The Bestseller Code

Reviews / Votes

If you're someone who dreams of penning a bestseller, read this book * The Week * Non-formulaic, eye-opening, deeply-researched - and really worth your time * GQ * [Archer's and Jockers'] enthusiasm and passion for literature shines through ... Thought-provoking and interesting -- David Bond * Financial Times * Archer is not some Silicon Valley whizz-kid looking to reduce the novel to 0s and 1s, nor is she a pretentious academic coming over the hills to sling around jargon about middlebrow novels. . . [She] is smart, savvy and full of ideas * The Times * [The] claims are eye-grabbing . . . [and] also highly plausible * Spectator * Fascinating -- David Aaronovitch * The Times * Reveals the diverse directions in which popular fiction may be taken . . . The bestseller-ometer may find its most noble application as a democratizing force * Atlantic * When a story captures the imagination of millions, that's magic. Can you qualify magic? Archer and Jockers just may have done so -- Sylvia Day, Sunday Times #1 bestselling author The Bestseller Code is an intriguing read and its analysis of what makes a plot tick and how readers are grabbed is compelling * Literary Review * Interesting ... This book is full of fascinating facts -- Mark O'Connell * Observer * This interesting little tome shares some of the Bookputer's insights with us, just in case we want to become author-millionaires too. And who doesn't? . . . Fascinating * The Times Review * Archer and Jockers are 'literature-friendly' and want good books to succeed * Wired * A delightful book to read. I would recommend it as both an entertaining and educational read for anybody interested in the business of books * Digital Book World Daily * Aspiring novelists who thumb through this volume will find plenty to think about . . . [T]his book actually represents an opportunity for literary scholars * Public Books * A laboratory is a more compelling setting than a church -- One of the most-anticipated books of Fall 2016 * Wall Street Journal * The Bestseller Code excited me, scared me, and generally blew my mind. Archer and Jockers have built a reading robot that can teach readers, writers, and publishers a great deal about how popular fiction works. This is a pioneering work in a new science of storytelling -- Jonathan Gottschall, author of 'The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human' Jodie Archer and Matthew Jockers take an astonishing insight into the DNA of bestsellers and turn it into a gripping page-turner about how we read. Truly remarkable! -- Viktor Mayer-Schoenberger, co-author of 'Big Data' and Professor of Internet Governance and Regulation at Oxford University