The Making of a Bestseller: Success Stories from Authors and the Editors, Agents, and Booksellers Behind Them

Book Description

According to Bowker, there are over 150,000 books published in the U.S. every year. Less than 1 percent of the books published make the bestseller list.

People are fascinated by bestselling authors who have become every bit as much celebrities as rock musicians or film stars. Through some mysterious process, these individuals take blank pages and turn them into gold. And many authors do this over and over again. For authors, earning a spot on the bestseller list is the grand, often elusive prize at the end of many years of work. But what makes a bestseller happen?

Brian Hill and Dee Power interviewed over 50 successful authors, publishers, editors, agents, book reviewers, and other experts to find the answer. The Making of a Bestseller: Success Stories from Authors and the Editors, Agents, and Booksellers Behind Them presents a comprehensive look at the publishing process from start to finish.

Authors and would-be authors, individuals in the publishing industry, and passionate readers will learn:

* How bestselling authors approach the craft of writing and marketing their books.

* The many different paths authors take to the top of the list.

* The impact a first bestseller makes on an author's life.

* The workings of the selection process, from the query letter to the decision to publish.

* How publishers know a book has bestseller potential.

* The agent's role in helping create a bestseller.

* Factors and events that influence whether a book makes the bestseller list, including TV ""reading book clubs,"" the review process, publicity, marketing programs, and timing.

* How Hollywood impacts the reading public.

To provide a broad spectrum of experience, interviews are included with authors of nonfiction and fiction, as well as first-time novelists to serial bestsellers. In addition, avid readers will find fascinating stories behind some of their favorite authors' works.

Customer Reviews:

Realistic Insight for Any Would-Be Book Author.......2006-09-19

Dee Power and Brian Hill have put together a fascinating look at bestselling authors and what it takes. They interview a number of bestselling authors, booksellers and editors about what made the difference for a book to become a bestseller. Here's a few quotes from the book:

"Now we know: The "secret bestseller sauce" is made up of this key ingredient--a great book." p. 88 Then on the next page: "in our survey, agents on average said they accept 2 out of 1,000 submissions. A senior editor with a top publishing house told us she accepts 1 out of 100 submissions that she receives from agents. If we combine the two, it means that there is a 1 out of 50,000 chance of a new book by an unknown author making it from the author's word processor to successfully attracting an agent, and then on to the contract stage with a publisher."

See what I mean about realism into the pages of this book?

Yet the tone is not discouraging but informative and helpful to stimulate would-be authors to excellence in their writing, in their pitches to editors and in their promotion efforts. I learned a great deal from this book and recommend it.

Backstage Pass.......2006-05-24

Brian and Dee's book is like having a one-on-one conversation with today's top fiction and non-fiction writers.

What questions would you want to ask them?
...How do you stay focused?
...What quality is present in all "good writing"?
...What is the life of an author truly like?
...How did you get into writing?
...Where do you get your ideas?

Chances are good that whatever your question Brian and Dee asked it.

The Making of a Bestseller is a book that you can pick-up, read for a few minutes, and get something out of it. If you want a book that delivers a step-by-step marketing strategy this is not the book for you. However if you want to get a glimpse into the mindset of today's top authors buy this book.

This is a book you'll want to read again and again. .......2005-10-21

You'll feel like you just had a scintillating dinner conversation with some of the top players in the publishing industry. This book is firmly grounded in reality and offers so much more than a pseudo-"sure-fire formula" for hitting bestseller lists-- it offers real insight into the ways success flourishes. This is a book you'll want to read again and again to glean new pieces of wisdom each time.

[...]

Title is Bestseller, Little Else.......2005-10-02

This book may sell because of it's title, and little else. Writing style is so-so, no real nuts and bolts info. Of course, being on a major bestseller list is fantastic and the authors within the book say so. But, and it's a big but, if you want to know how to become a bestselling author, this isn't your guide. As the book buyer for a publishing association, I won't recommend it--better books to help create marketing plans/strategies to move books would be John Kremer's 1001 Ways to Market Your Books and Brian Jud's Beyond the Bookstore.

Aspiring Authors, Get the Inside Scoop About the Publishing Business.......2005-08-20

Brian Hill and Dee Power have written this inside look into the business of writing with a natural and approachable style. The light handed touches of humor and the down to earth language made this a very enjoyable read. I have never written an Amazon Review until now but was compelled to add my voice to the others. Count me as a very satisfied consumer.

