I’ve Been Building a Thing
Help me test a new way of discovering this week’s fiction releases
It’s seven weeks since I explained I was going to give you a break from my weekly newsletters. It’s been a while!
Back then, I said I’d be in touch again when there was something worthy of your attention.
Work on Recommendance continues apace (despite me being in the middle of moving house), and the experiment at Fireside Books in Redwood City is continuing to go well.
One recent tweak has been to make it much easier for someone to start the process of being matched with books. Rather than answering a questionnaire, you can now simply nominate an author whose books you’ve enjoyed in the past.
Now I’d like your help.
I’m considering a new weekly email for readers who enjoy discovering newly released fiction. Each week, it would link to a page where you could see how well you’re matched with that week’s new books after entering a favorite author.
If a particular title catches your eye, you can click through to learn more about it on Amazon. (Full disclosure: Recommendance earns a small commission if you go on to make a purchase.)
I’d also like each newsletter to contain something intriguing about one of the authors with a new book out that week.
So below is a prototype of the kind of thing I have in mind.
I’d be delighted if you’d give it a try and let me know what you think. In particular, I’m curious whether the books suggested to you feel well-matched or wildly off-target.
Please leave a comment below or email me directly at jon@joncousins.com
Thanks for helping me evaluate this!
Hello!
At a time when some podcasts have become extraordinarily long (productions lasting two or three hours are no longer unusual), I was intrigued to read about author Mary H. K. Choi.
Several years ago, Choi started a micro-podcast — or “micropod” — featuring daily-ish episodes lasting just 10 to 15 minutes.
Apparently, the idea came from sending friends stream-of-consciousness voice memos and then thinking: “Hey, I could turn these into a podcast.”
I rather liked that.
Mary H. K. Choi came to mind because she’s one of 58 authors with new fiction books out this week.
How well matched might you be with her new novel, Pool House?
By clicking the link below and entering the name of an author you’ve previously enjoyed, you can see your compatibility not only with Pool House but also with another 57 newly released novels.
And if you’re curious, try entering more than one favorite author. It’s often interesting to see how the recommendations change.
Could there be a perfect-for-you book among this week’s new releases?
Please give it a try and find out:
This worked well! I typed in the name of a favorite author, it was in the system, and I got a bunch of recommended new books. If only I had time left to read 😁 Best of luck with the move, Jon!
Nice to have you back!
Love it, Jon! So easy. Unfortunately much of the new fiction is not my style. It recommended comic mysteries when I said I like Jo Nesbo and Michael Connelly. I think those were the choices it had.
Good luck with your move!