James Patterson’s  MASTERCLASS.COM

Lesson 18 Book Titles and Covers

“No book has ever been bought, that wasn’t picked up! Okay! And, to some extent, what makes you pick it up is the cover. It needs to immediately tell people that that’s the genre that they love! Oh, I love mystery! Oh, I love a Noir mystery! It looks like a Noir mystery. But then it needs to look like a unique Noir mystery…..” ~James Patterson

Whoa, hold on here….I need to know, what is a Noir Mystery? Well, according to Wikipedia: “It is ‘closely related to a hardboiled genre with a distinction that the protagonist is not a detective, but instead either a victim, a suspect or a perpetrator.

Do I hear someone asking, ‘How many types of Mystery Genres are there?   Well, what I found on my skip-and-jump around the net was that there are so many that that bucket is overflowing. (see below        I listed some of them)

Back  to James Patterson

Favorite Titles and Covers

He used nursery rhyme titles. Mr. Patterson is holding his book ‘Along Came A Spider’ .  On the back cover, he has quotes from known authors. If your reader likes those authors they may buy the book.

His novel, ‘Zoo’  has a photo taken of Paris. We see the  Eiffel tower in the background.  Along with the title, it states “Something Bad Is Happening Over There’ which gives you the idea this is a mystery.

Bet you are asking, what’s your point?  In order to sell ‘your’ book, ‘your novel’ needs to be seen.  Just tossing it at your reader won’t get their attention. Well, maybe for a second while  they duck. But, you want them to hold your book and read it.  This lesson is how to get the attention of your reader or potential reader, so they buy your book. It is filled with good advice.

Now, I  need to go back to Masterclass.com and listen to the short question and answer videos. This is where you can ask James Patterson a question and he will respond by posting a video.

Happy reading. And writing.

Here is a partial list of Mystery Genres that I searched out:

1. Noir
2. Cozy
3. Amateur Sleuth
4. Professional Sleuth
5. Police Procedural
6. Legal/Medical
7. Suspense
8. Romantic Suspense
9. Historical
10. Mixed Genre
11. Private Eye –woman or men
12. Crime
13. Caper
14. Bumbling Detective
15. Child in Peril
16. Woman in Peril
17. Culinary
18. Doctor Detective
19. Furry Sleuth
20. Handicapped
21. Historical
22. Inverted or Howdunit
23. Whodunit
24. Locked room or Puzzle
25. Supernatural
26. Third World
27. Series

If you plan on writing mysteries I found this great, free book on poisons. The encyclopedia of poisons and antidotes ~  {{GRIN}]

[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-91hoy6S_s[/embedyt]

Listening to James Patterson as he teaches this class, has given me a look into the way his words play out in his books. I can hear his voice, his sound is a sort of eastern- Mid-Atlantic accent with a pinch of New England. I could be hearing things,- which wouldn’t be the first time- Well, maybe I should think up an idea for a story just out of a person’s dialect.

Here’s my attempt at that first line: “How long you gonna take stare’n at da map, Jimmy?” “Shda-up , Doris, we can’t just drive up wit old Benny in da trunk”

Okay, my accents need a lot of work. Still, I posted it in the comments section. Along with this: “Fourteen ways into the town, Jimmy had them all pointed out on the map all he needed was one, one that will let him drive into town hoping one would notice blood leaking out of his trunk.”

James Patterson tells us, that first lines, “Can give you an advantage. You are reaching out from that book, grabbing ahold of that reader and sucking them right into your book…or not. …. If you pull them right in you got em! “ The he said, “You’ve got that agent that editor, that reader. ”

FAVORITE FIRST LINES

James Patterson’s favorite first lines:

‘Along Came A Spider’ the first Alex cross book starts like this:

“Early on the morning of December 21, 1992, I was the picture of contentment on the sun porch of our house on 5^th Street in Washington, D.C.”

This first line gives you a lot of information.  What it tells me is the feeling, –  “the picture of contentment” then I have the time, “early on the morning” the date, “December 21, 1992” and where it all takes place, “sun porch of our house on 5^th Street in Washington, D.C.”

Here is the first sentence for ‘You’ve Been Warned’ by James Patterson a horror book, “Its way to early in the morning for dead people”

If you want to contact James Patterson you can send him a letter at this address from his website

James Patterson  c/o Author Mail  Hachette Book Group USA 1290 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10104,

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