Book Description

In colleges and universities, there is increasing demand to help students learn how to conceptualize, analyze, and reason. Learning to Think presents a model of learning that takes into account the different ways learning occurs in different academic disciplines and explores the relationship between knowledge and thinking processes. Janet Donald--a leading researcher in the field of postsecondary teaching and learning--presents a framework for learning that goes beyond the acquisition of knowledge to encompass ways of constructing and utilizing it within and across disciplines. The author discusses how learning occurs in different academic disciplines and reveals how educators can improve the teaching and learning process in their classrooms and programs.

Learning to Think: Disciplinary Perspectives.(Book Reviews)(Book Review): An article from: Journal of Higher Education

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Learning to Think: Disciplinary Perspectives.(Book Reviews)(Book Review): An article from: Journal of Higher Education
Paul R. Pintrich
Manufacturer: Ohio State University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Journal of Higher Education, published by Ohio State University Press on July 1, 2004. The length of the article is 2391 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Learning to Think: Disciplinary Perspectives.(Book Reviews)(Book Review)
Author: Paul R. Pintrich
Publication: Journal of Higher Education (Refereed)
Date: July 1, 2004
Publisher: Ohio State University Press
Volume: 75 Issue: 4 Page: 476(5)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Book Description

Essential Guide to Qualitative Methods in Organizational Research is an excellent resource for students and researchers in the areas of organization studies, management research and organizational psychology, bringing together in one volume the range of methods available for undertaking qualitative data collection and analysis.

The volume includes 30 chapters, each focusing on a specific technique. The chapters cover traditional research methods, analysis techniques, and interventions as well as the latest developments in the field. Each chapter reviews how the method has been used in organizational research, discusses the advantages and disadvantages of using the method, and presents a case study example of the method in use. A list of further reading is supplied for those requiring additional information about a given method.

The comprehensive and accessible nature of this collection will make it an essential and lasting handbook for researchers and students studying organizations.

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The Best-laid Business Plans: How to Write Them, How to Pitch Them (Virgin Business Guides)
Paul Barrow
Manufacturer: Virgin Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Strategy & Competition | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Systems & Planning | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
General | Reference | Subjects | Books
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Customer is King: How to Exceed Their Expectation (Virgin Business Guides)

Business the Richard Branson Way: 10 Secrets of the World's Greatest Brand Builder (Big Shots Series)

ASIN: 0753509636

Book Description

How to write them, how to pitch them. Whether you're buying or selling, launching a new brand or employing more staff, better plans will lead to greater results. Shows how to create a successful business plan, how to present the right plan for the right audience, and how to get the maximum benefit from minimum effort.

Book Description

This book, the first ever based on unrestricted access to General Motors’ internal records, documents the giant American corporation’s dealings with the Third Reich. GM purchased Opel, Europe’s largest automaker, in the 1920s and continued to hold it through the Second World War. Historian Henry Ashby Turner, Jr., uncovers the fascinating story of how the American carmaker conducted business in Germany under the Nazi regime and explores larger issues concerning the relations between international corporations and the Third Reich.
The book presents new and detailed information about General Motors’ interactions with Hitler and other Nazi officials, including the carmaker’s attempt to capture the Volkswagen project. It also reveals how American GM executives thwarted a sustained Nazi effort to gain control of Opel. The author concludes with an assessment of the extent of the company’s implication, through Opel, in the Nazi war effort and in the exploitation of forced labor.

Customer Reviews:

Dry but informative read.......2007-05-03

Written in a dry and logical style, this informative and well researched book provides a university like thesis on a very interesting piece of corporate history. The book sticks to documented facts and fortunately avoids rash opinions and hysterical conclusions. The situation in which General Motors found themselves with the purchase of Opel just before the Nazis took power is still relevant today.

