A new study out of Stony Brook University employs a complex statistical model to figure out what makes a book successful. Judging books on the basis of Amazon sales, awards won and Project Gutenberg downloads, the scientists determined that successful books have a higher-than-average ratio of self-references, prepositions and coordinating conjunctions. Unsuccessful books, on the other hand? A high ratio of adverbs and location markers.
Too Many Nevers
What Millions Readers Are Reading (Vol. 1)
We asked about the books you're currently reading. You answered.
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Why Write Memoir? Two Debut Authors Weigh In
"It was hard on many levels, and I had to keep going back to why I was writing in the first place."
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“You Can Almost Hear the Ghosts”:
Valeria Luiselli on Juan Rulfo
"Rulfo travels in time and space with an absolute freedom without us getting lost."
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Several Attempts at Understanding Percival Everett
I knew from the dozens of other interviews I had read with him that Everett doesn’t love doing press. “I wonder why?” he joked to me.
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Kate Briggs Isn’t Trying to Be Original
"I’ve never been interested in making a claim to originality."
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