Idea to make AW some $$$ AW book lists that show up on Google???

So the other day I was in the mood for some Sci-Fi, went to google and typed up TOP 100 Sci-Fi books.

And for some reason only a couple of usable lists came up.

Then I thought to myself, with all the threads that pop up about recommendations, why the hell hasn't anything from AW popped up?

My idea: Can we do an AW top 100 list of books for each category: Sci-Fi, Horror, Romance, Suspense, Classics, CHILDRENS LIT etc. etc.

Perhaps declare a month (i.e. July is Sci-Fi month) and members list their favorite books and then we vote on them with a point system. Each member gets ten points/votes to distribute however they like or something to that effect. The end result would be an AW list.

Maybe 100 is too ambitious for some categories, maybe top 10 or 20 is better.

Anyways, my thoughts were that a list such as this showing up on google would be a great way to traffic in new people, maybe even be a way to bring AW some more sponsorship money if the list becomes a popular metric on the web .

There are some logistics to work out of course (setting up the voting, recommendations, nominations, perhaps making the list a separate webpage, etc, etc), but overall something like this should be doable.

Also, do we have any official AW Lists? I don't think we do.

Spins off could include redoing the voting every 4 yrs or something to that effect.

Anyways, just a thought.

Comments? Suggestions?

Mel...

Exir said:

dWhere's children's lit?

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They are in the etc. etc.

Bahamutchild said:

Awesome idea.

We also need a list of all AWer's books in one place (the library has lists of everything by author, unless I missed a vital thread). (I also thought that's what the thread title implied)

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Yes, I like that idea too. I would love to start reading some of the AWer books

Mel...

Exir said:

See, that's my contention. Children's literature is a legitimate course of the literary banquet -- not part of the side dish named "etc etc"

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Fine, i've made a correction. Is it to your satisfaction?

Mel...

Nivarion said:

hell I'll join, vote and nomintate.

I have Dreamweaver and a little talent for making pages if its needed to boot.

First question, Whats the first step? You proposed it now your the leader of the project, Mr. Harris.

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See, this is why you should never volunteer an idea

O.k.

I'll come up with a survey and ranking system for AW (I have some background in making surveys)

My initial thought would be to make a sticky in each forum and do a top 10 list. Not sure if we have the depth to do a top 100 list, but we'll play it by ear.

Maybe to begin with we'll do a top 10 and top 25 list and see how that goes.

I'll break out a plan of action and hopefully we can get volunteers for each action

Mel...

BigWords said:

Are you going to use a point-per-vote system? A 'top ten' list where the #1 book on a list is worth 10 points and #10 worth 1 point; the totals tallied, and placements awarded in accordance with the points system? Do long-standing members' views carry more weight? Who is going to proof-read the submitted lists for appropriate placement in each list (so a fantasy doesn't get placed in the sf list)?

What do you want volunteers for? I'll lend my hand to this (if you want me).

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Yeah, these and other questions are why something like this is harder than it first seems.

I'm almost inclined to try something using a Republic voting method/model.

Basically we vote on nominations and then the final determinations are made by a group who collectively have read all of the books being nominated. This way you ensure some sort of baseline and fair competitive analysis. i.e. someone who read Twilight and think its the best book ever but hasn't read Ann Rice's Interview with a Vampire would not be the best person when decided which is better, Twilight or IwaV.

I'll head to the library this weekend, do a little research and put something together for us next week.

Also, if anyone has any thoughts on the matter, I'm all ears.
There is a fair amount of subjectiveness that is unavoidable, however, what i'd like to do is make it as scientifically viable as possible.

Just off the top of my head (again), I think that when the list of nominees are determined, then in order to be considered a judge, that you've had to have read at least 25% of the books on the nominee list. This way, with a collective group, there would be enough depth to establish some commonality to compare books. i.e. using IwaV as a baseline, I think that Twilight is good but not as good as Vampire Earth, VE is better than IwaV and should be rated higher....

Again, I'll put something together and post it up next week when I have time