Is there an "IMDB" for writing?

[Lindo]

It's so handy to be able to quickly reference the world of film on that site. Is there a similar site that hooks up the data on writers, publishers, etc. for research?

Another thing I've wondered... people seem to know what sort of sales various books enjoy. Is there a chart somewhere? An extended best seller list that shows what's selling and how much? This is also easily available for movies.

[justpat]

I use amazon, but it doesn't do all the nice cross-referencing and stuff like IMDB does.

[Linda Adams]

There is a book series called "Something About the Author" that's available at the library that covers many authors.

Also this Web site which covers magazines up until about the 1960's: http://www.philsp.com/

Wikipedia carries some authors in it, too.

[Lindo]

Yeah, I use amazon, too. But it's very limited.

I guess the followup question would be WHY is there no list of sales perfomance by book, or a data base of authors/books/publishers? (Agents would be a great addition, as well)

Speaking of which, no need to be humble about your site. That's really cool.

[Lindo]

PS You aren't the Patrick McDonald that reviewed music for the Seattle PI, are you?

[benbradley]

I think the fields of books and movies are different enough that it's much harder to keep track of all the books published. Here's a thread asking a similar question that might have something helpful in it:
http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=60643

[Lindo]

Thanks.
I find it interesting that the film industry, with a reputation for skullduggery, chicanery, and cooking the books, makes its sales figure public, while the publishing industry makes you pay big bucks to get an idea.