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Ahoy, Critterfolk!
New entry May 06
Critter Notices
Critters is 25!
Last November, Critters turned 25 years old! Wow! Thanks so much to all of you, who've made it such a resounding success!
Books from Critters!
Check out Books by Critters for books by your fellow Critterfolk, as well as my list of recommended books for writers.
New Book from a Critter Member
**NOW IN
PRINT EDITION
TOO!** Awesome new book,
HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR SPECULATIVE FICTION OPENINGS,
from a Critter member who's unearthed a shard of The Secret
to becoming a pro writer. Really good piece of work.
"...if you're at all concerned about story openings, you'd be nuts not to read what Qualkinbush has to say." —Wil McCarthy, author of BLOOM and THE COLLAPSIUMHow to Write SF
The Craft of Writing Science Fiction that Sells by Ben Bova, best-selling author and six-time Hugo Award winner for Best Editor. (This is one of the books your ol' Critter Captain learned from himself, and I highly recommend it.)
(Also via Amazon)
Interviewed!
I was interviewed live on public radio for Critters' birthday, for those who want to listen.
Free Web Sites
Free web sites for authors (and others) are available at www.nyx.net.
ReAnimus Acquires Advent!
ReAnimus Press is pleased to announce the acquisition of the legendary Advent Publishers! Advent is now a subsidiary of ReAnimus Press, and we will continue to publish Advent's titles under the Advent name. Advent was founded in 1956 by Earl Kemp and others, and has published the likes of James Blish, Hal Clement, Robert Heinlein, Damon Knight, E.E. "Doc" Smith, and many others. Advent's high quality titles have won and been finalists for several Hugo Awards, such as The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy and Heinlein's Children. Watch this space for ebook and print editions of all of Advent's current titles!
Book Recommendation
THE SIGIL TRILOGY:
The universe is dying from within...
"Great stuff... Really enjoyed it." — SFWA Grandmaster Michael Moorcock
Announcing ReAnimus Press
If you're looking for great stuff to read from bestselling and award-winning authors—look no further! ReAnimus Press was founded by your very own Critter Captain. (And with a 12% Affiliate program.) [More]
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FEATURED BOOK
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Statistical Data
Statistics for how different groups of books scored. The upper left of each block is the name of the group (e.g. "Classic SF/F"). The number of books in that category is below, e.g. "N=24". The statistics are from the "desc" program (part of the |STAT package.)
SF/F: ============================================================
N=50
Mean Median Midpoint Geometric Harmonic
22.502 19.750 40.335 18.159 14.151
SD Quart Dev Range SE mean
15.097 8.485 73.330 2.135
Minimum Quartile 1 Quartile 2 Quartile 3 Maximum
3.670 12.000 19.750 28.970 77.000
classic SF/F: ============================================================
N=24
Mean Median Midpoint Geometric Harmonic
29.909 27.000 44.000 26.653 23.903
SD Quart Dev Range SE mean
15.611 7.650 66.000 3.187
Minimum Quartile 1 Quartile 2 Quartile 3 Maximum
11.000 19.350 27.000 34.650 77.000
non-classic SF/F: ============================================================
N=26
Mean Median Midpoint Geometric Harmonic
15.665 14.670 30.250 12.742 10.280
SD Quart Dev Range SE mean
11.012 5.835 53.160 2.160
Minimum Quartile 1 Quartile 2 Quartile 3 Maximum
3.670 8.500 14.670 20.170 56.830
non-SF/F: ============================================================
N=18
Mean Median Midpoint Geometric Harmonic
54.884 60.750 54.085 51.024 46.544
SD Quart Dev Range SE mean
19.269 15.585 67.830 4.542
Minimum Quartile 1 Quartile 2 Quartile 3 Maximum
20.170 34.830 60.750 66.000 88.000
Additional Material
- Common Objections — Gain more insight by reading how others objected
- Quiz and More Quotes — Illustrating relationships or the lack thereof in SF and non-SF, and some for you to guess
- Book Scores — The raw data for the books scored
- Add Your Own Scores — Compute your own and share them, takes just a minute or two
- Statistical Summary — how the different categories scored
- Share Your Thoughts