Industry and Ideology : IG Farben in the Nazi Era

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Brilliant
Hardly inconsequential
Big Disappointment
Shameful Volume by Peter Hayes
Important and Ignored

Industry and Ideology : IG Farben in the Nazi Era
Peter Hayes
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Company Profiles | Biography & History | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Europe | History | Subjects | Books

General | World | History | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 052178638X

Book Description

The power of big business in the Third Reich economy remains one of the most important issues of that disastrous era. Drawing on prodigious research in German corporate and government archives, Peter Hayes argues that the IG Farben chemicals combine, Nazi Germany's largest corporation, proved unable to influence national policy outside the firm's sphere of expertise. Indeed, the most infamous aspects of Nazi policy occurred despite IG Farben's advocacy of alternative courses of action. Nonetheless, Farben grew rich under the Nazi regime and was directly involved in some of its greatest crimes. This edition has a new preface that incorporates new developments and research in the field.

Customer Reviews:

Brilliant.......2003-01-10

The words of Peter Hayes contributed a new spin on the industrial contributions to the Germanic society. Corporations and volkism were thoroughly investigated. He offers new information on an old, but undying topic. It was awesome!

Hardly inconsequential.......2002-07-17

Dr. Hayes maintains that the directors of Farben were inconsequential to the Nazi plan of extermination--even though the company maintained an extensive operation of murderous slave labor at Auschwitz, and otherwise colluded with the Hitler regime. Since it has been made clear that the post-war Farben financially sponsored Hayes' research, I cannot see how this book and its conclusions can be taken seriously. I think the sponsorship seeps into the fabirc of the book itself. The conclusion about Farben directors which Hayes offers, referred to above, is just one example of this book's lack of credibility. Independent research would demand that any investigation of Farben's history be conducted free from financial contributions by the company itself. Hayes' book--and its slant--should be read with that in mind.

Big Disappointment.......2002-05-11

I expected more and was disappointed. Hayes could have made a real contribution by better documenting the crimes of corporate collusion. Hence, I'll stick with Crime and Punishment of IG Farben, which this book can't hold a candle to.

Shameful Volume by Peter Hayes.......2002-05-07

I first heard about this book from a friend whose opinion of this volume was not good. After reading it carefully, I must concur. I seems shameful that Peter Hayes should go out of his way to reinvent Farben directors and managers as just a pack of decent men caught up in the Nazi whirlwind while trying to help their company survive. Hayes' many conclusions are not supported by the documentation. Hayes should be ashamed of himself for authoring this book. I suggest right thinking people will agree.

Important and Ignored.......2002-04-02

Rarely examined and more rarely understood is how respective business leaders became effective accomplices in the Nazi regime. Peter Hayes' book, Industry and Ideology, provides a cogent explanation based on both extensive citations to research and on reasoned analysis and common sense. It should be required reading not only in University history departments, but also in business schools.

West German Industry and the Challenge of the Nazi Past, 1945-1955

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West German Industry and the Challenge of the Nazi Past, 1945-1955
S. Jonathan Wiesen
Manufacturer: The University of North Carolina Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Company Profiles | Biography & History | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Economic History | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Industrial | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | World | History | Subjects | Books

What Difference Does a Husband Make?: Women and Marital Status in Nazi and Postwar Germany

ASIN: 080785543X
Release Date: 2003-12-02

Book Description

In the aftermath of World War II and the Holocaust, West German industrialists faced a major crisis in their public image. With mounting revelations about the use of forced and slave labor, the "Aryanization" of Jewish property, and corporate profiteering under National Socialism, industrialists emerged from the war with their national and international reputations in tatters.

In this groundbreaking study, Jonathan Wiesen explores how West German business leaders remade and marketed their public image between 1945 and 1955. He challenges assumptions that West Germans--and industrialists in particular--were silent about the recent past during the years of denazification and reconstruction. Drawing on sources that include private correspondence, popular literature, and a wealth of unpublished materials from corporate archives, Wiesen reveals how German business leaders attempted to absolve themselves of responsibility for Nazi crimes while recasting themselves as socially and culturally engaged public figures. Through case studies of individual firms such as Siemens and Krupp, Wiesen depicts corporate publicity as a telling example of postwar selective memory.

