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}]