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What do you think?

I think they should prove it by churning out best selling novels :-)

I think some people have too much time on their hands. I'd be far more interested in the most popular punctuation

I've not read their book, but I've seen reviews of it. The general opinion seems to be that they haven't come across a magic formula, but they have confirmed some of the guidelines for good fiction. They highlight things like the importance of character arcs, strong verbs, emotions, realistic settings over fantasy - that sort of thing.

Following the standard guidelines doesn't guarantee that you'll write a bestseller, but they do give you more of a chance than someone who doesn't follow the standard guidelines.

The real trick with writing a bestseller seems to be to capture the public's imagination with the right story at the right time. Books like the Harry Potter series, Fifty Shades and Da Vinci Code aren't necessarily well written, but each has that certain something that gives the reader what they want. That could be a new experience or idea or it could be confirmation of something that we already believe in.

If we could bottle that ...

But "buy this book and write a bestseller"? Nah, not going to happen. It's more a case of "Read lots of books like this and you'll get better as a writer."

I think they are following the basic principle that a book telling would-be authors how to write a best-seller will sell well.

I read an article where, using facial recognition technology, our reaction to what we're reading will be analysed from our expressions thereby allowing online booksellers to present us only with what they know we will 'like'...

Sounds like "wordwooze" to me. See The Silver Eggheads.

Elizabeth wrote: "I read an article where, using facial recognition technology, our reaction to what we're reading will be analysed from our expressions thereby allowing online booksellers to present us only with wh..."

Cover the camera on your computer unless you want it to see you. Those things can be turned on remotely.

That's why little post-it notes were invented!

Tim wrote: "That's why little post-it notes were invented!"

Hah!

*looks up at post-it covering laptop camera...*

Wouldn't you get some sort of warning if your camera was turned on remotely???

T4bsF (Call me Flo) wrote: "Wouldn't you get some sort of warning if your camera was turned on remotely???"

There's supposed to be a red LED that comes on (or is it green?) that tells you the camera is active.

If you use skype on your computer, you can see the light.

Considering that the article telling you how to write a bestseller can't even get its grammar right (I know, I know, pot, kettle, black) undermines its credentials somewhat.

To be fair, the article was written by the newspaper, not the author of the book.

"For 50 Shades of Grey fans, having sex in every chapter in a book does not necessarily make it a bestseller; readers are more interests in those aforementioned “curves of fiction��."

Ha! Yeah right...

Now we know what Jud is looking for in a book...

:D

Patti (baconater) wrote: "Now we know what Jud is looking for in a book...

:D"

A lot of interesting locations?

Locations for what, exactly?

Gingerlily - Mistress Lantern wrote: "Locations for what, exactly?"

one every chapter anyway

Patti (baconater) wrote: "Now we know what Jud is looking for in a book...

:D"

You would if I had read 50 Shades but I haven't

I've read the first few pages and that's all I needed.

Will wrote: "I've read the first few pages and that's all I needed."

That's more than me

I read a few pages just to find out if it was as poorly written as everyone says.

It is.

I read the description, and that was a big NOPE for me.

I read a couple of blog entries where the blogger corrected the grammar, that was fun but it got very tedious very quickly.

I downloaded the sample. Couldn't finish it. I thought I was just a spoilsport but I'm glad I'm not alone.

so many people whose opinion I respect panned it I never even bothered with the 'look inside'

I did read it all...... but then quickly questioned my sanity and was full of regrets for time I could never reclaim.

I havered about buying it in a charity shop - but then noticed there were at least six copies to choose from. That helped me to decide it probably wasn't worth reading,

It wasn't! Very poorly written..... kept making me think of a foul mouthed Batman..... the phrase "Holy Sh1t" appeared many times!!!

Bet it's one of those rare cases where the film is actually better than the book. Not that I'll ever find out because I'll probably never watch it either

Well I just sat down & wrote a book. There was no formula or such. It is currently occupying number 18 in the UK 'war & military' & 19 in the US 'war' amazon bestseller (free) charts. It's a WW2 espionage novel so I can always say I have written something that rode high in the charts without recourse to 'how to' guides.

Funny how the people who write books and articles on how to write bestsellers never have a list of bestsellers to their name. They may quote a few bestselling writers, but that's as far as they go.