Bookmatchers.com - matching readers with books

[Jan]

I'm not sure if this is the right place to mention this, but a new website has recently been developed that matches readers with the books they like. If you like historical fiction set in Egypt you can search specifically for it. As well as setting you can select tone, amount of sex or violence etc. If you're an author you might like to add your books to the list.
http://www.bookmatchers.com/

[Anne]

Jan wrote: "I'm not sure if this is the right place to mention this, but a new website has recently been developed that matches readers with the books they like. If you like historical fiction set in Egypt you..."
Looks fascinating!

[C.P.]

Thanks, Jan, for the link! I'll check it out.

[Jan]

The website is still fairly new and Steven is looking for suggestions and input on improving it. He would also like more books, so if you're an author it's a good opportunity.

[Sandra]

This is awesome! Thank you, Jan, for telling us about it. I'm looking forward to using it as both a reader and an author.

[Jan]

Steven is hoping to have at least 1000 books on the site, so if we all spread the word it will help :)

[C.P.]

Jan wrote: "The website is still fairly new and Steven is looking for suggestions and input on improving it. He would also like more books, so if you're an author it's a good opportunity."

Yes, that was I noticed: that there weren't many books, so the additions will still stand out. I plan to join later today, as soon as I can read the FAQs and figure out what's going on. Thanks again for mentioning it.

[Jan]

There is quite a lot of info to submit for your books (a lot of head scratching too!)

[Hazel]

That sounds awesome! I'm totally going to have to check that out because I always find it so hard to find books that are exactly what I'm looking for. I need a really good military adventure series now that I'm stuck waiting for the rest of Scarrow's books to come over the Pond

[C.P.]

Jan wrote: "There is quite a lot of info to submit for your books (a lot of head scratching too!)"

Thanks for the warning! I am currently stuck in limbo. Wordpress said it had registered me and to check my e-mail for the login password. Which I did, but there is no message, even in the spam folder....

Wrote to the guy in charge. Guess we'll see.

[Sandra]

I tried it twice as a reader looking for books, totally different sets of criteria, but it came out "no matches" both times. Sigh. I guess I can switch hats and add my own books. Hope that works better!

[Hazel]

Yeah, I had the same problem =( Oh well, it might get better later.

[C.P.]

Update: WordPress sent the password after a few hours, and Gmail promptly dumped it in the spam folder. The guy in charge then reset the pw, so with any luck I may be able to log in tomorrow. Whether I can manage the forms remains to be seen.... ;)

[Jan]

If you are experiencing a problem please let Steven know. He needs feedback so that he can correct any problems. You can make a comment at the end of the form.

[C.P.]

I did. He responded within hours, and the problem is fixed. I just need enough time now to figure out how to fill in the form!

[Steven]

I put mine on Bookmatchers. It sounds like a good effort though I've seen no real action on my book from there yet - not so I could tell anyway.

How about you all?

[Hazel]

I put my books up too (and found a couple of other people's on here) but I truthfully am having a hard time figuring out the layout of the website, though I haven't really had the time to look at it over much. I didn't know you could follow activity.

[Steven]

I don't know about following I just click on my favorites and check out who's there. They certainly haven't notified me of any matches or sales.

[Hazel]

Ah, I see. Well, it will probably take a while before you'll see the site really make a difference in purchases.

[Steven]

Yeah, here's hoping. My sales are pretty flat for the first 2 days of this month.

[C.P.]

Yes, I put my two up there and saw Steven's. I have yet to figure out how the matching part works, but since there are not so many books yet, I just click on genres that interest me from the list in the sidebar and follow the books that way.

The site's just getting up and going, and the guy running it seems competent, so I expect it will help get the word out eventually. At least it can't hurt. Thanks again to Jan for the link.

