I am on FictFact (learned about it from Debbie's Spurts); just "followed" you there. I've mainly entered series I'm following so far, haven't really done anything else -- this will have to be my next project after I've finally cleaned up my shelves here and on Leafmarks. It *is* a great site for tracking series, though.
Leafmarks was created by two long-term Goodreads members as a reaction to the 2013 shit storm over censorship. It's a fairly small site still and could definitely use a larger membership. The structure of the site and the features are similar to GR, but blessedly without the Amazon attachment and the ever-increasing "sales" component, without (so far) authors' "reviewing circles" or other forms of BBA misbehavior, and in many respects (e.g., options available for various features, including also the librarian features) they are superior and more intelligent than on GR.
As far as I can see, the site currently has three drawbacks: (1) not enough "real" book covers (though anybody who is a librarian -- and it's as easy as on GR to *become* a librarian there -- can do something about that), (2) a limited membership base, which -- especially during vacation time, e.g., right now -- means that there is fairly little activity, especially beyond people posting their reviews (although people *could* interact more if they wanted to), and (3) currently the question of the site's overall direction / concept also seems to be under review; at any rate, recently there was a survey asking for site members' input on this.
I very much hope Leafmarks is going to make it long-term -- as I said, it has the potential to become a GR without the Amazon / BBA / sales component, and due to its superior librarian features, it also has every potential to develop a really, really great book database.
I have hopes for Leafmarks. The control you have over what you see and what others see by you is the best of any book site I've tried (both privacy, reviews can be public/private or private to friends only seeing images or not, if you want to mark something mature or not ...). Like booklikes it really needs to beef up the group features. Unlike booklikes you can backup/export your data.
There's a FAQ section that includes a "coming soon" and what's new type of stuff. The shelves really work for me. There are some upcoming series features, reading list challenge type of things (an odd with friends list version I find strange because it's a "race" challenge), ... like booklikes it's been a destination for goodreads escapees. Amazon's censorship and ideas of what is "proper" send a flood of one group or another there fairly regularly. You can track your magazines that are basically anthologies and individual comic book issues. I miss adding/linking it a book easily (have to HTML code in a href and img-src code with URL to the book page on Leafmarks ).
Helps book sites compete with goodreads if you import goodreads book data (even if you first strip all your reviews, ratings, notes, etc. columns/fields so it's just title/author/asin) even if not staying. Leafmsrks not a bad place to use to echo booklikes/goodreads shelf activity (particularly since booklikes doesn't let you backup data).
The activity level on Leafmarks isn't there yet -- well, no site with a tiny fraction of the membership goodreads has will have comparable activity. I'm a librarian there (and mostly the actual nuts and bolts of how to do librarian edits there blows goodreads out of the water -- even makes some members that are in both sites post suggestions over in goodreads to please add ...). I set my feed to see posts from everyone partly to see which books are missing covers or details that need to be added -- and there's not too much activity for me to do that. The area where members request librarian edits (only way to add a book to Leafmarks who doesn't get a direct Amazon data feed for all those kindle editions), isn't very active which is also an indication of how active site is.
All that said, I'm currently backing off from librarian edits for a while because they need to settle in some policies they've gone back and forth on (and really irritated us by emailing different answers to different individuals and not posting in the public librarians group or updating the manual or posting which means a snarl of some doing it one way and others another way). Partly because they tend to say "yes" when asked then later try to go back and figure out how to handle.
From day one the site was set up there were plans and promises about series. The next book in series, tracking, etc. fictfact offers are expected to come to Leafmarks.
I think it will help activity/membership and is time to let members add books themselves (or even to let them add book covers when there were none -- partly because needed and partly because Leafmarks wiggles out of where-did-you-get issues because member-added). I understood while getting setup, getting book data fields and standards figured out. If worried about what's being added, can always make it a "pending human eye approval" type of add; right now they let pretty much anyone become a librarian even if just wanting to add their own books (nothing wrong with that -- they'll have book-in-hand data and if there were problems could always just revoke librarian status -- except if they let members do that why not just let them go ahead and add books). It's mostly not a problem keeping up with librarian edits but sometimes there's something like a member wanting to add ten years of back issues of a magazine where it sure would be easier -- particularly if covers and table of contents listing contributor names aren't online somewhere.
Remember when unhappy that so many covers are missing on Leafmarks how it was on booklikes when we first imported our book data to booklikes. More than a year of no covers and no book database and post after post with members unhappy abiut their cover-less shelves and posts with big green no-cover rectangles ...
I've tried leafmarks but so far I haven't been a good member. I constantly forget about it and already have a number of sites I need to keep track of. I still hope though it will grow into a nice big site.
