Chasing your next read

How do you keep track of your favorite authors? It can sometimes be overwhelming to keep track of where books fall with in a series or what project an author is currently working on.   It makes me bonkers if I pick up a series in the middle.  I have a hard time going back and reading the pervious books.  I also don’t always think that books that are written in a series can be read as stand alone stories.   

Signing up for Author newsletters can jam up your mailbox and make it difficult to read through them or they get lost in the spam filter.  Looking through Amazon for upcoming publications can sometimes be a lesson in frustration.  Some authors have deals where book will be available on certain platforms for a certain amount of time, so they aren’t always listed if those platforms are competitors. Following your favorite Authors on social media isn’t always a solution because of the Facebook algorithms you might not see everything from them.  Reading individual descriptions can be daunting.

I have not found a fool proof way to keep track.  Years ago I use to keep track of authors I liked via a notebook and when I would go to the library I would spend time at the computer looking each one up to see if their was anything new.  You would think with the invention of the internet it would be easier but that is not always true.  I use to use release dates when searching at the library but if a books get a revision or a cover make over, the release date changes to the updated date.  The fool proof way to figure out is a copy write date but that only helps with current series, but not with what is coming out next.

I have found the website Fantastic Fiction.  That is a huge help.  Doesn’t always help me with release dates.  If you use it, I high encourage you to sign in and follow your favorite authors.  The list of coming soon is long and detailed and can be hard to filter through it.  If you are a total bookcase like me, it can be hard to keep track of all the authors you read.  I also tend to read faster than my favorite authors can put books out, so I am always on the hunt for similar authors to my favorites.   Fantastic Fiction will also give you recommendations to similar authors. 

If you have a fool proof way to keep track of books and authors, particularly coming soon, please share.  This bookcase is on the verge of desperate.