[Jan]

Steven seems very keen to get it right and welcomes input. The more books that appear, the better the chance of finding a match. It's useful for someone looking for books that do not contain sex or violence (or do, depending on your taste :) )
If you are looking for your own book, you can complete the readers' form with the info you entered and it should come up with your book as a match. If it doesn't, then let Steven know about it. He has to keep changing the weighting of the various parts.

[David]

Seems like an interesting site. I just stuck my book on there. BTW, Sorry haven't been around much lately, been in writing mode in a big way. I do visit the threads regularly and try to keep up though. Cheers! :)

[Steven]

David wrote: "Seems like an interesting site. I just stuck my book on there. BTW, Sorry haven't been around much lately, been in writing mode in a big way. I do visit the threads regularly and try to keep up tho..."

Good for you, David. I need to do that very thing. Sittin' the middle of a soup of writer's block this evening. Standard stuff - waiting for my characters to wake up and tell their story to me for me. They do that. When they do my writing comes alive.

Wake up you guys!

[David]

:) I try to force-feed mine coffee. I know they're rattling around there in my brain somewhere, so they're going to get the caffeine hit. If that fails, a salvo of chocolate can also help. If that fails, then I start asking them questions like: "What are you trying to accomplish in this next scene?" or "Why do you hate/love/fear/want that other character?", what have you. Usually, after a gallon of coffee and the threat of chocolate-induced diabetes they are so frazzled they can't help but succumb to such interrogation. ;)






PS. I hope your characters wake up. Nothing worse than sleepy fictionals! ;)

PPS. Note: The 'What I think I do' should have some other writer depicted. I would never, ever want to equate myself with that particular individual, except monetarily, of course. Dare to dream! Lol.

[Steven]

Great strategies. I'm brewing and reaching for the chocolate right now.

[Steven]

P.S. I love the images.

[David]

Steven wrote: "Great strategies. I'm brewing and reaching for the chocolate right now."

Lolz! Just remember to breathe deeply and drink lots of water as well. It means extra bathroom breaks, but it will ward off the palpitations that can be caused by caffeine overload. Don't want ya stroking out, now. :)

DISCLAIMER: I'm not a doctor. None of the above constitutes as medical advice or advocacy for substance abuse, even legal substances. :)

[Steven]

That's alright. I get off on the palpatations and anyway none of us get out alive.

[David]

That's true. Life is ultimately fatal. Cheers!

[Hazel]

David wrote: ":) I try to force-feed mine coffee. I know they're rattling around there in my brain somewhere, so they're going to get the caffeine hit. If that fails, a salvo of chocolate can also help. If that ..."

Love those, David! Especially the definition of a writer. The book I'm writing now is in first person and I have to invoke my character with a cup of coffee because he is a coffee hound. Really dark chocolate does just as well. I definitely know what you mean by interrogating characters. I just barely managed to wrangle my villains motives out of him which is kind of crucial to writing a mystery.

And I hope you get over your writer's block, Steven. I can never seem to write on the weekends thus they have turned into either favor days where I read over other writer's stories or editing days. It clears the mind for me.

[Steven]

Thanks Hazel.

It's not the terrible kind it's the 'I'm just too tired today kind. I do those same strategies as well as go over to Goodreads both for inspiration and for remembering 'I'm not the only one'.

Maybe a little indulgence thrown in for good measure. Good coffed, adult beverages maybe, chocolate (like David reminded), and maybe some cinnamon toast and a cat in my lap.

[David]

Ah the feline muse! Very good, sir!

And Hazel, what a great idea, creating a character who is a coffee hound! That's like the double-motivation of a double-shot espresso. ;)

[Hazel]

Exactly, haha ;) He's a private detective/scholar, so it's kind of in his nature.

[David]

Fun! Looking forward to hearing more about it, when you're ready to share, of course. :)

[Zachary]

I have tried using the search but it keeps telling me they do not have any books like that. How specific do I need to be to get the best search results?

