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Old 01-16-2014, 08:43 AM   #13
QuantumIguana
Philosopher
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pdurrant View Post
It seemed to me that they haven't actually tested it's predictions so far, just analysed a set of books to try to find common factors in the popular ones.

Surely the next test must be running their algorithm against a completely new set of test books, and seeing if the can identify the popular ones in that set.
Agreed, if they are really onto something, they should be able to use this to predict which new books should be popular. There are a number of alternative explanations for why they got these results with PG books. If publishers were to adopt this algorithm when they select books, then authors would face pressure to tailor their books to match the algorithm. This could lead to books becoming more similar, and we ought to at least find out if it really holds up first.
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