Thursday 5 July 2012

Guest blogger: Charlotte Calder's notes on What Makes a Best Seller?


What Makes a Best Seller?
Panel: Katrina Germein, Meredith Costain, Deborah Abela, Chris Kunz. Chair – Deborah Abela
Katrina Germein, Meredith Costain, Deborah Abela, Chris Abela, Chris Kunz

Katrina: Pic books generally not best sellers. 10,000?? for a best-selling pic book?
Topical subject in schools. Awards. Celebrity. A hook. Meaningful interaction. Fun. Great ending. Picture book series, eg Diary of a Wombat.

Meredith: Humour, applies to all genres. YA age has expanded to 10 – 20s. Books with one word titles!! Stories that linger, great characters with flaws and care about-able, distinctive voice, from the heart.

Chris: Humour. In 3 or more countries with major publisher. An inexact science. Difficulty for editors of convincing Sales and Marketing about taking on a book – don’t show too much love for it!

Q & As: The difficulty of maintaining a presence post-publication. 
Where are the dollars spent? Some best sellers are slow burners. Commissioning and writing a package for TV. Social media for teens is huge.


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