What Do Bestselling Authors Have In Common

What Do Bestselling Authors Have In Common?

Nine Characteristics That May Surprise You.

In writing "The Making of a Bestseller: Success Stories From Authors and the Editors, Agents and Behind Them," (Dearborn Trade, 2005), we wanted to find out what separates the publishing industry elite, the bestselling authors, from all the thousands and thousands of writers who aspire to someday make the bestseller lists. We interviewed 24 of today's most popular authors, some of whom have endured on the bestseller lists for decades. As a group, these authors have sold more than half a billion books. It turns out that writing talent is not the only separating factor; in fact it may not even be the most important factor.

Find out what you as a writer may have in common with bestselling authors like Nicholas Sparks, Catherine Coulter and Susan Elizabeth Phillips and what you can learn from them.

1. Perseverance Is Key

Nearly all bestselling authors faced the same struggles early in their careers that less successful, even unpublished authors, face. Immediate success is rare. One distinction of bestselling authors is that they do not get as discouraged by lack of early success. They persevere. Their desire to succeed is enormous. Bestselling authors often have to demonstrate the patience and stamina to write a number of books before achieving notable success.

2. They Write, And Write And Write

The productivity, the writing output, of bestselling authors is much greater than the average writer's. They have the discipline to get up each day and produce high quality work. They don't wait for the muse to tap them on the shoulder. Some authors' literary production is phenomenal, such as Catherine Coulter, who wrote "Point Blank," she has produced over fifty bestsellers so far in her career.

3. They Like To Write And Write And Write

They would rather write than do anything else. It's not just that successful authors are more disciplined, though that is part of it; they simply enjoy writing more than other writers do. Many aspiring authors enjoy the idea of writing, not the hard work itself. Bestselling authors seem to thrive on the hard work, and they work much harder than we might suppose. Iris Johansen, author of "Countdown," writes two books a year, not because she has to but because she couldn't not do it. Writing is her passion.

4. Promotion Is Constant

Bestselling authors never stop promoting their books, no matter how successful they get. Many still market at the grass roots level, not just through national TV or radio interviews. They take the time to visit and meet individual bookstore managers at both chain stores and independents. They never relax and believe they have "made it." After ten bestsellers, including "The Notebook," Nicholas Sparks still tours with every new book.

5. Marketing Is Critical

Even if they have never taken a business course in college, they have an innate sense of marketing concepts such as brand building and product differentiation. They closely watch trends in the literary marketplace. They understand what it is about their books that readers respond favorably to. They take a strategic approach to their careers and they realize that much more goes into being a successful author than the writing itself. Carly Phillips big break came when Kelly Ripa recommended "The Bachelor" on The Kelly & Regis show. It wasn't just luck that landed her the recommendation, but a concerted effort on her part and her publicist's part.

6. Fans Are An Important Asset

Bestselling authors listen closely to what their readers say, and try very hard to meet or exceed their fans' expectations, but they do not necessarily pay close attention to what reviewers or book critics say. They don't even necessarily expect good reviews. Word of mouth support from readers and booksellers is more important to them than reviews. Linda Fairstein, the author of "Entombed" and the Alexandra Cooper series, loves book signings. At her level of success she doesn't have to do them but she loves talking to her readers.

7. The More Success The More Pressure

Bestselling authors face more pressure as they get more successful. As they rise to the top, there are increasing demands on their time. Top authors lead three very different lives. First, the quiet, solitary scholarly life of being a writer. Then participating in the team effort within the publishing house to make the book the best book it can be. This involves learning how to take advice from and collaborate with the professionals within the publishing house. Finally, the author must participate in the very public life of trying to sell books to the mass audience. They have to master all three lives if they intend to continue to achieve bestseller status. Susan Elizabeth Phillips worked for a month without a day off when "Ain't She Sweet" was released.

8. They're Grateful

Bestselling authors are keenly aware how fortunate they are to have arrived at the top of their profession. They sincerely appreciate their loyal readers. They recognize that they have been chosen to receive a strikingly rare, special distinction by a bustling, competitive marketplace. The success, fame and financial rewards that have come to them are often beyond the most extravagant dreams they had when they first sat down to write a book. Christopher Paolini credits the support of the teachers, librarians, booksellers and fans, for the success of his first book, "Eragon".

9. There Is No Single Profile For A Bestselling Author
Bestselling authors are seldom the top graduates from prestigious university writing programs. Writing may have been a second or third career for them, and the publishing industry values authors who bring life experience to their work, in fiction or nonfiction. Bestselling authors span all age groups, many different professions and varied educational backgrounds. There is no single profile for what a bestselling author looks like.

