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When it comes to selling novels, nobody beats James Patterson.
Consider the numbers:
- 32 New York Times best-sellers.
- Five novels at the No. 1 spot in 2005 alone -- a record.
- A staggering $1.5 billion in worldwide sales.
In the past five years, Patterson
has notched more No. 1 novels than J.K. Rowling,
Tom Clancy, John Grisham and Dan Brown combined,
and is the only author to simultaneously occupy
the No. 1 best-seller slot in both adult and children's
fiction. He writes not just one but the two top
best-selling detective series of the past decade:
the nursery-rhyme-named Alex Cross series ("Along
Came a Spider," "Mary, Mary," etc.)
and the numeric Women's Murder Club series ("1st
to Die," "2nd Chance," etc.).
Not
bad for a second career, eh? The Newburgh, N.Y., native earned
English degrees from Manhattan College and Vanderbilt University, but fearing
that teaching would sour him on fiction, turned instead to advertising. A gifted
writer who created campaigns for the likes of Burger King, Kodak and Toys R Us,
he became the youngest-ever CEO of advertising giant J. Walter Thompson in 1988.
On the side, Patterson had published
six novels in 16 years before "Along Came
a Spider," a taut 1992 thriller pitting Washington,
D.C., Detective Alex Cross against a clever psycho
killer, launched his breakout series and the hit
film versions starring Morgan Freeman.
Fifteen years later, Patterson's
sales continue to grow as his legions of readers
follow him into other genres, including love stories,
"Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas," and
historical fiction, "The Jester." Patterson
has teamed with several co-writers in order to
produce books faster and put more of his stories
on the page.
Looking ahead, Patterson has already captured the imagination
of the next generation of readers with his "Maximum Ride" young adult
series, and plans to publish his first horror novel, "You've Been Warned,"
this summer.
A staunch advocate of literacy programs,
the busy author underwrites the Patterson PageTurner
Award to individuals and groups that foster reading,
and matches donations to First Book, which promotes
reading among low-income families.
So why is James Patterson the author
everyone likes to beat on? Bankrate:
Let's talk a little bit about the criticism you get. Patterson:
Let's not. (Laughs) Bankrate:
Why do you draw so much criticism and downright animosity?
Patterson:
People are really good at finding negatives, not
just with novels but in general. We'll sit there
and pick apart the government and pick apart the
church, and that's kind of easy. I think the harder
part is, "What's the stuff worth keeping?
What's good?" With respect to my work, I
write colloquially, so it's not fancy; it's the
way we tell stories to one another. There's not
a tremendous amount of detail, but I hope the
detail that is in there is somewhat telling.
Michael Connelly once told me that every chapter
I write really powers the stories and characters
forward and turns on the movie projectors in our
heads. That's not that easy to do, nor is it easy
to quickly get people involved in the characters.
So that's the strength. And the weaknesses? It's
not fancy writing. I'm not trying to do "War
and Peace," and I couldn't. | 
