Topics That Make Fiction Bestsellers For The Great Writers

“The best angler in the world will catch nothing if he throws his net in the Dead Sea.”
-Irving Wardle
If you want to write a bestseller, you may wish to write on any or all of the genres discussed below. This is because they are echo bibles any day. It is frustrating for an author to spend nights and days, writing and re-writing, only to release his work to an unreceptive public. Consider writing on a strange topic like The Dance of a Cockroach. Who cares? It is only a mental exercise to keep the writer on duty. But if you are writing for money (the muses forgive you), you must target an audience-a wide audience for your work.
Now, let’s consider best selling subjects to write about.
General interest topics are blockbusters
Yes, write a book on a subject that interests people. Even if others have written on such topics, it will continue to command general attention.
The film, Love and Sex, by Valerie Breiman got instant attention, and hundreds were turned back when it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival to a packed theater. Beware though of writing pornography. You will lose your audience, and your works will be stigmatized.
Apart from love and sex, people want to know how to make money, how to find a panacea for incurable diseases, and so on. Try writing a fiction, for example, on how AIDS-resistant mosquitoes were used to cure AIDS patients in some distant land. That will generate instant interest, and put scientists on their toes to find a cure for AIDS, using mosquitoes. Sounds funny? Not at all!
Success books cannot be bettered
That’s true, for nobody wants to fail. It is for this reason that how-to books are in great demand. And a writer like Anthony Robbins with his book, Awaken the Giant Within, has become an icon. People are diffident, frustrated, and need guidance to succeed.
If you therefore want to join Tony Robbins and others in his league, dream big dreams on how to help people succeed in life. Tell them they are the greatest, tell them to brighten up for success is around the corner, tell them that failure is a trickster, and tell them they have a mission to accomplish on earth and that they must accomplish it only if they try. And then your reward for this education will be in big sales and plenty of cash!
Mystery books are hot
The latest sensations are mystery books. Suddenly, everyone wants to know about ET’s, witches, wizards, and so on. Many authors have been identified in this genre, and are smiling away to the bank. See how the Harry Potter series is selling; yet the public is asking for more.
The Man Booker Prize judges have even popularized this genre, also called magical realism, by awarding the coveted prize to any that wrote on it: Salman Rushdie (Midnight’s Children), Ben Okri (The Famished Road), Adorunthi Roy (The God of Small Things). So if you dream up The Second Coming of Julius Caesar with his dead warriors from Hades, all armed to launch a final war on the world’s super power, the book will sell out before publication.
Controversial books are radioactive
If a work sparks debate, interest in the book will skyrocket. Why? Readers want to know what makes the work controversial. So it becomes a case of one man’s sugar and another man’s diabetes.
Controversial works are easy to write. Sometimes, only a sentence or two is enough to generate the debate that is needed to sell a book. Ask Salman Rushdie, author of Satanic Verses. But note that a controversial work need not be scandalous or defamatory. You also have to be careful not to offend, like writing The Gospel According to Satan.
Readers are looking for Doomsday Books
Yes, apocalyptic literature makes best-sellers any day. And disciples of Nostradamus are on hand to whet their appetite. Doomsday writers lined their pockets with cash, writing about the end of the world, at the dawn of the millennium. Yet, the world did not end. But that does not mean that interest in the final hour has waned, for once in a while people get jittery about the onslaught of a wandering, earth-bound comet.
So, if you have a fondness for figures and come out with the date for the final destiny of the world, and even provide escape for those who want to survive, you will be a celebrity overnight. After all, George Orwell did it with 1984, and the world waited in apprehension. That year has now been consigned to the dustbin of history.
Spiritual Books are echo Bibles
Many are now seeking spiritual help outside the Bible, and this is creating a new market for faith writers. Among them is Iyanla Vanzant who wrote Yesterday I Cried. These brands of writers are offering spiritual help to victims of child abuse, rape, broken marriages and the like. Since the list of such victims is growing, it is understandable why this genre has become a favorite for writers.
Science Fiction is the way to go
Long before the space shuttles, Spirit and Opportunity, went to Mars and words started filtering out about the first human exodus to the red planet, writers have dreamt better dreams about space, written books on it, and cashed fat checks. Wouldn’t you like to be one of them?
You probably know a couple of SF titles. But don’t be worried by the preponderance of such horrible titles. Why don’t you do a crazier one titled The War of the Sun and the Moon Eaters. For the story line, say that there is a fight-to-finish battle in outer space between these rival aliens-a war that was started over whether or not to eat our sun and moon as dessert. Did you cringe?