How to write a bestseller

Could you write a guaranteed blockbuster? Debut novelist Claudia Pattison shares her secrets for literary success.

They say everyone has at least one book inside them. But is it true? Could we all turn our hands to writing best sellers for a living?

Author Claudia Pattison, author of Wow! and Fame Game, believes we all have potential. And she should know. Claudia wrote Wow! - a satire on the world of celebrity journalism - in eight months, was taken on by the second agent she met and started a manic bidding war between rival publishers for her very first book.

It's a sign of her potential that the winners, Pan Macmillan, offered a six-figure sum for a two-book deal - the average a debut author can usually expect is between £5,000 and £10,000.

'I do think everybody has a book in them, I really believe that,' says Claudia, who describes her genre as 'chick lit'. 'I think the hardest thing is starting. Everybody's certainly got enough experience. You can have the most humdrum job in the world, but if you've got family or you've ever been in love or worked in an office, you've got enough experience to write a book. You don't have to have a mad life or incredible experiences. You just need to be able to make different scenarios interesting.'

And writing doesn't have to be a lifelong dream. A writer on OK! for four years, Claudia never had a burning ambition to pen a novel. However, she'd always fancied the lifestyle that went with it. She says: 'I had this vision of me getting up at 9am, wafting around in my pyjamas until midday then taking to the chaise-long to write a few hundred words or so.'

The reality was different. It took a lot of hard work and dedication but it paid off in the end.

Now Claudia has agreed to share her tips for success with budding iVillage authors. Click over the page to find out if you could do it too.

Claudia's tips on how to write a novel and get it published:

  1. Research your market. Claudia says: 'I knew ''chick lit'' was a growing arena and there was room in the market for more of the same, so I devoured every bit of it I could get my hands on. I also knew, however, that I couldn't just jump on the bandwagon; I needed to have a new spin. The obvious thing for me, with my background, was to write about celebrity.
    'If it all sounds very calculated, that's because it was. I thought about what would sell, what was marketable, what would grab the publisher's attention and what would stand out in a crowd.'
  2. If you really want to do it, just start writing. Even if you're not sure what the plot is going to be or what comes next, just get something written down. Claudia says: 'What put me off originally was the idea that I had to have a clever plot. If you can just do good scenarios and interesting relationships, you're well on your way.'
  3. Make your first page special. If people aren't grabbed by the first page, they won't go any further.
  4. Plan your book. 'I found it very helpful to plan my book chapter by chapter,' says Claudia. 'Some people don't (Stephen King for one), but I think I would have found the whole task too daunting without it. I would've panicked.'
  5. Try to write something every day, even if it's just three lines. It helps you keep in touch with the characters and the plot.
  6. Don't underestimate the power of the title. Try to think of something original and think hard about it. Don't do it as an afterthought.
  7. Don't be inhibited, particularly when writing sex or drug-taking scenes. Says Claudia: 'I couldn't help thinking, "What if my mum reads this?" That's partly why I didn't let anyone read my book apart from my boyfriend, and then only at the very end. Just tell yourself that no one is ever going to read it and you won't feel as if you have to hold back.'

    1. 'Really target your agent,' advises Claudia. 'Look in the Writers' and Artists' Yearbook for brief explanations of specialities. Also, try to find a book that you like or feel is similar to yours. Many writers thank their agents so you can find relevant agents that way.' There's no point in targeting your crime book at an agent who specialises in romantic fiction.
    2. Expect rejection. Lisa Jewell, author of Ralph's Party, went through nine agents before the tenth saw her potential. Harry Potter writer JK Rowling was turned down by two publishers before Bloomsbury snapped her up. 'The most brilliant people have been rejected before they found success,' says Claudia. 'If you expect it, you won't be disappointed. Just keep trying. Obviously, though, if you get 20 rejections all telling you there's no market for your book, you do have to take note.'
    3. Don't be too precious about your work. If you do get to the stage where you have an agent or an editor, listen to their advice. They have a wider overview of the market and the insider gossip on what people are looking for. They are the experts in their field. 'I followed every bit of advice,' says Claudia. 'I think the book is one million times better as a result.'

    The secrets of success

    Find out how other famous names wrote their bestsellers:

    Lisa Jewell
    Lisa's first novel, Ralph's Party, was the surprise hit of 1999, selling more than 200,000 copies in the UK and earning her the title of top selling debut writer of the year. She followed it with Thirty-Nothing and One Hit Wonder.

    Her literary career started on a bet. She was offered a free meal if she could write the first three chapters of a book in a month. She did and, on a whim, sent them off to 10 agents.

    She says: 'I didn't expect anything to happen and sure enough, as the weeks went by, rejection letter after rejection letter landed on my doorstep. I'd expected nothing more. And then one morning a letter arrived from the last of the ten agents. She liked what she read and wanted to see the rest. After peeling myself off the ceiling, I started panicking. There was no 'rest' of the novel - I'd only written three chapters.'

    It took Lisa almost a year to finish it but the agent was as good as her word - she took it up and sold the book to Penguin. Lisa hasn't looked back since.

    Adele Parks
    Her first novel, Playing Away, was described as a cross between Friends and Sex in the City and was the top-selling debut novel of 2000. She has followed it with Game Over.

    After a succession of careers, Adele was approaching her 30th birthday when she decided to try and fulfil her burning ambition to write books. She wrote at nights, at weekends, in airports, in hotels, on her PC and even on the back of menus. After biting the bullet, she sent a couple of chapters to an agent and he was interested enough to want to see the rest.

    Of course, Adele hadn't yet written the ending. 'I figured getting started had to be the hardest thing', she says. 'In this, as in many things, I was mistaken; the endings are harder.'

    She sent the completed manuscript three months later and it was snapped up by Penguin. In the following weeks it was sold in the USA, Germany, Italy, France, The Netherlands and other countries.

    Jane Green
    Jane's first novel, Straight Talking, was a bestseller. She followed it with Jemima J, Mr Maybe, Bookends and her latest release, Babyville.

    So what's her secret? She tells Penguin UK: 'I sit by a closed window, facing the computer, silently pleading for the phone to ring to ease the pressure of having to finish the page. I do have to be in the mood to write. If I'm bored my readers will be bored, so I always wait for inspiration to strike.'

    Jenny Colgan
    Suffering from terminal boredom, Jenny thought she'd try her hand at writing. She was so convinced of eventual success that she took voluntary redundancy and set out to sell her novel, Amanda's Wedding. Not long after, she had interest from an agency, keen to see the full text. In true best-seller style, she hadn't written it but it gave her an incentive to finish.

    It was such a guaranteed money-spinner that eight publishers competed at auction, with HarperCollins eventually beating the competition. Warner Bros have since bought the film rights and Jenny has followed up her success with Talking to Addison and Looking for Andrew McCarthy.