Get in touch if you are interested a better domain name, I've got bookjury that may need a new home -- despite a large % of the code being done. :)
Show HN: A RottenTomatoes for Books
51–60 of 92 posts
Re: Show HN: A RottenTomatoes for Books
#52cough Goodreads. Already has network effects going for it, and a very vibrant author community. It does pretty much what all the comments on this HN page suggest you should add/change. Also, your site took almost 5 minutes to load. That is simply unacceptable.
We focus on critic reviews to create a recommendation of higher quality (they don't do critic reviews).
Ah yes, I can see that now that the site loads in reasonable time.
Re: Show HN: A RottenTomatoes for Books
#53Earlier quoted context omitted.
In the case of Moonwalking with Einstein over 70% of critics gave it a positive. If 7 out of 10 critic reviews are positive, the rating is 70%. We recommend a book if it scores over 70%. More info here: http://idreambooks.com/toread_or_nottoread Thumbs up/down doesn't personalize yet...
Sorry, I think you misunderstood me, I am specifically referring to the New York Times review of it, which is one of the 4 negative reviews of the book, but if you read it is in actual fact positive. My mistake though, because I accidentally linked the same page twice when I wanted to link this the second time: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/13/books/review/book-review-m...
We have a strict set of criteria when rating a review as positive or negative. In general, if the review is even slightly negative we rate it as such...in the case of Moonwalking, NYT expresses a few disappointments about the book. This is to help surface only the very best of books in each genre.
Re: Show HN: A RottenTomatoes for Books
#54cough Goodreads. Already has network effects going for it, and a very vibrant author community. It does pretty much what all the comments on this HN page suggest you should add/change. Also, your site took almost 5 minutes to load. That is simply unacceptable.
We focus on critic reviews to create a recommendation of higher quality (they don't do critic reviews).
There's a problem with "critic" reviews, at least from where I'm sitting: critics don't review anything that's not backed by a huge publisher, effectively locking out all of the small-time authors who might actually have something good.
For example, I was interviewed about my book for School Library Journal, but the book reviewer side of the house refuse to even consider it for a proper book review.
Re: Show HN: A RottenTomatoes for Books
#55There are quite a few book sites providing good discoverability combined with community, combined with curated selections, etc. etc.
You've added a nice design, but the categorization of the books is weak as is the selection itself. I looked at History, which seems to be comprised of 'historical fiction' and I looked for "Tony Judt" who was a significant recently published historian but is not represented.
Re: Show HN: A RottenTomatoes for Books
#56Love, love, LOVE the idea - It's one of those things that I would use every week if it worked. Critical feedback from a potential fan: #1 - When looking at best sellers, one of the first things I saw was, "A Dance With Dragons, 29 critic reviews | Published: August 28, 2012" - The "Published" date is obviously for something different than the book (Softcover? Trade Press?) - regardless, for book reviews what's most i…
Thanks. Our db isn't that big yet. We are adding books & ratings every day though!
Re: Show HN: A RottenTomatoes for Books
#57There are quite a few book sites providing good discoverability combined with community, combined with curated selections, etc. etc. You've added a nice design, but the categorization of the books is weak as is the selection itself. I looked at History, which seems to be comprised of 'historical fiction' and I looked for "Tony Judt" who was a significant recently published historian but is not represented.
Can you list them? The one I'm familiar with is Goodreads, but if there are others, I'm interested.
Re: Show HN: A RottenTomatoes for Books
#58Small comment: you are using faux bolds on your headers (Bestsellers, Recent in Fiction, Recent in non-Fiction in dark gray along the top.) This is hurting readability, especially since the font is already bold. Essentially, you are applying a low-quality bold (generated by the browser or text rendering layer) to the high-quality bold that was designed by the typographer. This isn't just font wankery, it makes it har…
I've given up and started modifying sites directly via the Stylish plugin, if I must use them, or simply ditching them, if I needn't.
Re: Show HN: A RottenTomatoes for Books
#59I never understood review sites like Rotten Tomatoes and the like. Don't sites like Amazon, where you can actually buy the product, already accomplish this? Unless you have actual authors or news critics writing critiques for a book, there isn't much that makes it different from sites where you can buy the product.
Anyway, why no technical literature section? Why isn't there a genre on text books? Novels are fine, but I like learning something when I read.
Re: Show HN: A RottenTomatoes for Books
#60I actually love this, found myself unconsciously clicking through on a few books to learn more. Sometimes all I want is a simple browsing experience to spark my interest and take me down one path or another and I feel like this provides it. Keep on keep'n on!