BONUS : What Do Stephen King, Jeffrey Deaver, Jonathan Kellerman And Thomas Mann Have In Common?

Frequently, I’m asked whether I know the whole story of a novel at the outset of writing it. The answer is a simple “no”.

I might have an idea of where I want a story to go, but often I’m surprised by the direction it may take, seemingly all on its own. How on earth does that happen?

First, let me say that I often make plot outlines and charts as I work, more to keep track of where I’ve been rather than where I’m going. It sounds a bit like “backing into” a story. When I first started CONDUCT IN QUESTION many years ago, I got perhaps a hundred pages into the novel and suddenly had no idea what would come next.

It seemed fruitless to revert to charts and diagrams. Here’s what I did do. For a number of weeks I set aside the beginnings of the novel and spent much time making notes about the characters I had up on the stage, for I realized I didn’t know enough about them.

An example? In CONDUCT IN QUESTION, there are two sisters, Katharine and Suzannah. Actually, they were inspired by two clients I had, only to the extent that those two sisters seemed so diametrically opposed in nature that, when together, they seemed to form some strange sort of unity. Katharine was to be the hard as nails- business- woman and Suzannah was some sort of faded flower child. But I didn’t know what their fate would be, because I didn’t know enough about them. Although I initially thought of Katharine as the one who would set everyone straight and impose her will on the family, it occurred to me that her toughness might somehow set her up as the perfect victim. Once I started thinking of her in that fashion, she very quickly evolved into a far more interesting character. She would be the victim of the Florist (the serial killer) because her nature caused her to take inordinate risks, which most other women would never consider. Her aggressiveness led to great danger. Finally realizing she had become so hardened by life and experience, she understood she had never trusted anyone enough to love. And love was what she really wanted. With that line of thinking, the plot, her destiny fell into place.

Right now, I am involved in one of my many re-workings of the structure of the third novel in the OSGOODE TRILOGY, A TRIAL OF ONE. There are three major story lines in this novel, all of them different sorts of quests. It continues the search for shares representing about fifty million dollars in the second novel, Final Paradox, for shares. But there’s a problem with the story line about Harry (the protagonist) and Natasha (the love interest) and a third party to form a triangle.

How to make it end right? It’s very strange but I can see where an essential event will take place, but not what will happen, except in the most general sense. For example, two people in this plot must part forever. Their relationship will be changed permanently. But how? The location will be at a remote and isolated cottage. I can see sand dunes, held in place by scrubby vegetation, with the beach stretching out forever. The wind will be unceasing. Fine so far as it goes. But what and how will it happen? I am hoping the more I explore the setting, the answer will reside in its details.

I came across an interview of various writers on the question of plotting and the making of outlines at www.authorsontheweb.com. They were responding to Stephen King’s statement that he did not make an outline before writing a novel. Jeffrey Deaver, citing the importance of structure of story, said he makes outlines, although that might not be so important in a character or situation driven novel. Daniel Handler says writers who claim not to use an outline are lying because, if you know the end of the sentence when you start it, you’re outlining. Because of his multiple plot lines, Jonathan Kellerman does outline. Of course, the replies show just how highly individualized the creative process can be and, in fact, must be.

For me, each writer must find his or her own way into the world of creating characters and events. In much of his writing, the German author, Thomas Mann, expounded upon the process of artistic expression. Perhaps Mann is best known for the short story, Death in Venice. For example, in his short story, Tonia Kruger, a young man attempting to find his voice and place in the world of literature, says in his letter to his friend Lisabetta,

“The work I have done so far is nothing or not much – as good as nothing. As I write, the sea whispers to me and I close my eyes. I am looking into a world, unborn and formless, that needs to be ordered and shaped; I see into a whirl of shadows of human figures who beckon me to weave spells to redeem them: tragic and laughable figures and some that are both together – and to these I am drawn. But my deepest, secretest love belongs to the blue-eyed, the fair and living, the happy, lovely and commonplace.”

For me, this says it all. Those characters and the events of their lives are in some murky, barely perceptible world of one’s psyche. It’s the writer’s job to weave the spell, which brings them up into life, makes them speak from their inmost souls and then causes them to perform whatever acts they are impelled by their nature and circumstance to do.

Regardless of genre, this is the task each and every writer has in common with another. And each one eventually comes to his or her own method.