Basically, anime series get released in seasonal cycles - so you'll see us referring to Summer, Winter, Autumn and Spring releases - and obviously when I say Autumn 2013, I'm not talking about our Autumn, but Northern Hemisphere time. So the next cycle, which starts now (September/October), is the Autumn 2013 release cycle, and the majority of new series will start in the first two weeks of October.
The other major months to look out for are January (Winter), April (Spring) and July (Summer).
Every season lasts 12/13 weeks, and I'm sure you've noticed that many series run for 12 or 13 episodes - also referred to as a 1-cour series. Some, obviously, are 2-cour (such as SnK) and run for 24 - 26 episodes.
Dunno if that answers your question.
As for the shows I enjoyed - To Aru Kagaku no Railgun is the obvious choice - I find it a lot more entertaining and the characters are much more engaging. The pacing is also a lot better. SnK's pacing put me to sleep, because by the end of episode 12 pretty much nothing had happened for 4 episodes, and that puts me off. It's the same sort of thing that put me off shows like Naruto and Bleach.
There was also Stella Jogakuin Koutou-ka C³-bu, Rozen Maiden, the Monogatari series, Servant x Service, Blood Lad, Silver Spoon, Tamayura and Love Lab.
There are a few other shows which I found a little less engaging, but still kept watching, and these include Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya, Dog and Scissors, Kiniro Mosaic, Watamote, Kamisama no Inai Nichiyoubi and Fantasista Doll. The point being, of course, that none of these shows bored me to tears as much as SnK did.
I accept that things probably picked up later on, but the thing with me is that, once I lose interest in a show, it's very rare that I'll come back to it.
