James Patterson

Best- Selling Author James Patterson

In 2013, it was estimated that one-in-five of all the hardcover suspense/ thriller novels sold was written by James Patterson. His books have sold 300 million copies worldwide, and he has the most #1 New York Times Bestsellers of any author.

What James Patterson really wanted.

He had a career in advertising. But, what he really wanted was to be an author. In order to make his dream a reality, he woke up at 4:30 AM and wrote.

He wrote from 4:30 AM until 6:00 AM every morning and then went off to work a full day at his day job.

He found the time to make it happen.

In 1976, after several rejections, his first book, a thriller, called, “The Thomas Berryman Number“ was published. In spite of winning an award for best mystery novel, sales were modest.

Success takes time

Patterson continued to publish novels, with limited success, until the 1993 release of his breakout hit, “Along Came a Spider,” featuring Alex Cross. Patterson had another best-seller with 1995’s “Kiss the Girls,” also featuring Alex Cross.

It was only then that James Patterson decided to retire from advertising to write full time.

Today, Patterson is able to publish multiple best-sellers per year because he collaborates with a group of co-authors. In 2010 alone, Patterson released nine titles including his 17th Alex Cross novel, young adult novels, and science-fiction series, as well as a children’s titles.

I am not a great prose stylist. I’m a storyteller. There are thousands of people who don’t like what I do. Fortunately, there are millions who do. – James Patterson

His books have sold 300 million copies worldwide, and he has the most #1 New York Times Bestsellers of any author.

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