What is it about Dan Brown’s books that sells so well?

>or think it's any easier than muh literary fiction
In what way is it not easier? OP's specifically asking about bad fiction compared to good fiction, and surely bad fiction is practically by definition easier to write than good fiction.

As an analogy, I'm pretty confident I could cook you a bad meal.

I fucking hate men who are well-dressed with the exception of jeans. Just wear some khaki pants. They are more comfortable than jeans and look much better unless you're going for a disheveled look.

If you want a food analogy, try something like a mcdonalds burger or kfc, which took a lot effort and later science to get right in a way that will be enjoyed by billions. Or coke, remember the backlash once they changed their formula? Or if we want to go to art, the creation of some simplistic pop beat, which takes ridiculous amount of know-how.

There are a lot more restrictions when it comes to trashy popular stuff and navigating inside of these while finding a new detail isn't as easy as it seems, despite the majority of the process being painting by numbers. Hence only few really manage to make a real career out of it. With literary fiction there is way, way more freedom, which makes it simpler, unless you're a complete amateur.

>implying you can't be more subtle about it in your first two books and then become popular enough by the third to get it self published and reveal it was about the holohaux all along

I see what you mean. I have to assume though that luck is also a very big part of it- getting just the right characters/themes to appeal to publishers and then a mass readership at exactly the right time. Seems like it would be tough to argue that Dan Brown is more skilled than thousands of other less successful genre writers, although I suppose it's possible that he's better at, say, pacing.

When I was young my mom gave me the da vinci code because it was an "adult book", boy had I been disappointed. It put me off from reading for a long long time

I hate that man

Dan Brown is to history what JK Rowling is to literacy.....oh wait

Luck is always a factor but it's not like Dan Brown had one lucky hit, he constantly finds the shit people want to read, I don't like any of his books (hell even the pacing, while enjoyable due the speed, it's so predictable and he uses cliffhangers in such a over the top way...) but he's objectively more skilled than most genre writers in creating a new product over and over again that is enjoyed by millions of people. It's not like they weren't tons of clones trying to copy his shitty formula, but in the end neither really succeeded.

It's similar to Marvel or Disney overall. Their stuff is artistically a stillbirth but does enough right to deliver joy to a massive audience from movie to movie.

> - Professor Heidegger, what do you think these strange ((())) symbols mean?
> - Ah, yes. These, my simply infirior roastie, are the ancient sacral sign of degeneracy.

>I have skimmed a couple of the trash books in airport book stores
Has read all of Dan Browns books and is also a big fan of Ken Follet

Renowned author Dan Brown's multi-paged yarns sell like hot cakes because they are lightning-paced thrillers packed full of interesting intrigue and hidden history

wasn't this guy at amherst the same time big dave was attending?

Renowned author Dan Brown woke up in his luxurious four-poster bed in his expensive $10 million house – and immediately he felt angry. Most people would have thought that the 48-year-old man had no reason to be angry. After all, the famous writer had a new book coming out. But that was the problem. A new book meant an inevitable attack on the rich novelist by the wealthy wordsmith’s fiercest foes. The critics.

Renowned author Dan Brown hated the critics. Ever since he had become one of the world’s top renowned authors they had made fun of him. They had mocked bestselling book The Da Vinci Code, successful novel Digital Fortress, popular tome Deception Point, money-spinning volume Angels & Demons and chart-topping work of narrative fiction The Lost Symbol.

The critics said his writing was clumsy, ungrammatical, repetitive and repetitive. They said it was full of unnecessary tautology. They said his prose was mired in a sea of mixed metaphors. For some reason they found something funny in sentences such as “His eyes went white, like a shark about to attack.” They even say my books are packed with banal and superfluous description, thought the 5ft 9in man. He particularly hated it when they said his imagery was nonsensical. It made his insect eyes flash like a rocket.

Renowned author Dan Brown got out of his luxurious four-poster bed in his expensive $10 million house and paced the bedroom, using the feet located at the ends of his two legs to propel him forwards. He knew he shouldn’t care what a few jealous critics thought. His new book Inferno was coming out on Tuesday, and the 480-page hardback published by Doubleday with a recommended US retail price of $29.95 was sure to be a hit. Wasn’t it?

I’ll call my agent, pondered the prosperous scribe. He reached for the telephone using one of his two hands. “Hello, this is renowned author Dan Brown,” spoke renowned author Dan Brown. “I want to talk to literary agent John Unconvincingname.”

