The Bestseller Code

Description

What if an algorithm could predict which manuscripts would become mega-bestsellers? Girl on the Train. Fifty Shades. The Goldfinch. Why do some books capture the whole world's attention? What secret DNA do they share? In The Bestseller Code, Archer and Jockers boldly claim that blockbuster hits are highly predictable, and they have created the algorithm to prove it. Using cutting-edge text mining techniques, they have developed a model that analyses theme, plot, style and character to explain why some books resonate more than others with readers. Provocative, entertaining, and ground-breaking, The Bestseller Code explores the hidden patterns at work in the biggest hits and, more importantly, the real reasons we love to read.

Matthew Jockers (Author) Matthew L. Jockers was the co-founder of Stanford University's Literary Lab in Silicon Valley. His digital humanities work has been profiled in The New York Times, the LA Review of Books and more. He is Associate Professor of English at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. Jodie Archer (Author) Jodie Archer bought and edited books for Penguin UK before she decamped for the doctoral program in English at Stanford University. After her PhD, she worked at Apple as their research lead on literature. She is now a full-time writer.