Comments on: Booklamp’s algorithms: A way to connect books with agents and publishers—and regular readers? http://www.teleread.org/2008/03/20/booklamps-algorithms-a-way-to-connect-books-with-agents-and-publishers-and-regular-readers/ News & views on e-books, libraries, publishing and related topics Sun, 08 Nov 2009 03:38:33 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Mike Cane http://www.teleread.org/2008/03/20/booklamps-algorithms-a-way-to-connect-books-with-agents-and-publishers-and-regular-readers/comment-page-1/#comment-740815 Mike Cane Thu, 20 Mar 2008 22:20:33 +0000 http://www.teleread.org/blog/2008/03/20/booklamps-algorithms-a-way-to-connect-books-with-agents-and-publishers-and-regular-readers/#comment-740815 >>>And, yes, Mike, I heartily dislike the idea of algorithms being the only way to determine what gets published. Then just use them a frikkin twit screens. This ms has X number of grammatical errors, X number of typos, first-grade level of vocabulary = FAIL. I mean, if someone can't frikkin *write* to begin with, clear the decks for those who can! >>>And, yes, Mike, I heartily dislike the idea of algorithms being the only way to determine what gets published.

Then just use them a frikkin twit screens.

This ms has X number of grammatical errors, X number of typos, first-grade level of vocabulary = FAIL.

I mean, if someone can’t frikkin *write* to begin with, clear the decks for those who can!

]]> By: Garson O'Toole http://www.teleread.org/2008/03/20/booklamps-algorithms-a-way-to-connect-books-with-agents-and-publishers-and-regular-readers/comment-page-1/#comment-740762 Garson O'Toole Thu, 20 Mar 2008 20:55:59 +0000 http://www.teleread.org/blog/2008/03/20/booklamps-algorithms-a-way-to-connect-books-with-agents-and-publishers-and-regular-readers/#comment-740762 BookLamp submits the full-text of novels to the analytical depredations of an algorithm. There is another odd service that algorithmically crunches only the book title. Lulu, the publishing company, operates a web page with “Titlescorer” which is a system that supposedly examines a book title to determine if “it has what it takes for bestseller success.” Here is what Lulu says:<blockquote>The <a HREF="http://www.lulu.com/titlescorer/" rel="nofollow">Lulu Titlescorer</A> has been developed exclusively for Lulu by statisticians who studied the titles of 50 years' worth of top bestsellers and identified which title attributes separated the bestsellers from the rest. We commissioned a research team to analyze the title of every novel to have topped the hardback fiction section of the New York Times Bestseller List during the half-century from 1955 to 2004 and then compare them with the titles of a control group of less successful novels by the same authors. </blockquote>Titlescorer gives the petitioner a numerical score that represents the percent chance that the input title will become a bestseller. The values given are absurdly high. But it does provide encouragement. BookLamp submits the full-text of novels to the analytical depredations of an algorithm. There is another odd service that algorithmically crunches only the book title. Lulu, the publishing company, operates a web page with “Titlescorer” which is a system that supposedly examines a book title to determine if “it has what it takes for bestseller success.” Here is what Lulu says:
The Lulu Titlescorer has been developed exclusively for Lulu by statisticians who studied the titles of 50 years’ worth of top bestsellers and identified which title attributes separated the bestsellers from the rest. We commissioned a research team to analyze the title of every novel to have topped the hardback fiction section of the New York Times Bestseller List during the half-century from 1955 to 2004 and then compare them with the titles of a control group of less successful novels by the same authors.

Titlescorer gives the petitioner a numerical score that represents the percent chance that the input title will become a bestseller. The values given are absurdly high. But it does provide encouragement.

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