by M.J. Rose, Wired Online

Oct. 10, 2000 PDT

AllReaders.com may be one of the first sites that allows readers to search for novels by specific elements of plot, character, setting, style and theme... titles already are registered and can be found by users typing in various criteria.

"Other search engines only help if you are searching for a broad category -- such as mystery -- or already know the name of the book," said AllReaders's creator Steven Gordon. Gordon, a Harvard Law graduate and unpublished author, also created Allexperts.com, which he sold to About.com.

Within AllReaders.com are four basic search engines: sci-fi, romance, mystery/thriller and literature. Within each of those there are different levels of questions allowing users to get closer and closer to exactly the type of book they want to read. More than 2,000 criteria are categorized. When a title comes up, so will a list of the top 10 books with those specific matching characteristics.

"Many people aren't that experimental when it comes to fiction," Gordon said. "We like to read within our favorite themes, types of characters and plots." So if you crave a literary novel that takes place in Rome in the 1950's with a sensitive male character who is interested in art, and with the theme of unrequited love, you can find it on Allreaders.com - as long as such a book has been written and has been logged in.

Gordon invites readers, authors and publishers to enter books and reviews in a process that takes about 10 minutes.

"Not only is there no competition toAllreaders.com," Gordon said, "but our Gordonator Precision Search Engine has a patent pending."

Fiction Search
Finding the right book to curl up with just got easier. AllReaders.com lets you perform a mind-bogglingly detailed search for whatever you may be looking for. Check off the kind of plot, setting, theme or characters that happen to grab you. http://www.allreaders.com/
--USA Today Online "Hot Site" award 10/13/2000

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Allreaders.com is a search engine that finds books based on specific plot details. In the Mystery category, for example, search categories include themes, like revenge and delusion; character traits, like eccentric or sensitive; and ways to die, like poisoned, shot, impaled, or stampeded.
--The New York Times 10/12/2000

We were also "Site of the Day" in The New York Times Learning Network 10/16/2000!

And we were featured a third time by the Times, on 2/1/2001:

"Allreaders.com allows you to search for books and movies by hundreds of different elements of plot, theme, setting, and character. For example, you could search for a science fiction novel featuring a cynical, wisecracking main character--50% action and 10% romance, with spaceship battles, the theme of revenge, and a story involving clones and mind control--and the engine would find books that were the closest match."

And we were featured a fourth time in the Times, on 11/6/2003:

"Some have speculated that the [amazon.com] search tool will become useful in niche applications but no more than a novelty to people in search of a novel that matches their mood and is intended to be read as a whole.

Steven J. Gordon, founder of AllReaders .com, expects that people looking for, say, a mystery set in a romantic place will continue to go elsewhere.... AllReaders offers a free search service built on a database of details like characters, plot and setting....

"When you liked a book recently, was it because it had a certain word in it used over and over?" Mr. Gordon said. "No. You liked it because of certain traits or themes or characters."

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Famous Authors and Editors Praise Us!

"I just checked into your [Allreaders.com site] and I was very pleased to see that you are promoting some of my favorite authors.  The idea of the Gordonator Precision Search Engine is laudable.  We need more folks like you, willing to spread the word..."
--Anne McCaffrey

"Sounds like a useful service for my readers!"
--Orson Scott Card

"Allscifi and Allreaders book search engines perform very useful functions for science fiction fans who spend time on the net."
--Mike Resnick

"I think your web site is terrific! It provides a search regime that will be extremely valuable to writers, fans, teachers, librarians and anyone who is trying to track down a well-remembered story."
--Ben Bova

"I think readers will find it a good resource for a lot of authors and recommendations."
----Robin Hobb

""Allreaders.com is the kind of unique, innovative resource that makes the web such an exciting, ever-surprising tool."
----Moshe Feder, Tor Books

""Allreaders.com offers an innovative and valuable new way to search for books. It's like no other search engine out there"
----Don Hochstein, Random House.