The Bestseller Code: Anatomy of the Blockbuster Novel

by Jodie Archer

What the godparents are teaching us about bestselling is that there must be a dominant topic to give the glue to a novel, and that topics in the next highest proportions should suggest a direct conflict that might be quite threatening.

Emotional and ethical topics are heavily favored, but inflammatory topics are kept to a minimum.

The sentences of the bestseller are not gaudy Christmas trees, carrying the different clashing colors and the weight of lights and baubles and tinsel and angels and stars. Better the plain fir tree brought into simple relief.