The secret of a bestseller

So what is the secret of a bestseller, or rather how does your book become a bestseller?  I'm currently reading 'Fifty Shades of Grey' by E.L. James.  I'm really enjoying it too!   Although it's not exactly up there with the literary classics, I'm surprised that it's not as badly written as I'd expected, having heard lots of people deride it in the media. Yes parts of it are cliched and sometimes I wish the author wouldn't repeat certain phrases, but it has engaging characters and an intriguing plot.

And of course it's almost impossible to talk of bestsellers without mentioning JK Rowling, whose books I really enjoy.  Again, many of the Harry Potter books, especially the early ones, are not that well written.  But to me, what's special about them is that Rowling has created her own world, a world not entirely different from our own - there are plenty of Muggles in the world outside of Hogwarts - but one that has its own set of rules: what is possible, what is not, what is allowed magically and what is unacceptable.  I could go on.  But I think this whole magical world Rowling has created has a lot to do with the popularity of the Harry Potter books.  Then there's also the fact that the characters are very human (most of the time!) and normal (a lot of the time!).  Other authors like Stephenie Meyer and Suzanne Collins have also successfully created their own worlds, in and outside ours.

The characters in both James and Rowling's books, whilst differing greatly from each other, are similar in that each author has kept them consistent.  What I mean by this is that the characters, although they may change a little over the course of the stories, stay true to their fundamental personality.  They never do anything that is completely against type, or at least if they do a reason is given, we see inside their heads and we're with them every step of the way whilst they try to solve what may seem like insurmountable problems.  This is another reason that they're bestsellers.

Another aspect to bestsellers is word of mouth.  James' novels began life as ebooks, but quickly made the leap to paperback as well after word of mouth recommendation.  The Harry Potter books began life a little differently, but as many people know JK Rowling was rejected by twelve publishers before the first Harry Potter was accepted by Bloomsbury.  The young daughter of the Bloomsbury chairman helped when, after being given the first chapter of the first Harry Potter novel to review by her father, demanded to read the second.  And of course, as with 'Fifty Shades of Grey', the Harry Potter novels too owe a great deal to word of mouth.  In a way though, which book doesn't? 

Plot is very important in a successful novel.  It has to grab us from the beginning.  If it doesn't we may not bother reading on.  It's only occasionally that I won't finish reading a novel I've begun, but when I don't it's generally because it's too slow.  I think all the authors I've mentioned above - and of course there are many, many more - all create plots and storylines that we want to follow, we want to find out what happens next.  I think, too, that passion is very important.  You've got to believe in what you're writing and in your characters for other people to want to read your novel and believe in your characters too.

In conclusion, I think that all of the above are important aspects to a bestselling novel.  But also I think that for a novel to be successful - even if it's not on the scale of the authors mentioned - it's important to get it out there in the public domain, to promote it as much as possible for it to be a success.  As authors we mustn't be afraid to hear from the critics, both professional and amateur as to how we can improve our work.

And of course the most important thing we can do is keep writing!