
How to Create a Bestselling Novel (2000) - ColinWright
http://sprott.physics.wisc.edu/pickover/bestseller.html
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cstross
Hmm.

Misses out all of the business side of being, like, a working novelist --
understanding what publishers do and how the retail chain works, marketing and
sales, contracts, agents and editors.

Misses out the key point that while the author is the prime creative mover, a
manuscript is not a book and it takes a _lot_ of people to make a "bestselling
novel", from the clerks in B&N who like it and order in extra copies and tell
customers about it, to the editor who believes in it enough to push the P&L
sheet as far as it will go and who then goes up in front of a marketing
meeting and pitches it hard. And the cover design and the flap copywriter (and
if you think that stuff doesn't matter in the age of Amazon you've got a rude
awakening due).

None of Pickover's advice is _bad_ , but it's very much Programming 101,
here's how we write "hello, world" in Python. (Congratulations! You're a
programmer now! So for an encore, you can write an interrupt handler for an
embedded controller in assembler ...)

~~~
seferphier
Agreed.

Having the great product != bestselling novel.

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FlailFast
Still, seems like a case of "necessary but not sufficient." (Although given
some truly awful writing that becomes "bestseller" material, perhaps not)

And I like the focus on the "product" side of writing---we read so many
articles on promotion/marketing here (though generally on the startup side of
things) that we often lose sight of the power of good copy.

Not to say I disagree, I just found the post refreshing, even if only in a
"hello world/writing" way.

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FlailFast
These are great heuristics, but having spent an awful lot of time writing, I
find that---on occasion---there's reason to violate them. But I suppose every
great rule is defined by its exceptions.

As an aside, glad to see this focus on the technical aspects of language and
not some growth-hackery marketing spiel.

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ChuckFrank
If this was the secret recipe to making an Instant Bestselling Novel, then
Paul Bussard's Stinger Stars

[http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19246309-stinger-
stars](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19246309-stinger-stars)

would be an international hit. It hits every single one of his points exactly
(C1&C2 falling in love / Nat Geo setting / Short sentences, Crisp Dialogue,
etc.)

But the fact is that it's actually much harder than just writing it. The
attention span of the world is short, and people are looking to read what
other people are reading. It's a winner take all world, in books, music,
movies and websites. It's hard for a single book to move the herd. Many people
have to help.

(full disclosure - I PMd the title)

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imjk
I know nothing about writing novels so I can't attest to the legitimacy of any
of this, but I do wholly believe that a lot of what's considered art can be be
formulated for success, at least commercially.

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marincounty
I honestly don't know how anyone could make a living by writing books these
days? Besides the obvious; like publishers don't pay like they used too, your
book will be traded on p2p? Oh and what to write? Let's see, If you have a
child's mind you might be able to come up with the next Harry Potter, or some
psycho babble self help book? I don't know, but am always saddened by what
Americans do read. I didn't read the article, but stay away from vanity
press(Bertram Capital--Author's solutions).

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zhte415
There is a great book and audio series by Stephen King, called On Writing.

I was certainly aware, but never much a fan of his, until this, but for anyone
interested in writing, I highly recommend having a read / listen.

[http://stephenking.com/library/nonfiction/on_writing:_a_memo...](http://stephenking.com/library/nonfiction/on_writing:_a_memoir_of_the_craft.html)

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stuaxo
And yet, Dan Brown ..

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overgard
I'm curious, I know Dan Brown tends to be considered a hacky writer, but how
many of these rules does he break?

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FlailFast
I think he tends to follow them pretty well, but the trouble with Dan Brown
isn't his technical writing; he breaks this unwritten rule: "don't make your
story arc the same in every single book you publish."

I loved the first Dan Brown novel I read. I moderately enjoyed the second.
Within 50 pages of the third, I knew exactly how the rest of the story would
pan out and who was the hidden antagonist. Once you know the formula, the
magic is gone.

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bcl
It forgets step 0. Write every day.

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cup
I would have thought writing was the easy part and getting a publishing house
to pick it up would be harder. I mean how do you approach someone to get your
book looked at?

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seoguru
"There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what
they are." \--W. Somerset Maugham

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HackyGeeky
Great !!! Great collection. English isn't my mother tongue, hence this helps
me for sure.

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etep
How I Became a Famous Novelist by Steve Hely

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woah
Hyperbolic title

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morkfromork
I'll wait for the movie version.

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Elizer0x0309
The title has so many oxymorons I couldn't even click it (straight to comments
to post this).

