Literature Map

Today, I want to share a site that one of my reference librarians, Trevor Oakley, shared with me. Both readers and writers will find the site useful. It’s called Literature Map.

https://www.literature-map.com/

The site assists readers in finding authors similar to those they enjoy, plain and simple. 

• Type the name of an author and the site will generate a web of other authors who write similar books. 
• The initial author’s name will be in the center of the screen and the other names will settle around it. 
• The closer the name to the first author, the more similar they are.

The system part of Gnod, the Global Network of Discovery. The recommendations are from information gathered by Gnooks, an author recommendation system. 

To get very specific suggestions, 

• Click on the blue question mark in the corner. 
• Then click on the link on the word Gnooks (link above). 
• Then click Continue. The site will ask for three favorite writers and suggest other authors based on those. 
• Users can click I like it, I don’t like it, or I don’t know. Each response is added to their database and a new suggestion will appear.

Not finding an author you love? 

• From the home page, click the blue question mark. 
• Then click on the word here in blue on the sentence that asks about missing authors. 
• The next screen will have a box on the top to add an author. 
• Below the box is a voting spot to vote up some of the author suggestions users have made.

I recommend the site for two reasons. 

1. Finding new authors is always a great thing for both readers and writers. 
2. Specifically for writers, you can find authors similar to you and perhaps team up to cross-promote, get a blurb, or just compare notes.

Ideas for Using Trello

Trello has many uses as a project manager. As writers though, we can tweak this program for our own use.

Organize Publishing Projects

Create a detailed To-Do list with cards for Drafting, Editing, Publishing, Marketing, Social Media, and more. Don’t forget to add Due Date for each card to keep yourself on task. Once the board is created with general items, save it as a Template to use again. Think Plot Your Work but digital.

Create a Story Bible

Create a board for each novel, a card for each character. If it’s series, one for each book. Add cards with book titles, characters, settings, a timeline. Never forget what color that character’s eyes are again.

Organize Social Media Calendar

Use Trello to create a year-long list of To-Dos. Create cards for each venue—Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc. for each month. Add dates for sales, launches, blog posts, and more.

Tame Blogs and Blog Hops

Create a board for your blog with ideas, post dates, and other materials. If you are on a hop, enter due dates for your posts with details about your topic. Invite your host to share the board with you for easy communication.

Non-Writing Events

Trello’s card system makes it easy to organize any events, writing-related or not. Got a graduation party? Make a board with cards for guests, menus, venue, etc. Need to put together a charity event? Create cards for businesses, donation, guests, and tag other organizers with the Team feature.

Goals

Create a board with long-term goals for writing, and personal life. Add realistic tasks to reach your goals. No due dates on this one. Give yourself the freedom to achieve your goals at your own pace.

Templates

Take the time to peruse the Templates on Trello. There are a thousand ideas from Teacher plan books to HR new employee intros to virtual bullet journals (no washi tape here though).

Trello is a very versatile project planner, viable for any career and writers can benefit from this free app.

How to Use Trello

Make a New Board

• Click on the plus sign in the upper right-hand corner or click Create Board. You have to add a title to make the project or it’s a no go. 
• Click a background picture. (Click the three dots for more photos but, be warned, it’s a black hole of awesome pics.) 
• Then press the green Create Board button. The project is autosaved to the cloud.

Adding Cards

• Click on Add Card. 
• Type a title for the card. Hit enter. Trello will automatically ask for the title of the next card, even if you don’t need a card. It’s annoying but eh, whatcha gonna do?

Data on the Card

• Click on a named card. 
• Add a description or comments as needed. This feature can be used on a shared board to talk with others as well as a spot to jot down your own thoughts.

     Specifics for Cards

     On the right side of the card, add activities/features for the card:

• Members: Add anyone who will work with you on this project. See below about team members.
• Labels. Type the label, choose a color, or make it color-blind friendly. Multiple labels can be added. Think #hashtags.
• Check List. (My favorite) Title the checklist and it will appear on the left. Add items to your checklist. Hit enter or Add.
• Due Date: Give the project a deadline. Use a full calendar and clock to set due dates. Also, Trello can send you a reminder of these deadlines.
• Attachments: Paperclip docs, pics, and web addresses from your computer, Dropbox, Google docs, and more.
• Cover: Add a nice pic for the card to show its purpose. Trello has suggestions. Once the cover is added, the button to change it moves up next to the pic you chose.

Power-Ups

Power-Ups are add-ons to Trello to enhance the program. They range from calendars to analytics to productivity boosts. Power-ups also can connect to other apps such as MailChimp, Dropbox, Google Docs, and Evernote. We could spend weeks exploring these. For now, just know they are there.

Actions

• Move: Move a card to another spot on the board
• Copy: Copy card and move to another spot on the board or another list.
• Make a Template: After designing the card, you can make it a template to use on other cards or boards. Trello has a huge selection of templates—again another week to explore them.
• Watch: Tag card to be notified of any changes. (You or a team member.)
• Archive: Put that card away when finished.
• Share: Show the entire world your awesome project/card. Print, email, embed.

Teams

If you’re not going it alone, you need a team.

• Click on the Home icon (little house) then create a Team. 
• Add a name and description of the group. 
• Click on Member. 
• Type in the people's email addresses to invite. Click on their name. (If the person is not on Trello, it will still email but states their address is not confirmed.) 
• Click Invite to Team. Trello automatically adds them (no permissions, so be careful).

Managing Teams

• To see if you’ve been added to a team, check the Notifications indicator at the top right.  A change of color will indicate a notification for you.
• To leave the team, click on the name of the team you have been added to. Click on Members and click on Leave Team.
• At bottom of the page, click on Delete Team to remove the team entirely (admin only).