Wednesday, December 06, 2006

FictionDB.com

Popping in for a sec. Worked 12 hours today. *sigh* I'm tired but can't go to sleep yet.

I was subscribed to fictiondb.com and just got a notice that my subscription has run out and to sign up again it will run $29.99. That's for one year. Kind of steep, don't you think? I mostly used it to look up an author's entire backlist and find related books in a series. Their database is very complete. But the steep price is making me think twice. I could have sworn it was cheaper last year but I could be wrong and I'm too lazy to look up what I paid. Well, you do get a free book when you subscribe but overall I don't think it's worth it.

Are there any other sites out there that you can use to look up an author's entire backlist that are less expensive? There used to be a free site but I think you have to pay now for that one too.

13 comments:

Rosario said...

Have you taken a look at www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/ ? I've found it to be pretty complete, even in grouping an author's books into series.

Anonymous said...

A Mystical Unicorn used to be free and now it is subscription but I have always found their backlist titles to be very complete.

http://www.myunicorn.com/

Dev said...

I used to use myunicorn.com but they charge for this now. I usually go to author websites to get backlists now.

Kristie (J) said...

I usually look at the author's website too - or check it out at Amazon.
As for keeping track in a database - I have my own excel spreadsheet. I've also found Librarything to be quite interesting. One of the things I found (and then lost somehow) was it will list other people who have the same books. I noticed one night for example that Sybil and I had quite a few of the same books :)

ReneeW said...

Rosario: I have been there before occasionally looking for book covers and didn't realize they had author backlists too. It looks pretty good and may just do the trick for what I need. Thanks!

Jane: That's the free one I was thinking of! I knew it had unicorn in the name. I quit visiting after they started charging but I remember they had an extensive database. I'll go check them out too. Thanks!

Devonna: I just checked them out and they are $14.95 per year which is half of what fictiondb charges. I may give them a try.

Kristie: Yes, I regular.y check Amazon and authors websites, but I like having everything in one place. I have a LibraryThing account but have never used it... got nothing in my bookshelf. Ooo, that is so cool to be able to see other people's bookshelf. Ok I have a new goal over my Christmas vacation... I'll start adding my keepers and then we can compare. Won't that be fun!

Kristie (J) said...

I was looking around Library thing a bit more last night. There's a lot too it so I'm sure I'm missing some stuff, but I was very impressed! I even left a message for Sybil *g* there. And I was invited to join a group of fellow romance fans! I don't know if I can find it again as it is a bit confusing at first -but it seems to be really worth looking into deeper!! It WILL be fun to run into you there too *g*.

ReneeW said...

Kristie: I was looking around LibraryThing last night too (great minds and all that). I figured out how to view other people's libraries but it's not intuitive. The whole site needs a re-design IMHO, cuz it's not easy to use. I added a few books from my keepers and I also bookmarked your library. So we already have 2 books in common and I've barely begun. :)

(Damn blogger is screwed up. I had to turn off word verification temporarily).

Rowena said...

I was going to suggest the same site that Rosario mentioned, I go there from time to time if not then I just go to the author's site...$30? Yeah, I'm cheap so I wouldn't renew it, that's too steep for me.

Dev said...

Kristie ~ On librarything, hit the Your Profile tab and it will show users with your books. I like looking at other people's libraries. My username is dmwmtgal. I only belong to one group (although I suspect it may be the one you were invited to): Romance - From Historical to Contemporary. The link is: http://www.librarything.com/groups/romancefromhistorica

ReneeW said...

Dylan: Yeah, I'm too cheap too, considering what I got out of it. I can get the same info elsewhere without spending so much.

Devonna: Oh, I saw your username dmwmtgal and I think we had some books in common. I love looking at other people's libraries too.

Anonymous said...

I used to go to Mystical Unicorn also but I'm way too cheap to pay for stuff I should be able to find through google. Yes, I'm that cheap ;)

I know that Byron is 100 bucks but then I think you get updates for every year for as long as you own it. So, it would have to last at least 4 years to be any good to you.

Okay, I'm not being helpful. Bah.

CindyS

ReneeW said...

Cindy: Yup, we're twins in the cheap department. I used to love mystical unicorn. I've thought about getting Byron frequently but it's just so pricey (and my cheapness gets in the way). But it has a ton of information in it that you can't find elsewhere. Maybe someday.

Valeen said...

I'm also too cheap to pay for any of it, so I tend to always try to check out the authors websites.

For the most part I find them pretty complete but there are alot of the older authors that don't even have websites --- such as Jude Deveraux.

Wow, I haven't touched my blog in over 6 years and I'm still logged in!  Good thing because I have no idea what my password is.  In ...