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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Twilight was a bestseller. It's ok not to like them. [/quote]

It's really not.

Full disclosure: I'm a writer who was recently dropped by her agent because three of my books just didn't sell. In her words, "They're lovely and well-written, but publishers are looking for stories with wider appeal."

For the past year, I've been on a hunt to figure out what makes the stories with wide appeal so successful - but because I don't personally enjoy, it's a struggle. I would like to find out what I'm missing.[/quote]

If you have actually published three books, you should be savvy enough to understand what makes books sell. Even if yours didn’t.You should understand how people like a plot that drives. You should understand what kind of characters have mass appeal. None of this should be news to you, or something that you need to study up on by going through the New York Times bestseller list.[/quote]

I haven't been published - my agent dropped me because she couldn't sell my books. And yes, I know how to write. What I do not understand is what makes readers love bestsellers so much, because I do not. I suppose it's hard to understand why research is necessary, but it is. [/quote]

Can you give us an example of a best seller that you didn’t understand why it was a best seller?[/quote]

For example, I write sci-fi, and I can't stand Andy Weir. I just don't see the appeal! The plots are too similar, the characters crass and paper-thin, and yes, first person isn't my fav. But obviously I'm in the minority. [/quote]

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