What Makes A Best Seller

What makes a great novel? What makes a best seller? How do I make my book a best seller?

 I've asked myself this question probably a million times, as I'm sure any aspiring novelist has done. That's why, after finding the answers, I'm going to share them with you.

First, take a look at 4 or 5 of the best selling series in your genre. The word series is important here because I feel that you get more out of the series than you do one book. Call me crazy, write me hate mail, that's fine - but for this exercise, series are best.

My genre is Fantasy. So here's my top 4:


 














I honestly tried to get them all to line up in a row, but they didn't want to behave.

1. Game of Thrones
2. Harry Potter
3. Inheritance Cycle
4. Lord of the Rings

 Now, lets begin. What does these four series have in common?

1. Other Races

Each of these series have more than one race. Game of Thrones has the White Walkers, Giants, and Children of the Forest. Harry Potter has Goblins, Giants, Death Eaters, Merpeople...  Inheritance has Dwarves, Elves, Giants, Ra'Zac, Urgals... Lord of the Rings has Elves, Hobbits, Goblins, Orcs... you getting the picture here?

They all have another race other than human. Now, you can use races we're already familiar with in your book (think how many times Elves or Goblins or Giants have been used). Or, you can create your own new unique race. 

If you create your own race, please:

• Describe their features. So many times I read books where they have their a new race that I've never heard of. Great! I love it! Except the only thing they use to describe them is their race name. Readers cannot read your mind, let's just get this out there. This does not mean they want to read a page worth of descriptions, trust me, you'll start to bore them. Give them the important facts and let their imaginations take it the rest of the way.
• Tell us about their culture. Obviously it's not going to be the same as ours, and they're going to have their own way of doing things. What are those things and why are they interesting? 

2. Languages 
 Okay, so you've got your other races. Those other races are probably going to have their own language, even if it is only body language (this is why culture is so important). 
Either way, another language deepens that cultural chasm and brings a little bit of mystery into the book. 

Hell, even humans have different languages depending on where they are from. Language create conflict. Conflict is a good thing in books. Think about it:

What are they saying?
Does your antagonist understand them?
If not, how do they communicate? 

3. Heavily defined side characters. 

You and I both know that the main character is why we're really telling the story. But what about everyone else? The relationships these characters build off each other bring the story to life, and make it more realistic. 

What would Harry have done without Ron and Hermione?

Game of Thrones starts out with the Starks, but some readers end up rooting for someone entirely different as the books progress. 

The Lord of the Rings starts with Frodo, but then we see these side stories with Aragorn and Arwyn... and then Aragorn is the lost king? I mean, who saw that coming? Not even the author (read more here.) (I read this previously in another article but couldn't find it).
  
Treat your side characters like they're their own hero of the story. Breathe life into them by giving them a story. Dreams. Hopes. Goals. Conflict. 

4. Original Names

Three of the series above have original names that the author created. No one had ever heard of the name Frodo, or Eragon, or Danaerys. Now, I don't believe that your main character has to be the one with a unique name.  However, I think it gives a nice touch of originality to have at least one thrown in there somewhere.

Stumped on how to create one? Try adding two names together.  



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