One change has already appeared with the last critique of the year ("Shirley Temple Three"). I have introduced a new rating—Strong—leading to a four-point system (Weak, Satisfactory, Strong, Outstanding). For the sake of consistency, I have completed a revision of all previous critiques, resulting in an upgrade of five Satisfactory stories:
and a downgrade of three Outstanding stories:
I've indicated the changes with strikethroughs in the relevant critiques and updated the labels to reflect the new ratings. Unfortunately the polls on those stories cannot be reopened, so the results reflect the three-point system in place at the time of closing.
On all critiques I've deleted the label that previously occupied the #3 slot—the geographical region of the author's nationality—which proved to be of limited value. Nationality by country is still tracked in the #2 slot, as before. I've moved gender to the #3 slot and filled the #4 slot with a new category that reflects the total number of stories the author has published in TNY (001 representing the début). Finally, I've added a label (#10) to track year of publication. I may continue tinkering with the labels to improve scope, efficiency, and search functionality.
Taking all these changes into account, I'd like to end the year by sharing some statistics that I hope you will find interesting. Feel free to explore categories on your own by clicking on the labels in the footer of each critique (there's a key in the sidebar along with instructions for multi-label searching).
2012 Statistics
- Number of TNY stories published: 50
- Number of TNY authors published: 42
- Number of stories by authors published more than once:
- Boyle, T. Coraghessan (2)
- Díaz, Junot (3)
- Lethem, Jonathan (2)
- McGuane, Thomas (2)
- Meloy, Maile (2)
- Munro, Alice (2)
- Nelson, Antonya (2)
- Number of stories by male authors: 34
- Number of stories by female authors: 16
- Number of stories by début TNY authors: 12
- Number of stories by U.S. authors: 35
- Number of stories by authors of other nationalities:
- Canada (2)
- Chile (1)
- China (1)
- Ireland (2)
- Israel (2)
- Pakistan (1)
- Switzerland (1)
- U.K. (4)
- U.S.S.R. (1)
- Number of first-person stories: 14
- Number of second-person stories: 4
- Number of third-person stories: 31
- Number of multi-person stories: 1
- Number of stories appearing in English translation: 5
- Number of short-length stories (≤2500 words): 5
- Number of medium-length stories (2501-5000 words): 13
- Number of long stories (5001-7500 words): 21
- Number of extra-long stories (≥7501 words): 11
- Shortest story: "Thank You for the Light"
- Longest story: "Citizen Conn"
- Number of free stories: 18
- Number of firewalled stories: 32
- Number of stories critiqued on this blog: 50
- Number of stories critiqued by Criticus: 45
- Number of stories critiqued by Dominicus: 5
- Number of stories rated Weak: 13
- Number of stories rated Satisfactory: 23 (28 before rating change)
- Number of stories rated Strong (new rating): 9
- Number of stories rated Outstanding: 5 (8 before rating change)
- Most popular critique (based on page views): "The Semplica-Girl Diaries"
- Least popular critique (based on page views): "Appreciation"
- Dominicus's favorite story: "The Cheater's Guide to Love"
- Criticus's favorite story, also known as the Criticus Award, entitling the bearer to perpetual fame and exactly zero in cash proceeds (drum roll, please):
- Winner: "A Brief Encounter with the Enemy"
- Runner-up: "Ox Mountain Death Song"
Congratulations to Saïd Sayrafiezadeh and Kevin Barry on these extraordinary stories.
And your favorite? Be sure to let us know in the comments. Meanwhile…
Happy New Year to all!
Keep reading in 2013 for the latest scoop on TNY fiction!
newyorkerstorycritiques.blogspot.com
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