I'm experimenting with a new service that looks promising. I'll report back as I get results.
https://shepherd.com/The first thing I'll mention is that use of the site is free. For those of us sensitive to scams, this is an important point. I do see a few ads on the site, and it uses affiliate links for books--which means it makes money by selling books, not by charging authors.
The basic structure involves authors picking one of their books to feature. They then provide a bio (a good branding opportunity) and recommendations for five books related thematically to the featured one. They also furnish brief text for the featured book and the five related recommendations. All this material appears on one page, together with buy links for both Amazon and bookshop.org.
According to the founder, sales generated by this page generally split about 50-50. That is, 50% of sales go to the author's featured book. The other 50% divide among the five recommended books. We'll see what happens with mine, but frankly, since it's free exposure, even one sale would put it in the plus column.
Pages are accessed through a list that displays their titles, so readers can see what the genre and theme of the list is. But readers can also search directly by genre. When I search for fantasy, I get a page with most favorited fantasy books at the top, with subheadings for all fantasy books, all fantasy books published between 2022 and 2024, and most recommended. This is then followed by book lists connected to fantasy links. After that, we have sections on "Fantasy books that also have the topic," "Fantasy books that also have the genre," and links to other genre sections. In other words, there are a lot of ways for people to find their way to your particular book page.
Clicking on a specific book brings up a description plus some of the recommendations, with the ability for readers to see more if they want. Any time an author name comes up, readers can also click over to the author page.
Part of the idea is that your branding extends not just to your bio but to your recommendation of other people's books. There's supposed to be a very personal angle on why you like it, so that readers get a sense of your personality through the books you recommend as well as through your own book and your bio.
The idea behind the site is to provide book recommendations by "experts" (authors writing in the genre and "super readers," though I haven't seen any evidence of those yet).
I can see potential logistical drawbacks. There are already a lot of people on this site. (2,195 authors have already recommended fantasy books, for example.) That means it's unlikely that any given reader will see your name on just one visit. However, there are multiple ways through which a reader can stumble upon you. The site recently added the opportunity to contribute a "Best Books of 2023" list, and those are also prominently featured. Other features, like "interesting facts," and "character introductions" are planned for 2024. There will be a new release feature available by Q3 of 2024.
Also, I've noticed that going to a book title directly through search results pops up a list of similar books and related lists (in addition to the lists on which the book actually appears).
The place isn't as big as Goodreads, and it doesn't have every book available on Amazon. But it's large, and apparently, it has traffic into the millions. From what I can see, it looks like a worthwhile attempt.
I you're thinking about trying, it looks to me as if optimal visibility is provided by recommending a mix of well known and less well known books. The well known ones will come up more in searches, but there will also be a lot more authors recommending them. The lesser known ones might just be recommended by you, which means you get seen every time that book does.
I'm still working on my texts, but I'm featuring a first-in-series book for a series I'm trying to breath more life into. I would have done that anyway, but for experimental purposes, it's also a good choice because it will be easy to spot an increase in sales.
The book is about someone who accidentally sells his soul to the devil. The theme for the recommended books will be something about the hazards of dealing with supernatural beings. The books I'm recommending are Sarah J. Maas's
Throne of Glass (assassin gets a chance to leave a slave labor camp for a chance to become the king's champion, but that may turn out to be a metaphoric deal with the devil, as the king is both tyrannical and shady); Jim Butcher's
Storm Front (Wizard Harry Dresden is constantly having to bargain with supernatural entities, most of whom are tricky); Ben S. Reeder's
The Demon Apprentice (little kid is sold to a demon by his father but escapes as a teenager and tries to make amends for the evil he's done while enslaved); John Conroe's
God Touched (mc is an exorcist who turns out to be much more and has to navigate a supernatural world defined by an agreement between God and Satan in which demons are constantly looking for loopholes); C. Gockel's
Snow So White (technology has failed and magic now rules; there are plenty of supernaturals to maneuver around, and never make a deal with the Fae!)
I didn't want to go into huge detail, but you can see how each novel fits into the theme. The first two choices are trad #1 on the bestseller list type books. The third possibly and the last two definitely are good selling indies who do quality work. Reeder and Gockel aren't yet represented on the site. Conroe is, but he's only been recommended by two authors so far. I've mentioned why I did this kind of mix already.
Writing bio, feature, and recs in the structure recommended by the site takes time, but it looks as if it might be worth it.
Oh, and if you have trouble, the founder is willing to consult on possible themes and recommendations related to your book.
