Ack! I’ve contracted SIPs on Amazon! Is this cool like getting mono in highschool?

I don’t itch, there doesn’t appear to be a rash, but I do feel a bit odd…more so than usual. I’ve been SIP’d. What’s that you ask? Well, apparently it’s Statistically Improbable Phrases. Amazon have gone through my book and found word pairings that appear rarely, if ever, in other published books. Here are mine: high forest, sapling cub, birthing meadow, ruined ear, frost sparkled, tainted ones You can check it out on the Amazon page for my book at the link although it appears they are doing this for every book, at least those that have been scanned…http://www.amazon.com/Darkness-Forged-Fire-Book-Elves/dp/1416570519/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1224178259&sr=8-1 For a more detailed explanation of SIPs read this http://www.amazon.com/gp/search-inside/sipshelp.html/ref=sib_sip_help What’s really, um, interesting, is that they then go and match other books with the same phrase, but these books are…different.

So armed with this knowledge I can now…do…what…exactly? I guess my immediate reaction is bemusement followed by befuddlement leading inevitably to a benighted state of benumbness…yeah, I had to reach for that alliteration, but it sounds cool.

You know what this means don’t you? Authors the world over will be looking to create the most statistically improbable phrases ever written. Like chocolate caviar, silk bananas, and President Palin.

    • admin

      It does seem that way. I suppose there’s a certain logic to it in that you like a book that has a particular phrase so you search for others with the same pairing. Doesn’t make much sense for fiction, but perhaps it does for technical books, some history, etc.

      Reply
      • bonniers

        It’s almost Kaballistic in its delving for the mathematical pattern of the story, as if it’s trying to find the hidden meaning.

        I wonder if it’s useful for tracking down plagiarism or theft?

        Reply

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