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 ]
Patterson originally announced that he would be donating $1.25 million to school libraries but now he's increasing the amount to $1.5 million. 'I’m blown away by the number of parents and teachers who have shared the urgent needs of their community’s school library,” the author said in a... Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2015-03-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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As part of a new initiative designed to raise awareness about the state of school libraries in the U.S., James Patterson announced that he will make a $1.25 million donation to school libraries across the country this year. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-03-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hexthorpe Primary School in Doncaster is set to receive £10,000 of books for its library after winning the inaugural World Book Day Award (WoBoD). The award, which was launched by World Book Day in January, is funded by James Patterson, who donated £50,000 of his own money to fund the prize for... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-03-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A busy publication schedule drove change across all the major Bookseller charts last week, with titles from James Patterson, David Walliams, Jeffrey Archer and Helen MacDonald all chalking up number ones in their first week of sale. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-03-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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James Patterson, already among the world's best-selling authors, plans to shake up the publishing industry with the launch of his new novel, Private Vegas, which will self-destruct within 24 hours. Continue reading at Stuff
[ Stuff | 2015-01-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Editors are predicting a continuing surge of debut fiction in 2015, following the success of authors like Jessie Burton and Elizabeth Healey, saying they are on the lookout for original voices and novels in translation, as well as strong homegrown talent. The trend for unreliable female... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-01-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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James Patterson has launched a campaign in the US to persuade President Barack Obama to draw attention to the importance of reading. The campaign, which has the hashtag #SaveOurBooks on Twitter, asks people to sign a petition, write to their politicians, spread to word on social media and find... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-11-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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James Patterson, author of 'Hope to Die' (Little Brown, 9780316210966) and 'House of Robots' (LBYR, 9780316405911), will appear on NBC’s 'Today' on Monday, November 24. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-11-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In House of Robots, the first book of James Patterson’s new middle-grade series, Sammy, a fifth grader, is humiliated when his genius inventor mother insists that he bring her latest creation, a robot named E, to school. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-11-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Corvus has acquired UK and Commonwealth rights to Try Not to Breathe, a psychological thriller by debut novelist Holly Seddon. Corvus editorial director Maddie West cut the deal with Nicola Barr from Greene & Heaton. The debut involves journalist Alex, "whose career and personal life is on... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-10-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Stephen King and Donna Tartt among those petitioning Amazon to 'stop harming the livelihood of the authors'Readers of the New York Times will have to steel themselves this weekend, as the unseemly brawl between Hachette and Amazon erupts on to the tranquil pages of the Grey Lady. Perhaps the... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2014-08-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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James Patterson has lent his support to the Books Are My Bag campaign, with a new bag for... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-08-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Booksellers Association has seen an “amazing response” to James Patterson’s... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-07-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Nearly 900 authors across world back criticism of online retailer's business tactics in ebooks dispute with US publisher HachetteThey include some of the biggest literary names on the planet, among them Stephen King, Donna Tartt, Paul Auster, James Patterson and John Grisham; a Pulitzer prize... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2014-07-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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James Patterson’s YA book franchise, which has sold over 30 million copies, is about to go digital. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-07-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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One one side are established authors including Stephen King, John Grisham and James Patterson. On the other side are self-published authors. They're taking sides in the weeks-old dispute between Amazon.com Inc. and Hachette Book Group. King, Grisham and Patterson have signed their names to a... Continue reading at Silicon Valley Business Journal
[ Silicon Valley Business Journal | 2014-07-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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"Invisible," by James Patterson and David Ellis, was the second best selling book in Apple's iBooks store for the week ended June 30. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-07-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hachette Book Group, publisher of James Patterson and Malcolm Gladwell, has shut down its Business Plus imprint as part of a round of layoffs and restructuring that has also claimed several longtime... To view the full story, click the title link. Continue reading at Crains New York
[ Crains New York | 2014-06-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The grants are part of a million-dollar giveaway by James Patterson to independent booksellers who promote children’s books. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-05-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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