How to Browse for Books Online: follow the Book Shepherd, advises Griselda Heppel

By -
Bookshop browsing: hard to replicate online....
Photo by Alana Sousa from Pexels

I have Andrew Crofts to thank for the topic of this month’s post. In December 2021, he introduced us all to a new book browsing website called www.shepherd.com.  You may think it’s not possible to replicate online the experience of browsing in a bookshop but I’d say this site comes pretty close. In fact, in some ways it almost works better, as, having chosen a topic, you are offered several lists of books to look through, each provided by an author selecting their own top five favourites in this area. 

.... without being overwhelmed.
Photo by mentatdgt from Pexels
All kinds of genres are covered, fiction and non-fiction, adults and children’s. Related lists are suggested below the one you’re looking at, so you can browse from one to another. As the site grows and more and more lists are added, the experience will just get richer; but crucially, the 
 
structure is designed to ensure it’s not overwhelming, in the way trying to browse books on Amazon or Goodreads or any of the bookshop websites is (believe me, I’ve tried).

Say you want to read some Scottish historical fiction: here are some great suggestions from writer Ursula Buchan https://shepherd.com/best-books/scottish-historical-fiction-from-the-20th-century Or mystery for 9 – 12 year olds? Try Jacqueline West’s https://shepherd.com/best-books/mysteries-to-keep-you-reading-all-night Or the best books about ghostwriting? That’ll be Andrew Croft’s list here https://shepherd.com/best-books/ghostwriting 
 
Just happens to be a ghost story for children... 
 The Fall of a Sparrow by Griselda Heppel


Or how about not ghostwriting as such, but ghost stories…. Or even children’s ghost stories… aha! I give you my very own https://shepherd.com/best-books/ghost-stories 

Apart from the fun (and challenge) of narrowing down your favourites on a particular topic, what’s in it for the author compiling the list? Well, you can showcase a book of your own at the top of the page, one related to your list’s theme. And it just so happens that The Fall of a Sparrow is a ghost story for children, so…

www.shepherd.com hasn’t been going long and there are still many gaps to fill. Typing ‘witches’ or ‘detectives’ into the search box, for instance, reveals nothing useful, which surprised me, given the number of brilliant books – for children as well as adults – in which they appear.

M is for Autism by the students of 
Limpsfield Grange School and Vicky Martin
But I have found some wonderful-looking children’s books that feature neurodiversity https://shepherd.com/best-books/neurodiversity-and-autism-representation  recommended by Sally J Pla who grew up as an undiagnosed autistic herself, so will know what she’s talking about.

Get listing, fellow authors.
Photo by Ivan Samkov from Pexels

As more authors use their experience to add more lists, the site can only get better; so come on, fellow Electric Authors and other writers, get listing!








OUT NOW 
The Fall of a Sparrow  
FINALIST in the Page Turner Awards 2021
and the Wishing Shelf Awards 2021 
by Griselda Heppel, author of 
Ante's Inferno  
www.griseldaheppel.com  
https://griseldaheppel.wordpress.com

Comments

Peter Leyland said…
Well you know how much I love books Griselda so I will be coming on down to this site that you are recommending and which as you say, Andrew has mentioned. I am sure I will be be browsing on it myself in the next few days. It will be much simpler than going down to Claire's second-hand one in Sherbourne!
1 March 2022 at 08:38
Joy Margetts said…
I'm following the developement of this site with interest too. About ready to compile my own list of book recommendations. I would be interested to know if it will help sales.
1 March 2022 at 18:33
Ruth Leigh said…
I'm heading over there right now, Griselda. Sounds fantastic!
3 March 2022 at 16:46
Griselda Heppel said…
Thank you all! Yes, I’m interested too to see if it will help sales. Time will tell no doubt. Don’t forget to let us know when your own lists are up. The more browsing opportunities the better 😊
10 March 2022 at 12:01
Post a Comment

