) is one, there's another one I used to use that's very similar, but I can't recall the name. But I think they might use the same engine, so it doesn't really matter.

3. Random selections by genre. This might be trying out free downloads, or picking up a new author in the library or 2nd hand shop. Recently I read Julian May for the first time (not counting her Trillium works) and really enjoyed it, so I'll be looking for more. And yes, in this sort of browsing I will often judge a book by its cover - title, artwork and synopsis.

hedwig · 01-01-2011, 03:46 AM

Goodreads looks good.
I was looking for an online site to keep track of the books that I have read and I think that I have just found it.
Thanks.

GERGE · 01-01-2011, 04:46 AM

http://www.worldswithoutend.com/index.asp

Saffina Desforge · 01-01-2011, 05:03 AM

This is an interesting thread. Goodreads is great, as are the Kindle forums for recommendations....as a reader.

As an author, it is also interesting to see how you guys search for books/new authors and it seems, that most of you will go with the 'word of mouth' option. Looks like review sites etc are important then.

trogre · 01-01-2011, 08:29 AM

I also had problems in searching for new authors. Must admit I tended to read for periods at a time, say read for around 3 months then no reading for several months. Since I have got the Kindle I cannot put it down and soon ended up running out of my very limited knowledge of authors, so this is what I now do.
If I have an author I like to read, say just for arguments sake, Tom Clancy or Andy McDermott I will first bring up 2 separate Google windows. One window for Amazon and I will choose the "book" department and type in Tom Clancy. Once his books come up I click on any one of his books, it does not matter.
Scroll to the bottom of the page and you will find “Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought”. Normally you will have 15 pages of authors who write similar stuff to Tom Clancy.
Once I find an author who I would like to check up on I then open up the second Google window and type in Fantasticfiction.co.uk and type this new authors name in. If I like what I see I then search for his book/s to buy or download.
Sometimes once I have Tom Clancy in Amazon and then find an author who writes similar type books and bring his/her name up at the bottom of page) I then see what books people have purchased similar to this author. It is like a giant pyramid and gets bigger & bigger, sometimes you find a new author and sometimes you do not.
Also in fantasticfiction.co.uk once you have types an author in to see his/her books they also recommends similar authors to check out.
So far I have found 91 authors for books I would like to read or at least keep their name on record, not all are my cup of tea but sometimes just a single book out of say 20 takes my fancy so I keep record of author.

There is also a site called allreaders.com,this is also handy as you can type the author or book you are interested in reading and also type in the type of read you are interested in,plot,setting, etc.This can bring up some interesting results worth checking out.
Hope this helps and has worked well for me.

SeaBookGuy · 01-01-2011, 02:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by trogre

Scroll to the bottom of the page and you will find “Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought”.

I've found quite a few that way - welcome to the site, Trogre!

Nyssa · 01-01-2011, 02:30 PM

I'm also a "Word of Mouth" kind of shopper. Most of the recommendations I've received had come from forums I visit. In fact 2 of the series I got into, The Black Dagger Brotherhood series , and The Hollow/Rachel Morgan series, actually came from recommendations on a Sims 2 site of all places.

I do expect , going forward, that I'll probably be getting a lot of recommendations from this site, Amazon and possibly B&N.

SeaBookGuy · 01-01-2011, 04:25 PM

Nyssa:

You'll find lots of good ideas from joining groups covering your genres of interest at Goodreads.

Nyssa · 01-01-2011, 06:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SeaBookGuy

Nyssa:

You'll find lots of good ideas from joining groups covering your genres of interest at Goodreads.

True, true. I am on Goodreads, but not a member of any groups.

I'll have a look around when a can. Thanks for the suggestion!

astrangerhere · 01-05-2011, 08:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve Anderson

Literature Map is a handy site that lets you enter the name of an author you know -- and gives you the names of similar authors.

If you're looking for historical fiction:

Historical Novels lists fiction by broad periods, such as Medieval Europe or 20th Century, and breaks it down further into themes such as "The Crusades" or "Europe Between the Wars."

War Through the Generations lists novels set during any wartime period that involves the US, though it's not restricted to US topics.

Have at it, people!

Steve

I cannot reccomend LiteratureMap enough. Its simple interface belies its power. Also, thanks for the historical links!

Steve Anderson · 01-29-2011, 04:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by astrangerhere

I cannot reccomend LiteratureMap enough. Its simple interface belies its power. Also, thanks for the historical links!

You're welcome, astrangerhere. Besides those I find I'm using Goodreads more and more.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Espionage authors you (and I) should read	dougbiss	Reading Recommendations	107	07-17-2013 10:26 PM
Sci-fi authors you (and I) should NEVER read	Dr. Drib	Reading Recommendations	186	03-11-2011 09:03 PM
Fantasy authors you (and I) should read	dougbiss	Reading Recommendations	65	08-23-2010 10:29 AM
Suggestions on how to find books to read	Argelius	Amazon Kindle	17	08-12-2010 11:50 AM
Find me some books to read based on what I have recently read (and liked)	rahulm	Reading Recommendations	16	08-11-2010 03:18 PM

12-05-2010, 07:02 PM	#31
Steve Anderson Addict Posts: 226 Karma: 260821 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Portland, Oregon USA Device: iPhone, laptop, more	Literature Map is a handy site that lets you enter the name of an author you know -- and gives you the names of similar authors. If you're looking for historical fiction: Historical Novels lists fiction by broad periods, such as Medieval Europe or 20th Century, and breaks it down further into themes such as "The Crusades" or "Europe Between the Wars." War Through the Generations lists novels set during any wartime period that involves the US, though it's not restricted to US topics. Have at it, people! Steve