Book Description

This digital document is an article from National Underwriter Property & Casualty-Risk & Benefits Management, published by The National Underwriter Company on June 1, 1998. The length of the article is 817 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Proof Emerges Of Insurer-Nazi Complicity.
Author: Amy S. Friedman
Publication: National Underwriter Property & Casualty-Risk & Benefits Management (Magazine/Journal)
Date: June 1, 1998
Publisher: The National Underwriter Company
Volume: v102 Issue: n22 Page: p8(1)

Distributed by Thomson Gale

The fate of small business in nazi Germany

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The fate of small business in nazi Germany
A. R. L Gurland
Manufacturer: U.S. Govt. Print. Off
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0007DN5MU

Book Description

Published by the United States Senate Special Committee to Study Problems of American Small Business in 1943, the preface opens with: "One of the secrets of fighting an effective war is knowing the enemy, how he operates, and what are his aims. Yet, although we have been officially at war with Hitler's germany for more than a year, there is still an insufficient understanding among the American people of the relationship between National Socialism and the cause of independent small business enterprise.

"This study establishes two points that, in my opinion, deserve the closest attention of thoughtful Americans.

"First, it shows that despite their wild promises to small business, the Nazis have systematically proceeded to destroy small business. Often it is done directly by forcing smaller concerns to close down. Still more often it is done by undermining the independence of smaller concerns; that is, by making them completely subservient to a giant cartel, a prime contractor, or the Third Reich itself. ...

"Moreover, the study lays bare the fact that the neglect of small business by the pre-Hitler Government assisted Hitler in his rise to power. ..."

Claude Pepper
Member, Special Committee to Study Problems of American Small Business
United States Senate

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[New York] New school for social research. Graduate faculty of political and social science. Social and economic controls in Germany and Russia
Herbert Block
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Estates & Trusts | Taxation | Law | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0007FWW6S

Book Description

The United Fruit Company (UFCO) developed an unprecedented relationship with Guatemala in the first half of this century. By 1944, UFCO owned 566,000 acres, employed 20,000 people, and operated 96% of Guatemala's 719 miles of railroad, making the multinat

Customer Reviews:

Government Collusion Yields Monopoly and Exploitation.......2001-01-17

Paul Dosal wrote this book as an extension of his doctoral thesis. In doing so, he has retained the focus on the relationship between the banana giant, United Fruit Company, and the so-called Liberal regimes in Guatemala from before the turn of the 20th century to the intellectuals and workers revolution of 1944. It has the usual indicia of a scholarly work, but it is well-written and easily comprehended by the general reader. Professor Dosal brings a certain amount of passion to his work, and he clearly views the main characters as greedy and criminal, but he generally sticks to the facts and delivers them in an orderly fashion.

Guatemala was only one of several Latin American and Caribbean countries where the United Fruit Company harvested or procured bananas, and it hardly has been one of the biggest-generally accounting for about six percent of world production. Yet it was the ability of Minor Keith, Victor Cutter, and Sam Zemurray to obtain favorable arrangements from the Guatemalan strongmen, particularly Manuel Estrada Cabrera (1898-1920) and Jorge Ubico (1929-44), that allowed United Fruit to forge a unique level of near-total economic control over the entire country and its development. Not only did United Fruit develop a monopoly in the production and marketing of Guatemalan bananas, but it also controlled the country's railroads and primary port. Its contracts allowed it to operate on its property without government regulation and with very little obligation to pay taxes. It also exercised nearly complete control over Guatemala's import and export trade, including the trade of coffee, even though it was neither a producer or marketer of this other primary export commodity.

Dosal does not go out of his way to claim or prove bribes and kickbacks to government officials for these favorable arrangements. He doesn't have to, as the facts speak for themselves. Anyway, his primary indictment of the "caudillos" is that they betrayed the interests of their own people for the benefit of foreign investors to an extent far beyond any return their country and its people received. In defense of Minor Keith and his investors, Guatemala's government had attempted to develop a national railroad without success because of lack of capital, and Keith provided the expertise and capital to get the railroad and the port built. Similarly, some of the later steps taken by United Fruit that resulted in greater economic control were done after Guatemalan authorities had been unable to accomplish their economic goals by other means, but the complicity of the dictators in United Fruit's plans resulted in increasingly one-sided bargains. Professor Dosal contrasts the similar development in Costa Rica, in which democratic regimes made bargains with United Fruit that over the years were much more even-handed. Dosal's main point, well-documented in this book, is that but for the existence of dictatorial regimes in Guatemala over the 45 years, the role of United Fruit Company in Guatemala's development would have been quite different. He writes:

"While Guatemalan dictators had conditioned the development of United Fruit, American diplomats and capitalists had deluded themselves into thinking that they shaped Guatemala's destiny. The country's most brutal dictator sanctioned the concession that allowed Keith to monopolize railways, and the limited democratic opening of the 1920s blocked his efforts to extend his influence to Guatemalan financing. Without timely assistance from Guatemala's corrupt and authoritarian rulers, Keith and United would have found it much more difficult to extract liberal concessions from the government, eliminate competitors, and suppress challenges to its authority." (pp. 112-13).

