Grand unified books thread

[Razgovory]

Dan Brown is very good at what he does.

But what exactly is it that he does so well?
The problem with the write crap and make millions strategy is figuring out what it is that Dan Brown does differently from the equally lousy writers who don't sell millions of books.

I'd like to know why many so many people who can write better then he does don't sell millions of books.

[The Minsky Moment]

Taut, tightly written. Elements of suspense. A mystery. Lots of puzzle solving, and riddles. Oh and a conspiracy which if you don't know any history, might even be true.

Fair enough.
But aren't there an awful lot of books that fit that very same formula?

[garbon]

Dan Brown is very good at what he does.

But what exactly is it that he does so well?
The problem with the write crap and make millions strategy is figuring out what it is that Dan Brown does differently from the equally lousy writers who don't sell millions of books.

I'd like to know why many so many people who can write better then he does don't sell millions of books.

Because most people don't really gravitate towards well written books. There's a big market out there for trash.

[Josephus]

Taut, tightly written. Elements of suspense. A mystery. Lots of puzzle solving, and riddles. Oh and a conspiracy which if you don't know any history, might even be true.

Fair enough.
But aren't there an awful lot of books that fit that very same formula?

Maybe. I think that book came out at the right time, is all. His previous books went mostly unnoticed until then. Da Vinci Code got a lot of press, the scandalous conspiracy really helped. The Catholic Church ranting and raving also helped. It may very well be, if he wrote it today, it would have slipped un noticed. Im not defending him. I think he's shit. But he's good at writing shit.

It's the same with pop music. A lot of shit. A small percentage of it sells really well.

[Ed Anger]

You all need to read the Left Behind books. All of them.

[crazy canuck]

You all need to read the Left Behind books. All of them.

You are full of hate

[Ed Anger]

Evil is my middle name.

[Josephus]

You all need to read the Left Behind books. All of them.

How many were there in all? I know my ex read a couple of them.

[crazy canuck]

Evil is my middle name.

Ed E Anger

[Admiral Yi]

e e anger

[Ed Anger]

You all need to read the Left Behind books. All of them.

How many were there in all? I know my ex read a couple of them.

16? It is around that.

Not counting the spinoffs and stuff.

[Jacob]

e e anger

[fhdz]

e e anger

clearly has no problem cumming; thus the army of children

[Habbaku]

Reading Crucible of War by Fred Anderson.  Why can't people on the frontier be nice to each other?  All this scalping business seems so unnecessary.

On audiobook : Peter the Great by Robert Massie has me convinced that Charles was a madman who would have gotten along well with the likes of Teddy Roosevelt.

[The Brain]

Eleanor.