[Hazel]

David wrote: "Fun! Looking forward to hearing more about it, when you're ready to share, of course. :)"

I've actually got several excerpts up here on my profile It's under "Anthony Maxwell Teasers" Anthony's also on Facebook as a fictional character and you can find the link to that on my blog: http://hazelwest.blogspot.com

[Jan]

Zachary wrote: "I have tried using the search but it keeps telling me they do not have any books like that. How specific do I need to be to get the best search results?"

I suggest you contact Steven directly as I'm not sure how it all works. He'll be glad to sort out any problems.

[John]

Why is it every time l put my interests in l get ''50 Shades of Grey '' ?

[David]

John wrote: "Why is it every time l put my interests in l get ''50 Shades of Grey '' ?"

Lol!!!

[C.P.]

Amanda wrote: "John wrote: "Why is it every time l put my interests in l get ''50 Shades of Grey '' ?"

Not going to venture a guess on that one. It does sort of lead into my question, though... can we add books ..."

I think you can add any book, John, so long as you can answer the questions—which are a bit puzzling, to be frank.

Jan has a better handle on this than I do.

[Pauline]

I've put my books up on Book Matcher. I must admit I found some of the categories listed rather puzzling. However, Steven does provide a feedback form and I used it to make suggestions for categories, especially in my field of historical fiction. He is very open to suggestions, but I gather Book Matcher is just one of several projects he has on the go so he can't make changes instantaneously.

[Jan]

@Pauline,
Steven mentioned that he is trying to keep the genres/categories the same as Amazon. I think it will evolve over time as readers also add their suggestions. It's just another way to get your book noticed, and Steven said he is seeing sales from the site :).

[Hazel]

The only thing I had trouble with was finding a 'theme" for my books because the ones there didn't ever really go with any of my books. There were just some missing like "internal conflict" and all that kind of stuff that I know a lot of books have.

[Bryn]

Just done this... enjoyed the quiz about my book.

Had a horrid thought a moment after I submitted. I think I put No Graphic Sex but I forgot Suchigu and Pajai: is that graphic? Seriously don't know what's graphic or not. To be on the safe side I want to change to 'moderate' but can't see where to change. Can we change?

My most graphic moment involves hedgehogs but I don't count that.

[Bryn]

Hazel: I went with 'Inner Demons', God knows why, but in lieu of internal conflict, does that suit?

[Hazel]

I can't even remember what I put now, but I don't think it was that, haha ;) Reeve, Viggo and Caolan aren't quite to the inner demon stage, but oh well.

I was kind of wondering about how graphic is graphic violence. I put the highest for "On a Foreign Field" because there's entrails and spurting blood and mutilation and all that good stuff, but yet I don't think it's totally as graphic as some authors I've read, but I did it to be on the safe side.

I was also a little confused on the romance thing like "feelings addressed"/"feelings demonstrated" or whatever. I mean all my couples address their feelings but I don't go into anything more graphic than kissing, and I have the occasional wedding or promise of such so would that be 'demonstrated'?

[Bryn]

Yup, those questions vexed me too.
I ended up with 'strong feelings'. When my people have feelings for each other, yes, they are strong. (What else?) 'Feelings expressed/Feelings demonstrated' sounds like you're not delving into the emotions, that you're being gloved about it, and that's wrong for me.

I'm not Graphic violence, that was simple.

[C.P.]

Yes, me, too. The genres were fine, but the descriptive tags gave me fits. I ended up going with moderate graphic sex and violence for Lynx, because on the rare occasions when I describe either one, it's specific. But that is no more than 2% of the book. NESP was easier, since I only hint at both.

Bryn, I think so long as your descriptions stay within the bounds of a YA novel, you're okay.

[Bryn]

Now, C.P, you mustn't put my novel and YA in a sentence together like that. :)

I doubt Suchigu and Pajai belong in a young adult novel but I still haven't got a clue. I certainly deal in adult concepts and explore sexuality, although not with graphic description.