Unique research & analysis, insightful for learned reader.......1998-02-12

"Doing Business" covers some of the behind the scenes maneuvering and personality conflicts typical of early 20th century Central American republics. It sheds light on the motivation of the men behind the UFC and the railroads in detail not usually seen in books delaing with this subject. Too many other books have been written about Central American politics, especially with regard to the United Fruit Company, which focus solely on classical political analysis. This work must be used when studying this era in Central American history, to gain a full picture of the events. It would be nice to see more research like that of "Doing Business", political inclinations aside.

Average customer rating:

Every thing to know about effectiv reach

Advertising Reach and Frequency: Maximizing Advertising Results Through Effective Frequency
Colin McDonald
Manufacturer: NTC Business Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Advertising | Marketing & Sales | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0844235067

Book Description

Media choices multiply, audiences become more fragmented and costs escalate. As a result, advertising reach and frequency have become more important than ever to advertising budgeting, timing, media selection and measurement. This updated edition offers a provocative discussion of advertising reach and frequency and their effects, as well as down-to-earth guidance to assist marketers in making practical media selections. This book also defines frequency and how it works, recaps industry studies on the effectiveness of frequency, and shows how advertising effectiveness is related to frequency.

Customer Reviews:

Every thing to know about effectiv reach.......2002-08-22

From several years concept of effectiv reach manage media planning approach it's interesting to read last discoveries about this theory which is probably the truth in terme of contact distribution.

Book Description

The Ultimate Book of Business Breakthroughs tells the stories behind the greatest business decisions of all time and draws out the critical and universal lessons. From Mickey Mouse to the invention of mass production at Ford, and from "just doing it" with Nike to General Electric's research laboratory, these business breakthroughs show how imagination, guts and conviction can transform a business or industry overnight.

Customer Reviews:

A Must Have For Any Entrepreneur.......2005-05-25

I haven't bought whole bunch of business book but I can still tell this is one of the gem. The stories spawn through Silicon Valley to Henry Ford to McDonalds. The stressing point of each story is the decisions they tool which made them a huge success. Along the way you also get to know the way they confronted to problems, chances they decided to take and some highlights of the inner working of these organizations. This is extremely valuable text to learn lessons from the history. This compact readable book is a definite keeper on the shelves of any entrepreneur.

A BUSINESS BOOK TO ACTUALLY READ.......2000-03-27

Most books written by successful business leaders are a combination of history and vanity. The history is adapted to suit the writers theme and the vanity can often obscure the lessons to be learnt from what the writer has achieved. This book manages to avoid both pitfalls by just looking at twenty decisions which have actually made a difference to the companies concerned. Some, almost by definition, are more relevant than others and some will already be familiar to readers. We all know the Ford story but the argument over the marketing name for the Sony Walkman will give confidence to many internet pioneers (perhaps including Amazon) who worry about the gramatical purity of the name they have chosen for their site. Some of the chapters will, at first sight, seem out of place. Was the decision to make the James Bond movies a business decision or a bit of artistic good luck? Professor Cannon shows that it was the former and how belief in a project can carry things forward to the point of success. The story of the Co-operative movement in Britain will probably be unfamiliar to US readers but it is an intriguing contrast to the stories on individual enterprise. Some of the chapters are a bit short but the excellent bibliography for each chapter will be extremely helpful to those who want to know more about a particular story. This is not a textbook for MBA students to learn by rote. It is light and easy to read and will appeal not just to managers wanting to gain lessons from the successes of the last two centuries but also to anyone who wants to know how many of the standard products which we now take for granted came to be in our homes. It's the sort of book we will be getting down from the bookcase in ten years time to settle an argument or to remind ourselves that determination is the basis of all success

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