Coolest Author Recommendation Tool Ever

Those of you who worked at Borders will no doubt remember the amazingly clever Literature Map which we linked in the Atlas look-up application. For those of you who aren't familiar with this awesome tool, the Literature Map is a public website that allows you to enter an author's name into a search box and then be provided with an array of similar authors.

The ability to find related or suggested authors is handy, but what makes the Literature Map so fun is the stylish way in which the "similar author" results are displayed. The author name you entered appears in the middle of a dark blue screen, and the suggested author names are then displayed around the center of the screen, only they are scattered as if in a virtual universe. Those authors in closest proximity to the name you originally input are intended to be the most relevant recommendations. As a bonus, you can then just click on the name of any suggested author who appears, and the Literature Map re-populates with the newly selected author at the center of the universe.

Screen capture from the Literature Map.

I had forgotten about this awesome website until I saw a recent article about on Flavorwire. Since gift-giving time was coming up, I thought I would share it.

Give it a shot - access the site, type in your favorite author, and then enjoy the tiny solar system of writers that materializes.

(If you want to save or share the website, you can save the link or click the little envelope directly below and email this article.)