When I first started, I cataloged all the books we had in the library at work as to read so I didn't accidentally repurchase a book we already have. I also used my goodreads account to sign up for giveaways last year, I marked everything as to read. everything I win over there goes into the work library after I review it (except the smut of course). When I came here j imported my books.
Fictfact has no reviews, just ratings, and you don't easily see or follow other people's ratings (pretty much have to give someone the link) -- but, in a way I think that really works for them because doesn't attract a lot of the drama over reviews or the "faking"/gaming the reviews because some promo site or other needs someone to get certain ratings on certain sites crap.
Their purchase links that support the site say "Amazon | Others" but that's not because Amazon has anything to do with them (it's just a requirement to get the book data feed from Amazon that some sites do and others just don't subscribe to the feed -- pre-Amazon buyout when Amazon changed terms of use for the data feed to include that clause goodreads even ditched that feed -- nearly a million old zombie posts about that buried on goodreads ...)
I haven't figured out yet how to add a rating from a series page, do you need to do this at every individual book? In which case I don't think I'll go add them...
I've been there since 2012. I tend to forget to go there, but it's a great site for books in a series. I try to remember to post my ratings for books there, but I'm hit or miss.
Fictfact has my favorite new release calendars (top menu bar under "explore"). Click a date and you see not just covers/thumbnails and titles. but also what series and series number. Can click underneath calendar to see just books in series you follow.
Well most favorite and most hated calendars. Between those calendars and the "coming soon" tab looking at books on my profile showing me that a new book in series is almost out, I pre-order more books than I should.
I use FictFact, but truly only for tracking my series - of which there are a staggering number. For that purpose, it's brilliant. So are the new release calendars, although they aren't always as comprehensive as I'd like.
I didn't really see the social side either, but since they have to tabs for social things (the contacts and the discussions), I figured there must be something.
No one has to join just to see the new release calendars, those are publicly viewable without logging in. (won't show "just my seriesesss" books unless tracking series there but you can still see all the new releases in a column display that includes their series info). Link: http://www.fictfact.com/BookReleaseCalendar
I think it's great for what it is (series tracking) and recommend it for that -- but, membership is not required just to see the new release calendars.
Sites recommending my next book to me are pretty useless and way off target (sometimes readers also enjoyed works if truly based on readers). Oddly, going to series pages on fictfact and scrolling down to see other series recommended is pretty good (every now and then a really big miss that's usually because some series just seem to show up everywhere ...)
I never heard about FictFact and I don't think I'll join. Keeping track of one bookish site - BL - is enough for me, at least for now. I'm probably not as dedicated a reader as some of my friends here.
Perhaps you just have less trouble keeping track of all the series you're following?
I wasn't looking for another book site, but I love that finally I can track my series easily and I don't think it's going to cost me a lot of time, since it doesn't matter if it's not 100% up to date all the time.
If not doing a lot of series, fictfact probably not useful. No one is posting reviews, social activities, conversations or anything -- just tracking their series (well, you can rate a book). You're right about it being just another book site to keep up with if not tracking series (not even another booksite with a huge membership and a lot of interactions to enjoy).
If you are tracking series -- it's not exactly another book site or another review site to keep up with. Just a quick click that you've read a book so all the next book, coming soon, etc. options show you where you are with all the series. Can keep up with more than that if you like -- marking a book currently reading or planning to read, following or unfollowing particular series, etc. -- but not that much more.
Rather than another book site to keep up with, it's a time saver for me. Because when I go to read another book in series or a new one comes out, the first thing I did before joining fictfact was spend sometimes a lot of time figuring out where I was in a series, if I had ditched or was still keeping up with, etc. "Next book" tab worked great for me and you can change the priority of those books.
Ijust pretty perfect for me to track series because I read a lot of series.
I'm on there but don;t think much of the site. It let's me know when a book is coming in the series, but usually after I already find out in blogland or the publishers.
As far as I can see, the site currently has three drawbacks: (1) not enough "real" book covers (though anybody who is a librarian -- and it's as easy as on GR to *become* a librarian there -- can do something about that), (2) a limited membership base, which -- especially during vacation time, e.g., right now -- means that there is fairly little activity, especially beyond people posting their reviews (although people *could* interact more if they wanted to), and (3) currently the question of the site's overall direction / concept also seems to be under review; at any rate, recently there was a survey asking for site members' input on this.
I very much hope Leafmarks is going to make it long-term -- as I said, it has the potential to become a GR without the Amazon / BBA / sales component, and due to its superior librarian features, it also has every potential to develop a really, really great book database.
