Is it possible to predict whether a book will sell well? Former publisher Jodie Archer and Matthew L Jockers, of Stanford University’s Literary Lab, built an algorithm to find outYour program can identify, from scanning 20,000 books, ones which made the New York Times bestseller lists with 80% accuracy, and one of your key discoveries was that the topics covered in a novel – marriage, work, technology – are more important than its genre in terms of predicting its success. Why?JA: If you look at a bestseller list, you might think it was very diverse in genre – a Stephen King alongside a Jojo Moyes. But certain topics were strong indicators of a bestseller, regardless of genre. “Human closeness” came out on top. This doesn’t mean romance – it could be talking with someone you are intimate with or shopping with a parent. It may be to do with pacing – when Dan Brown knows he has to slow his pace down a little bit and let the characters reflect before a big chase scene in the Vatican, his characters talk it out. John Grisham does it perfectly because in all the legal machinations and suspense and back stabbing, there are always scenes where a lawyer gets a bottle of red wine and a Chinese takeaway and sits on the couch with his female counterpart and they chew the cud for a bit. It is almost the opposite of a formulaic how-to; make a boy meet a girl, make them fall out. Related: Bestselling books 2015: Fifty Shades still on top Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2016-09-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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How the two nations’ intelligence services, once adversaries, turned into strong allies. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2021-10-20 12:00:00 UTC ]
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Don Winslow ripped the conservative West Virginia Democrat for conflicts of interest amid a Senate stalemate over Joe Biden's social policy agenda. Continue reading at The Huffington Post
[ The Huffington Post | 2021-10-19 08:03:21 UTC ]
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A high-flying German media giant is ahead on digital media but seems stuck in the past when it comes to the workplace and deal-making. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2021-10-18 18:15:07 UTC ]
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Amor Towles’s 'The Lincoln Highway,' which became this month’s Read with Jenna pick for the Jenna Bush Hager Book Club, hit #1 overall. Plus Grunge god Dave Grohl, the Nirvana drummer and Foo Fighters frontman, has the #2 book in the country this week with his memoir The Storyteller'. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-10-15 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Andersen Press has acquired Ryan Douglass' New York Times bestseller The Taking of Jake Livingston, a YA ghostly thriller with a Black, LGBT+ lead. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-10-12 13:17:38 UTC ]
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The Irish author of "Beautiful World, Where Are You" has been open about her opposition to Israeli government policies. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2021-10-12 11:46:18 UTC ]
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Anthony Doerr snags a spot in the National Book Award for Fiction as a finalist for 'Cloud Cuckoo Land,' which charted overall as the #3 book in the country while 'Unrequited Infatuations' lands at #7. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-10-08 04:00:00 UTC ]
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The #2 book in the country is 'Change Sings,' written by inaugural poet Amanda Gorman and illustrated by 'Otis' creator Loren Long. Plus Richard Powers has the #8 book in the country with 'Bewilderment,' and TJ Klune's latest fantasy, 'Under the Whispering Door,' has a great first week. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-10-01 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Bernardine Evaristo, Captain Sir Thomas Moore and T M Logan have won Nielsen Bestseller Awards for passing milestone sales thresholds during 2021. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-09-29 23:11:17 UTC ]
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Helena Merriman tells how a passage to freedom was dug under the Berlin Wall in 1962. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2021-09-24 12:00:00 UTC ]
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'An Unapologetic Cookbook' by Joshua Weissman is the #1 book in the country while Liane Moriarty continues to rise with 'Apples Never Fall' gripping the #2 spot in competition with Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Colson Whitehead's 'Harlem Shuffle.' Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-09-24 04:00:00 UTC ]
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This anthology by Kwame Mbalia is comprised of stories that have always existed but rarely get told. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2021-09-21 12:00:00 UTC ]
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Sally Rooney’s latest novel Beautiful World, Where Are You (Faber) is already the biggest-selling hardback fiction title of 2021 at Waterstones after just three days on sale, the chain's m.d. James Daunt has said. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-09-10 14:57:27 UTC ]
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'Washington Post' investigative reporter Craig Whitlock has the #6 book in the country with 'The Afghanistan Papers.' Plus a cookbook and party guide inspired by 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' also lands in our top 10, and contemporary romance author Helen Hoang makes her first appearance on... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-09-10 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Hamish Hamilton has scooped the follow-up to Pat Barker's bestseller The Women of Troy (Penguin). Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-09-08 05:47:02 UTC ]
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Christian living titles lead the way in nonfiction and Amish country novels are tops for fiction. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-09-07 04:00:00 UTC ]
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History podcaster Mike Duncan has the #8 book in the country with his Marquis de Lafayette bio, 'Hero of two Worlds.' Plus a pair of tennis books score in time for the U.S. Open, and Oprah makes her latest book club pick. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-09-03 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Stanley J. Weyman’s 1893 novel is right up there with Alexandre Dumas’ “The Three Musketeers.” Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2021-09-01 16:04:55 UTC ]
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Victoria Hislop’s bestselling The Island (Headline) and its sequel have been celebrated with a series of projections across London including Marble Arch and the dome of St Paul’s Cathedral. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-08-27 04:28:59 UTC ]
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Simon & Schuster UK has landed The Secret to Love, Health and Money by Rhonda Byrne, author of international bestseller The Secret. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-08-25 08:49:18 UTC ]
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