Popular posts

A Few Discreet Words About Caesar's Penis--Reb MacRath

By -
Image
Veni, vidi...Wiki! Not long ago I had the all-time greatest Great Idea: one, born of total ignorance, that nearly tanked a novel. As you may have guessed from my opening line, my subject is Julius Caesar. But you might not have guessed from the title that my Great Idea entailed his being reborn as a penis. Don't laugh, please, I beg you. I saw no way around this, even though showing JC as a 'dick' might lead some to think that I've written a spoof. In fact, it's a serious thriller. Without giving the plot away, I can say this: I needed JC's ghost, today, remembering his nights with Cleopatra on her fabled golden barge. There  was the heart of my book--a ghost trying for 2000 years to relive that lost boogie with Liz. And I'd begun to run with this when my memory corrected me: Mark Anthony, not JC, was on the barge with Cleo. And this was after JC's death. What the hell was I to do, lacking the good sense to check memory's 'facts
Read more

Margery Allingham and ... knitting? Casting on a summer’s mystery -- by Julia Jones

By -
Image
The Watchtower from the Saltings  (Photo Tom Barr)  How to connect a 1940s naval watchtower on the Tollesbury marshes, a brilliant Scottish knitwear designer and my all-time favourite novelist?   The investigation led me along the single-track lanes south-east from Tollesbury, heading towards the end of the old railway line to Tollesbury Pier. I began to get goosebumps as I remembered coming here before. Once on a long walk with my dog, when I was never quite sure where we were trespassing but was determined to explore anyway.  That was when I first saw the six-sided building, stark and guarded against the weather. Then I saw it again in my imagination: ‘It’s a t-tower,’ said David. Xanthe loved the way he said it with a shiver of excitement in his voice. ‘It’s in the m-middle of a f-field and it looks right down the r-river.’ ‘And when it was wartime the Navy built it so they could keep a lookout against invaders,’ added Kieran. ‘Then p-zow they’d press a button and the whole
Read more

Irresistably Drawn to the Faustian Pact: Griselda Heppel Channels her Inner Witch for World Book Day 2024.

By -
Image
Happy Easter! Griselda Heppel channelling her inner  Maggie Smith as Professor MacGonagall from Harry Potter. World Book Day has been and gone and I can now reveal my costume, having kept you in suspense for a whole month. I know. Lucky me, I found this splendid Professor MacGonagall outfit online and have been channelling my inner Maggie Smith ever since (soon to move on to the Dowager Countess What is a weekend? Grantham from Downton Abbey ). I was pleasantly surprised by how comfortable it was and reckon these Hogwarts wizards and witches know a thing or two about Practical Wear for Muggle Workshops (Spells, Charms and the Magic of Books Part 1, for instance). I’ve never before given author talks on each of my books all in one day (including two separate ones on The Fall of a Sparrow ) and I did wonder if I’d end up muddling all 3 of them (oops) or conking out altogether. Fortunately the stories are each so different in theme and background, and the Christ Church Cathedral Schoo
Read more

A writer's guide to Christmas newsletters - Roz Morris

By Roz Morris aka @Roz_Morris . Blog: Nail Your Novel -
Image
Let me confess: I'm a fan of round-robin christmas letters.  It's fashionable to diss them in the UK, but I disagree. Even if the missive is smug and airbrushed and claims the golden offspring can split the atom, it’s more meaningful than a card that only says 'from Nina and Frederik'.      But since I approve of Christmas newsletters, that means I must compose one. And I don't know what to put. I spent this year writing, rewriting, talking to other writers and, er, working out what to write next. Sure, there was adventure and atom-splitting, but it happened on the page and in my head.      And that's my update. One paragraph. How can I spread it out?      When in doubt, study the requirements of the genre. Boasting     Christmas letters need boasting, with bells on. Your friends will report a mighty throng of promotions, bonuses, and other unceasing achievements. Traditionally published authors can name-drop with the i
Read more

What's Your Angle--by Reb MacRath

By -
Image
You may be in either camp or be a hybrid, as I am. In the course, though, of writing a novel we may all come to the same block: we know where to go  and exactly what to do there...but we can't seem to figure out how to get there smoothly and efficiently. I found myself on a roll with my WIP when the ending of the seventh chapter threw me for a loop. Consider: Chapter 7 ends with two of the three main characters--let's call them A and B--engaged in risky business in a small Arizona town. They've arranged for C to follow them days later on a different pretext, apparently looking for work. But, unknown to them, something has happened in Tucson. Chapter 8. Change of POV. Cut to character C, left behind in Tucson. Because of what's happened, he chooses to leave a day early though he can't reach A and B by phone. The challenge: getting him on the road and to his destination, while filling readers in on the Tucson tragedy. Road trip? Flashbacks? I tried a dozen different t
Read more