James Patterson keeps on rolllin'
James Patterson has a new book deal from Hachette, and its scope -- 17 books in three years! -- shows just what an astounding assembly line of best-sellers he has built.
Patterson, who can count his best sellers by the dozens (take that, Dan Brown), is the Henry Ford of the literary world. Known for popular series such as Maximum Ride and Alex Cross (who has a Ph.D. in psychology from Johns Hopkins, by the way), he often writes with collaborators. As he told Time magazine, he delivers an outline, they write a first draft, and he polishes. His new deal calls for 10 thrillers, one non-fiction work and six novels for kids by 2012.
Patterson doesn't get a lot of respect for his work -- I've seen it referred to on LibraryThing as "Extruded James Patterson Product(TM)". I do give him credit for openly crediting his collaborators (even though it's clear form his website and marketing materials that his is the name that counts). And he certainlyt is a genius for figuring out what a large segment of readers want.
Comments
I couldn't care if he has a co-writer. I love his style of short paragraphs and chapters. You can always read one more chapter. I am into his stories for my imagination, not the pretty pose or the sentences that I have to decipher. I love it and cant wait for his books to come out.
Thanks for the link to the TIme article, I feel it really makes him into a person, he does what he does.
Posted by: It's Me | September 17, 2009 10:29 AM
The Alex Cross books are my favorites. I haven't read the Maximum Ride series, but today I downloaded for free on the Kindle the first one, "The Angel Experiment."
Posted by: Gail Farrelly | September 17, 2009 11:36 AM