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 ]
Andersen Press has acquired a coming-of-age story about a girl growing up above a Chinese takeaway in the West Midlands in the 1980s by Sue Cheung. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-03-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Penguin Random House’s Vintage Books imprint will publish 'The Mister,' a new novel by Fifty Shades of Grey author E.L. James, on April 16. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-01-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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John Grisham has the #1 book in the country with ‘The Reckoning.’ Plus Sarah J. Maas’s Throne of Glass series has a fiery finish, and ‘The Girl in the Spider’s Web’ spins to the big screen. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-11-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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John Grisham’s latest legal suspense novel debuted at #1 on the Apple Books store, knocking ‘Every Breath’ by Nicholas Sparks to #2 from last week. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-10-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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John Grisham’s The Rooster Bar (Hodder) has leapfrogged David Walliams and Tony Ross’ The World’s Worst Children 3 (HarperCollins) to claim his second week at the UK Official Top 50 number one spot within a year. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-06-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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You certainly don’t have to be a Fifty Shades of Grey fan to enjoy Book Club, the new romantic comedy that stars Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen, and Mary Steenburgen. But the movie, in which four women’s lives are forever changed by reading E.L. James’ infamous series, is bound to... Continue reading at Slate
[ Slate | 2018-05-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Overwhelming demand for the book has generated wait lists that rival such all-time bestsellers as 'Harry Potter' and 'Fifty Shades of Gray.' Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-01-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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John Grisham's 'Camino Island' topped the iBook's bestsellers fiction list in 2017, J.D. Vance took the top honor in nonfiction for 'Hillbilly Elegy', and Mark Manson had the top-selling audiobook, 'The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck.' Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-12-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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‘The Rooster Bar’ by John Grisham, released on Oct. 24, knocked Dan Brown’s ‘Origin’ from its longstanding #1 perch. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-11-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hodder & Stoughton is publishing a new "highly topical" legal thriller from John Grisham this October, The Rooster Bar, inspired by the student debt crisis. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-08-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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John Grisham's 'Camino Island' remains #1, but the real story is Milo Yiannopoulos, whose fans put their money where his mouth is and vaulted 'Dangerous' to #20 in its first week. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-07-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The beleaguered FTSE 100 firm strengthens balance sheet by selling a 22% stake to Bertelsmann in deal valuing the publishing giant at $3.55bn Pearson has sold a 22% stake in Penguin Random House, the world’s biggest publisher, with titles ranging from Fifty Shades of Grey, Jamie Oliver and The... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2017-07-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Handmaid’s Tale has returned to the Weekly E-Book Ranking number one spot, as the previous week’s victor, John Grisham’s Camino Island, fell 15 places. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-06-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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John Grisham’s Camino Island has swooped into the Weekly E-Book Ranking number one, ousting Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-06-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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John Grisham's first career beach read stays at the crest of the wave on the iBooks bestseller list, followed by Nora Roberts's latest at #2. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-06-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Pearson plans to sell its 47 percent stake in the publisher, which is home to John Grisham, “The Girl on the Train” and the “Game of Thrones” books. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2017-01-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Management have moved to reassure staff and writers that selling the 47% holding will not affect business, but authors and agents express uneaseAuthors and staff have reacted cautiously to news that Pearson is to sell its stake in Penguin Random House (PRH), the world’s biggest publisher and... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2017-01-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Workers from Unite and NUJ fear move heralds industrial strife at company that publishes one in four books sold globallyPenguin Random House, the publisher of hits including The Girl on the Train, Fifty Shades of Grey and Jamie Oliver’s cookbooks, has terminated its collective agreement with... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2016-12-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Katy Evans's self-published romance 'Womanizer' dethrones the competition including David Baldacci, John Grisham, and James Patterson to nab the top slot. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-12-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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