She Was Right All Along

One of the enduring mysteries of popular culture is why certain mediocre works become wildly successful, even inescapable. In addition to the occasional masterpiece, book publishing produces hundreds of thousands of middling titles every year, and every so often one of them catches on, becoming the blockbuster that funds all the rest. But why that particular book? Take Paula Hawkins’ The Girl on the Train, a psychological thriller of very modest accomplishment that has sold upward of 11 million copies, putting Hawkins on Forbes’ list of the highest-paid authors in the world, one slot above Game of Thrones’ George R.R. Martin. Most best-sellers aren’t any better than the drably written and predictably twist-ridden The Girl on the Train, of course, and some are much worse. But the typical successful commercial novelist—from James Patterson to Mary Higgins Clark—succeeds not by coming out of nowhere with a remarkable book but because she has hammered out a formula more or less her own, promising her readers a reassuringly familiar experience. Can Hawkins? Her new novel, Into the Water, will tell. Continue reading at 'Slate'

[ Slate | 2017-04-24 00:00:00 UTC ]

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Bill Clinton and James Patterson collaborate on political thriller

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[ The Bookseller | 2017-05-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bill Clinton teams with James Patterson to write White House thriller

The President Is Missing will see the former US leader make his prose fiction debut in collaboration with his golf partner the crime writing mega-sellerIn one of the most unexpected literary collaborations to date, former US president Bill Clinton is to publish a novel with bestselling crime... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2017-05-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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HC pre-empts thriller Possession in six-figure deal

HarperCollins has pre-empted a two book deal for Possession, a psychological thriller by J L Butler, for six figures. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-04-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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She Was Right All Along

One of the enduring mysteries of popular culture is why certain mediocre works become wildly successful, even inescapable. In addition to the occasional masterpiece, book publishing produces hundreds of thousands of middling titles every year, and every so often one of them catches on, becoming... Continue reading at Slate

[ Slate | 2017-04-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Psychological thriller by Eleanor Catton to Granta

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[ The Bookseller | 2017-03-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Printing money: 10 of the richest book deals of all time

The Obamas’ $60m book deal has broken all records. From James Patterson to JK Rowling and Pope John Paul II, here are some of their closest rivals1. Seventeen books by James Patterson ($100-150m)When? 2009 Related: The audacity of hype: could Obama's presidential memoir be the greatest ever? ... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2017-03-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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iBooks Bestsellers: Delaney, Patterson, James On Top

J.P. Delaney's 'The Girl Before' rose to the top of the iBooks Bestseller list this past week, followed by another strong showing by James Patterson and Candice Fox's 'Never Never.' Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-02-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Bookseller | 2017-02-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Bookseller | 2016-12-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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iBooks Bestsellers: Self-Pubbed 'Womanizer' On Top

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-12-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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iBooks Bestsellers: Patterson Crosses the Line

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-11-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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'Original' take on psychological thriller to Del Rey

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[ The Bookseller | 2016-11-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Bookseller | 2016-10-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Movie Alert: 'Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life'

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-08-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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First BookShots Titles Sell 30,000 Copies in a Week

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-06-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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'Compelling' psychological thriller to HarperCollins

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[ The Bookseller | 2016-06-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Book Deals: Week of May 30, 2016

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-05-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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iBooks Bestsellers: A Patterson 'Affair'

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-05-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Cornerstone lines up 30 Patterson BookShots for 2016

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[ The Bookseller | 2016-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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