Wednesday, December 08, 2010

How to Get a Bestseller

One way to get a bestseller is to write about what everyone's thinking. The trick is to figure what that is. What is everyone thinking?

Another way to get a bestseller is to make everyone think about what you've written.

Another way is to think up something new and different and get the word out before someone else thinks about it.

Yet another way to get a bestseller is to write something shocking.

One more way to get a bestseller is to do lots of promotion.

Another way is to have a really great cover.

Don't forget great reviews and back cover blurbs.

Or, if you're a celebrity, you could write just about anything, or hire a ghostwriter, and you'd get a bestseller.

These are some ways, which can be done alone or in combination.

Any other ideas about how to get a bestseller?  Or, maybe you can tell us of some instances where one of these methods worked for yourself or someone else. If so, I and the rest of us would like to hear about it.

Here's hoping at least one of these ideas will work. (g)

16 comments:

  1. You gave us some great ideas. Here's another one I heard recently - Take a myth and turn it on its ear.

    Now if I could figure out how to do that with my particular niche...

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  2. LOL - sign on with one of the six big publishers in NY? Definitely increases the odds!

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  3. Great post. I'm currently promoting the 'Royal Connections' between my book The Path of Innocence and William and Kate's romance.

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  4. Morgan, I beg to differ on these two: [Another way is to think up something new and different and get the word out before someone else thinks about it--Yet another way to get a bestseller is to write something shocking.]

    I wrote a book very different and a bit shocking. It was immediately requested by five editors and one agent. I got similar responses from three editors: I don't know how to publish it...it doesn't belong to any genre...I don't dare take a chance on it...I wish I was younger and having the gut to publish that!!!!

    So they really want a theme that is guaranteed to please the readers. Not something new. Only a new twist on a proven and well-established theme.

    To get a best-seller write a damn good book in a genre readers like and promote till you drop dead.

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  5. Get in on a trend. (hopefully before it dies. ha!)

    Write a good book.

    Friend Joe Konrath.

    Ha!

    Chris Verstraete
    Searching for a Starry Night: A Dachshund, friends, miniatures and a mystery.

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  6. Call me naive, but how about just writing a really good book?

    That said, I agree with all of the above.

    I might add: Be accessible to your fans and develop an Internet presence through social networks.

    Joshua Graham
    Author of BEYOND JUSTICE, a #1Bestselling Legal Thriller ebook on Barnes & Noble

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  7. Disclaimer - Obviously my suggestions won't work for everybody, but they have worked for some, and maybe you can be another lucky one!!!!

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  8. I wrote a book that was definitely unusual, and not the typical romance either. It had two heroines and two heroes.

    Rejection faced me, but then I found the perfect publisher for it. She saw whatI did in the book. And remember this....Always Remember is coming out with Secret Cravings and it is daring, provocative, and very different, so don't miss this one.

    Always Remember

    Love and blessings
    Rita

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  9. Good ideas all the way around. I have also been told social networking is a good way to get your name and work out there...using that one now to some success. Also, according to Writer's Digest, contributing to a blog related to your work (such as this fine blog) with a meaningful bit of information is a good way to develop your "brand" and get much needed exposure. Thanks for the blog and the invitation to be a part of it, Morgan.

    Ron Adams
    KEY LIME SQUEEZE,now available in e-book format from Charles River Press

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  10. Good ideas.

    It seems to me that it mostly comes down to writing something compelling that goes viral.

    Easy. Ha!

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  11. Ah, Morgan...you make it sound so easy....LOL

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  12. Write a book no one can put down.

    They will tell 10 someones about your book. And they'll tell 10 someones. And so on...and so on...and...

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  13. It’s a wonderful topic – thanks for the post, Morgan.
    All your suggestions are very useful. I’d only add luck and fate. The history speaks about genius artists and authors who were poor and unknown at their time, but became famous after their death…Don’t take me wrong, as I’m not trying to say that if the book is not a bestseller, then this is a great book that is just ahead of its time because, obviously, the book can simply suck  On the other hand, just writing a great book is not always enough for the book to be recognized…The solution? Write books from the heart and do what you can, leave the rest to God. That would be my idea of how to get a bestseller.
    Erin Aslin, Author of THROUGH THE CLOUDS – evolving through dysfunctional relationship: women’s fiction, spiritual.

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  14. Anonymous9:27 AM

    Write about the latest and greatest discoveries that challenge centuries old beliefs, like what's coming out of CERN and other related research and development labs around the world. That's what I did with Breakthrough.

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  15. I think it all happens when the stars are properly aligned and you've built up enough good karma to float the ark.

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  16. Hi Morgan,
    These are all good, but probably no one of them is enough. Great reviews are only good if people read the reviews. A great cover only works if people see it. My guess is that there is no tried-and-true method of guaranteeing a bestseller. First of all, write an excellent book.

    Bob

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