There's a FAQ section that includes a "coming soon" and what's new type of stuff. The shelves really work for me. There are some upcoming series features, reading list challenge type of things (an odd with friends list version I find strange because it's a "race" challenge), ... like booklikes it's been a destination for goodreads escapees. Amazon's censorship and ideas of what is "proper" send a flood of one group or another there fairly regularly. You can track your magazines that are basically anthologies and individual comic book issues. I miss adding/linking it a book easily (have to HTML code in a href and img-src code with URL to the book page on Leafmarks ).
Helps book sites compete with goodreads if you import goodreads book data (even if you first strip all your reviews, ratings, notes, etc. columns/fields so it's just title/author/asin) even if not staying. Leafmsrks not a bad place to use to echo booklikes/goodreads shelf activity (particularly since booklikes doesn't let you backup data).
The activity level on Leafmarks isn't there yet -- well, no site with a tiny fraction of the membership goodreads has will have comparable activity. I'm a librarian there (and mostly the actual nuts and bolts of how to do librarian edits there blows goodreads out of the water -- even makes some members that are in both sites post suggestions over in goodreads to please add ...). I set my feed to see posts from everyone partly to see which books are missing covers or details that need to be added -- and there's not too much activity for me to do that. The area where members request librarian edits (only way to add a book to Leafmarks who doesn't get a direct Amazon data feed for all those kindle editions), isn't very active which is also an indication of how active site is.
All that said, I'm currently backing off from librarian edits for a while because they need to settle in some policies they've gone back and forth on (and really irritated us by emailing different answers to different individuals and not posting in the public librarians group or updating the manual or posting which means a snarl of some doing it one way and others another way). Partly because they tend to say "yes" when asked then later try to go back and figure out how to handle.
From day one the site was set up there were plans and promises about series. The next book in series, tracking, etc. fictfact offers are expected to come to Leafmarks.
I think it will help activity/membership and is time to let members add books themselves (or even to let them add book covers when there were none -- partly because needed and partly because Leafmarks wiggles out of where-did-you-get issues because member-added). I understood while getting setup, getting book data fields and standards figured out. If worried about what's being added, can always make it a "pending human eye approval" type of add; right now they let pretty much anyone become a librarian even if just wanting to add their own books (nothing wrong with that -- they'll have book-in-hand data and if there were problems could always just revoke librarian status -- except if they let members do that why not just let them go ahead and add books). It's mostly not a problem keeping up with librarian edits but sometimes there's something like a member wanting to add ten years of back issues of a magazine where it sure would be easier -- particularly if covers and table of contents listing contributor names aren't online somewhere.
Fictfact has no reviews, just ratings, and you don't easily see or follow other people's ratings (pretty much have to give someone the link) -- but, in a way I think that really works for them because doesn't attract a lot of the drama over reviews or the "faking"/gaming the reviews because some promo site or other needs someone to get certain ratings on certain sites crap.
Their purchase links that support the site say "Amazon | Others" but that's not because Amazon has anything to do with them (it's just a requirement to get the book data feed from Amazon that some sites do and others just don't subscribe to the feed -- pre-Amazon buyout when Amazon changed terms of use for the data feed to include that clause goodreads even ditched that feed -- nearly a million old zombie posts about that buried on goodreads ...)
Well most favorite and most hated calendars. Between those calendars and the "coming soon" tab looking at books on my profile showing me that a new book in series is almost out, I pre-order more books than I should.
I'm not doing much there, yet, but may once I've cleaned up my shelves here and on LM. And, I agree on the calendars.
(Following you there now, too.)
I think it's great for what it is (series tracking) and recommend it for that -- but, membership is not required just to see the new release calendars.
Sites recommending my next book to me are pretty useless and way off target (sometimes readers also enjoyed works if truly based on readers). Oddly, going to series pages on fictfact and scrolling down to see other series recommended is pretty good (every now and then a really big miss that's usually because some series just seem to show up everywhere ...)
I wasn't looking for another book site, but I love that finally I can track my series easily and I don't think it's going to cost me a lot of time, since it doesn't matter if it's not 100% up to date all the time.
If you are tracking series -- it's not exactly another book site or another review site to keep up with. Just a quick click that you've read a book so all the next book, coming soon, etc. options show you where you are with all the series. Can keep up with more than that if you like -- marking a book currently reading or planning to read, following or unfollowing particular series, etc. -- but not that much more.
Rather than another book site to keep up with, it's a time saver for me. Because when I go to read another book in series or a new one comes out, the first thing I did before joining fictfact was spend sometimes a lot of time figuring out where I was in a series, if I had ditched or was still keeping up with, etc. "Next book" tab worked great for me and you can change the priority of those books.
Ijust pretty perfect for me to track series because I read a lot of series.