100 sites for fiction writers: #64 - LibraryThing

This is an ongoing series looking at websites that can be of help to fiction writers with their craft and career.

LibraryThing

LibraryThing calls itself the "world's largest book club," and with more than 1.4 million members at this online site, that boast might be the truth.

What kind of things can you do at LibraryThing?

You can catalog all of your books, helping you to keep track of them. This is especially useful for those who read a lot. And even if you are more of a casual reader, this site's cataloging features can help remind you of your favorite reads.

You can also join in all the Talk, the forums section of LibraryThing, where just about anything having to do with books can be discussed.

If you want to chat online about a particular genre or some other niche audience, you can always join one of the many Groups.

Then there is the Local feature, which can give you a list and map of all the libraries, book stores and book-related festivals in your area, as well as a list of upcoming book-related events.

All of that is great. It's fine. But if you're a writer, what can it do for you? Obviously, you can use some of the features listed for promotional purposes, at least if you don't overdo it. But there's also another feature at LibraryThing. It's called Early Reviewers. This service allows publishers to give away advance review copies of a book or e-book for reviews. Doesn't that sound like a nifty service?

Writers can also join LibraryThing and create an author's page for themselves. That combined with the sheer amount of information about books and other authors makes LibraryThing a site worth checking out.