These days, John Deighton uses Patterson’s example to teach his MBA students the secrets of creating a blockbuster product. And Patterson continues to prove a worthy case study. Despite a relatively low profile compared with authors such as John Grisham and Tom Clancy – and a near-total absence of critical acclaim – Patterson, 60, has had more No.1 bestsellers in the past five years than Grisham, Clancy, J.K. Rowling and Dan Brown combined. He reportedly sells more than $127 million worth of books a year and last week it was revealed that he is the author most borrowed from British libraries. The “by the same author” page of his latest novel lists 48 previous titles, which he produces at an average of three a year and sometimes far more, often working with collaborators in a back-and-forth process whereby he supplies detailed plot outlines, then edits drafts written by others. A former advertising executive, he has, on occasion, paid for his own TV advertisements and market research.
MOre @ smh.com.au.
Nothing wrong with that
Pulp magazines didn’t disappear, they got novelized. Patterson, McBain, Cussler, Robb, Evanovich, Steel, Parker… they all have formulas. There’s nothing wrong with that as long as long as we realize that’s exactly what they are.
Besides, everyone has some kind of formula. Thomas Wolfe doesn’t get out of bed one day and decide to write like Amy Tan. Besides, if an author writes more than one book starring the same character, they’ve established a formula. Mystery writers have done it for years. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle had a formula. Then he broke it by having Holmes die. After adoring fans clamoured and did everything but burn crosses in front of his house, he picked up the pen and re-established his formula.
Now that’s the power of a formula.
Anyhow, I can’t blame Patterson for doing his own thing, and buying his own spots on the tele or whatever. It’s getting to the point that publishers want authors to do more of that kind of work anyway. They want the authors to set up their own websites, answer their own fan mail, build their own community, schedule their own book tours, and yes, even help with the advertising end. So if you’re going to do it, you may as well do it right. And hey, at least he has some hand in making those books sell and that does nothing but benefit him.
Some books contain the machinery required to create and sustain universes. Tycho (Jerry Holkins) @ Penny Arcade