12-18-2010, 10:48 AM	#32
Grace Elliot Groupie Posts: 186 Karma: 1317334 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: London Device: kindle	Book forums such as 'Goodreads' can be good. I joined several groups for my favorite genre (historical romance) and picked up some really good recommends for authors I hadnt heard of before. Grace x http://graceelliot-author.blogspot.com Author of: 'A Dead Man's Debt.' Reviews for 'A Dead Man's Debt.' 'I was so hooked my battery died and I had to connect my phone to the charger to finish it in one sitting' 'Grace Elliot has an amazing gift for writing. Her descriptions, her story progression, just the way she paints the pictures is absolutely beautiful. It is a delightful experience reading.'

12-18-2010, 10:56 AM	#34
DiapDealer Grand Sorcerer Posts: 27,551 Karma: 193191846 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD	I lift lots of 'internet rocks'. I usually find many promising authors lurking under them.

12-19-2010, 12:07 PM	#35
jehane Book addict Posts: 441 Karma: 2650464 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Antarctica/Australia/Ohio Device: Sony PRS-300/T1/Asus TF101	1. Word of mouth. THere's a lot of good recommendations right here in this thread. I also belong to a few other forums or groups for specific authors and invariably there are discussions of other authors. Since we're all fans of the topical author, there's a reasonable chance we'll have other author likes in common. Not always of course, but when you've been in a group long enough you can usually work out who else has similar tastes. 2. Author maps. Literature map (mentioned above) is one, there's another one I used to use that's very similar, but I can't recall the name. But I think they might use the same engine, so it doesn't really matter. 3. Random selections by genre. This might be trying out free downloads, or picking up a new author in the library or 2nd hand shop. Recently I read Julian May for the first time (not counting her Trillium works) and really enjoyed it, so I'll be looking for more. And yes, in this sort of browsing I will often judge a book by its cover - title, artwork and synopsis.

01-01-2011, 03:46 AM	#36
hedwig Book Worm Posts: 116 Karma: 158766 Join Date: Dec 2010 Device: Kindle Paperwhite, iPad Air, iPad Mini, iPod Touch 5	Goodreads looks good. I was looking for an online site to keep track of the books that I have read and I think that I have just found it. Thanks.

01-01-2011, 04:46 AM	#37
GERGE Guru Posts: 732 Karma: 5797160 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Istanbul Device: Kobo Libra	http://www.worldswithoutend.com/index.asp

01-01-2011, 05:03 AM	#38
Saffina Desforge Saffina Posts: 28 Karma: 30000 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: England Device: kindle	This is an interesting thread. Goodreads is great, as are the Kindle forums for recommendations....as a reader. As an author, it is also interesting to see how you guys search for books/new authors and it seems, that most of you will go with the 'word of mouth' option. Looks like review sites etc are important then.

01-01-2011, 08:29 AM	#39
trogre Junior Member Posts: 1 Karma: 110 Join Date: Jan 2011 Device: Kindle	I also had problems in searching for new authors. Must admit I tended to read for periods at a time, say read for around 3 months then no reading for several months. Since I have got the Kindle I cannot put it down and soon ended up running out of my very limited knowledge of authors, so this is what I now do. If I have an author I like to read, say just for arguments sake, Tom Clancy or Andy McDermott I will first bring up 2 separate Google windows. One window for Amazon and I will choose the "book" department and type in Tom Clancy. Once his books come up I click on any one of his books, it does not matter. Scroll to the bottom of the page and you will find “Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought”. Normally you will have 15 pages of authors who write similar stuff to Tom Clancy. Once I find an author who I would like to check up on I then open up the second Google window and type in Fantasticfiction.co.uk and type this new authors name in. If I like what I see I then search for his book/s to buy or download. Sometimes once I have Tom Clancy in Amazon and then find an author who writes similar type books and bring his/her name up at the bottom of page) I then see what books people have purchased similar to this author. It is like a giant pyramid and gets bigger & bigger, sometimes you find a new author and sometimes you do not. Also in fantasticfiction.co.uk once you have types an author in to see his/her books they also recommends similar authors to check out. So far I have found 91 authors for books I would like to read or at least keep their name on record, not all are my cup of tea but sometimes just a single book out of say 20 takes my fancy so I keep record of author. There is also a site called allreaders.com,this is also handy as you can type the author or book you are interested in reading and also type in the type of read you are interested in,plot,setting, etc.This can bring up some interesting results worth checking out. Hope this helps and has worked well for me.

01-01-2011, 02:30 PM	#41
Nyssa Series Addict Posts: 6,180 Karma: 167189477 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Florida, USA Device: Kindle Paperwhite (2nd Gen)	I'm also a "Word of Mouth" kind of shopper. Most of the recommendations I've received had come from forums I visit. In fact 2 of the series I got into, The Black Dagger Brotherhood series , and The Hollow/Rachel Morgan series, actually came from recommendations on a Sims 2 site of all places. I do expect , going forward, that I'll probably be getting a lot of recommendations from this site, Amazon and possibly B&N.

01-01-2011, 04:25 PM	#42
SeaBookGuy Can one read too much? Posts: 2,015 Karma: 2487799 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Naples, FL Device: Kindle PW 3, Sony 350 and 650	Nyssa: You'll find lots of good ideas from joining groups covering your genres of interest at Goodreads.

Advert

Advert