“Mr Unconvincingname, it’s renowned author Dan Brown,” told the voice at the other end of the line. Instantly the voice at the other end of the line was replaced by a different voice at the other end of the line. “Hello, it’s literary agent John Unconvincingname,” informed the new voice at the other end of the line.

“Hello agent John, it’s client Dan,” commented the pecunious scribbler. “I’m worried about new book Inferno. I think critics are going to say it’s badly written.”

The voice at the other end of the line gave a sigh, like a mighty oak toppling into a great river, or something else that didn’t sound like a sigh if you gave it a moment’s thought. “Who cares what the stupid critics say?” advised the literary agent. “They’re just snobs. You have millions of fans.”

That’s true, mused the accomplished composer of thrillers that combined religion, high culture and conspiracy theories. His books were read by everyone from renowned politician President Obama to renowned musician Britney Spears. It was said that a copy of The Da Vinci Code had even found its way into the hands of renowned monarch the Queen. He was grateful for his good fortune, and gave thanks every night in his prayers to renowned deity God.

“Think of all the money you’ve made,” recommended the literary agent. That was true too. The thriving ink-slinger’s wealth had allowed him to indulge his passion for great art. Among his proudest purchases were a specially commissioned landscape by acclaimed painter Vincent van Gogh and a signed first edition by revered scriptwriter William Shakespeare.

Renowned author Dan Brown smiled, the ends of his mouth curving upwards in a physical expression of pleasure. He felt much better. If your books brought innocent delight to millions of readers, what did it matter whether you knew the difference between a transitive and an intransitive verb?

“Thanks, John,” he thanked. Then he put down the telephone and perambulated on foot to the desk behind which he habitually sat on a chair to write his famous books on an Apple iMac MD093B/A computer. New book Inferno, the latest in his celebrated series about fictional Harvard professor Robert Langdon, was inspired by top Italian poet Dante. It wouldn’t be the last in the lucrative sequence, either. He had all the sequels mapped out. The Mozart Acrostic. The Michelangelo Wordsearch. The Newton Sudoku.

The 190lb adult male human being nodded his head to indicate satisfaction and returned to his bedroom by walking there. Still asleep in the luxurious four-poster bed of the expensive $10 million house was beautiful wife Mrs Brown. Renowned author Dan Brown gazed admiringly at the pulchritudinous brunette’s blonde tresses, flowing from her head like a stream but made from hair instead of water and without any fish in. She was as majestic as the finest sculpture by Caravaggio or the most coveted portrait by Rodin. I like the attractive woman, thought the successful man.

Perhaps one day, inspired by beautiful wife Mrs Brown, he would move into romantic poetry, like market-leading British rhymester John Keats.That would be good, opined the talented person, and got back into the luxurious four-poster bed. He felt as happy as a man who has something to be happy about and is suitably happy about it.

GOAT reviewer

>He was grateful for his good fortune, and gave thanks every night in his prayers to renowned deity God.
Lel

>What do you think are the key elements to writing a book that sells a shit ton?
Having a relative in publishing

Read Zoo and try to comprehend how that became so successful.

I love how this works on two levels. On the one hand it's taking the piss out of Brown, but on the other it's pretty clear that the writer is mad jelly of him.

I was thinking one hit was enough- as in, once you have a big enough hit and are renowned author Dan Brown, you can then just repeat the formula. But you're probably right- if he can do it once, he can probably do it again.

Disney/Marvel employs focus groups and other similar methods to decide what to include in their movies. It wouldn't surprise me if Brown's publishers did similar things

At these levels the process is less of a creative one and instead resembles market research. Find the lowest common denominator with the widest possible appeal, trim the unnecessary fat that some might be put off by, aim for transversality, universality even - mass-production intended for mass-consumption

>Renowned author Dan Brown smiled, the ends of his mouth curving upwards in a physical expression of pleasure. He felt much better. If your books brought innocent delight to millions of readers, what did it matter whether you knew the difference between a transitive and an intransitive verb?

fuking top Kek.

>blonde tresses, flowing from her head like a stream but made from hair instead of water and without any fish in

Nice.

>have a room full of monkeys on typewriters re-write Foucault's Pendulum
fixed

Reminds me of Catch-22 desu