The Bestseller Code - Hardcover

Jockers, Matthew; Archer, Jodie

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 024124370X ISBN 13: 9780241243701

Publisher: Allen Lane, 2016

Synopsis

What if an algorithm could predict which manuscripts would become mega-bestsellers?

Girl on the Train. Fifty Shades. The Goldfinch. Why do some books capture the whole world's attention? What secret DNA do they share? In The Bestseller Code, Archer and Jockers boldly claim that not only can mega-hits be explained and identified - but they've built the algorithm to prove it. Using cutting-edge text mining techniques, they have developed a model that analyses theme, plot, style and character to explain why some books resonate more than others with readers. Provocative, entertaining, and ground-breaking, The Bestseller Code explores the hidden patterns at work in the biggest hits and, more importantly, the real reasons we love to read.

About this title

Review:

If you're someone who dreams of penning a bestseller, read this book (The Week)

Non-formulaic, eye-opening, deeply-researched - and really worth your time (GQ)

[Archer's and Jockers'] enthusiasm and passion for literature shines through ... Thought-provoking and interesting (David Bond Financial Times)

Archer is not some Silicon Valley whizz-kid looking to reduce the novel to 0s and 1s, nor is she a pretentious academic coming over the hills to sling around jargon about middlebrow novels. . . [She] is smart, savvy and full of ideas (The Times)

[The] claims are eye-grabbing . . . [and] also highly plausible (Spectator)

Fascinating (David Aaronovitch The Times)

Reveals the diverse directions in which popular fiction may be taken . . . The bestseller-ometer may find its most noble application as a democratizing force (Atlantic)

When a story captures the imagination of millions, that's magic. Can you qualify magic? Archer and Jockers just may have done so (Sylvia Day, Sunday Times #1 bestselling author)

The Bestseller Code is an intriguing read and its analysis of what makes a plot tick and how readers are grabbed is compelling (Literary Review)

Interesting ... This book is full of fascinating facts (Mark O'Connell Observer)

From the Author:

Jodie Archer (Author) Jodie Archer bought and edited books for Penguin UK before she decamped for the doctoral program in English at Stanford University. After her PhD, she worked at Apple as their research lead on literature. She is now a full-time writer. Matthew Jockers (Author) Matthew L. Jockers was the co-founder of Stanford University's Literary Lab in Silicon Valley. His digital humanities work has been profiled in The New York Times, the LA Review of Books and more. He is Associate Professor of English at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln.

About this edition

• Publisher: Allen Lane
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 024124370X
• ISBN 13: 9780241243701
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256