PLAYING CONCIERGE

by Rob Lopresti

A few years ago I received an email from a “relatively new fan” who had enjoyed one of my stories. He correctly diagnosed that I was a Jack Ritchie fan and asked which Ritchie stories I recommended, and what other authors did I think he should try?

I recommended some of my other favorite humorous writers, such as James Powell, Avram Davidson, Donald E. Westlake, and Steve Hockensmith. He promptly wrote back to tell me who was satisfactory and who wasn’t. He strongly disliked flowery language so Powell and Davidson, for example, were not acceptable.

It was an in interesting experience as we exchanged email, with me trying to figure out who this new mystery fan might enjoy and him firmly making judgments, pro and con.

The Automation Age

In the library world we call this work Reader’s Advisory, and it is a common task in public libraries. “What do you recommend for someone who loves Sue Grafton, but has read them all?”

Now, of course, the web provides services that do this sort of thing automatically. Amazon looks at the books you consider purchasing and promptly recommends others you might enjoy. LibraryThing examines the books you own and offers books from readers with similar holdings.

And, while I have never used Netflix, an expert on the interactive mess known collectively as “Web 2.0” recently told me that Netflix’s formula for recommending movies, based on user’s previous choices, was the envy of the industry.

It is logical, I guess, that computers, whose basic skill is comparing things to other things very fast, should be able to make these kinds of recommendations efficiently.

Short judgments

But I don’t know of any web-based service that does this for short story fans. Maybe if a lot more of us write reviews for this website’s short story review feature (on the top at the right) our fearless leader James Lincoln Warren can create one, huh? Keep in mind that anyone can write a story review and submit it. You don’t have to be one of us Fantastic Seven.

Honestly, you must have read something short that you like. Or why are you here?

Another thread from the web

Have you discovered Google Documents? Go to docs.google.com and create a free account. Then you can take any word processing documents on your computer (in Word or many other formats) and create a copy on Google, for your eyes only.

There are three good reasons to do this. For example, I have a laptop at work for when I feel like writing at lunch time. Now I no longer lug a heavy flash drive (joke) between work and home. I just upload to Google at one end and download at the other. Second, if you want to collaborate with someone you can give them permission to edit a document. Google even keeps track of all the revisions in case you want to compare new and old.

And finally, it is always a good idea to have back-up copies, because if you have never had a hard drive fail, you are overdue.

By the way, I find that Google Docs messes up my margins, but that’s easy to fix. Your mileage may vary, of course.