{"id":64639,"date":"2014-01-09T09:45:23","date_gmt":"2014-01-09T14:45:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?p=64639"},"modified":"2014-01-09T13:31:12","modified_gmt":"2014-01-09T18:31:12","slug":"the-bestseller-algorithm-and-other-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2014\/01\/09\/the-bestseller-algorithm-and-other-news\/","title":{"rendered":"The Best-Seller Algorithm, and Other News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/Computer-Reading.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-64640 aligncenter\" alt=\"Computer Reading\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/Computer-Reading.jpg\" width=\"600\" height=\"506\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Scientists have developed <a href=\"http:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/technology\/news\/10560533\/Scientists-find-secret-to-writing-a-best-selling-novel.html\" target=\"_blank\">an algorithm for writing a hit novel<\/a>. Go easy on the verbs and the clich\u00e9s, and you, too, may see the best-seller list. (Consider calling your book \u201cThe Best-Seller Algorithm,\u201d which has the bold ring of a blockbuster.)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/frankie-rendon\/librarians-take-on-new-ro_b_4561451.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003\" target=\"_blank\">An endearingly earnest infographic<\/a> defends librarians in the digital age. Look out for such phrases as \u201cportal to archive\u201d and \u201ctechy-savvy librarianship.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Strange things are afoot in New Mexico, where Cormac McCarthy\u2019s ex-wife has been arrested for threatening someone with a gun after \u201ca domestic dispute over space aliens.\u201d Apologies for burying the lede, but: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thesmokinggun.com\/documents\/vagina-as-holster-675432\" target=\"_blank\">she produced the gun from her vagina.<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Earlier this week, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mhpbooks.com\/tripoli-library-set-aflame-50000-books-lost\/\" target=\"_blank\">an arsonist burned Tripoli\u2019s Al Sa\u2019eh Library<\/a>, destroying an estimated fifty thousand books.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Scientists have developed an algorithm for writing a hit novel. Go easy on the verbs and the clich\u00e9s, and you, too, may see the best-seller list. (Consider calling your book \u201cThe Best-Seller Algorithm,\u201d which has the bold ring of a blockbuster.) An endearingly earnest infographic defends librarians in the digital age. Look out for such [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2512],"tags":[12501,12499,10110,2555,8669,7148,12500],"class_list":["post-64639","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-on-the-shelf","tag-al-saeh","tag-algorithm","tag-bestsellers","tag-cormac-mccarthy","tag-librarians","tag-libraries","tag-tripoli"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.4 (Yoast SEO v25.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Best-Seller Algorithm, and Other News by Dan Piepenbring<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"January 9, 2014 \u2013 Scientists have developed an algorithm for writing a hit novel. Go easy on the verbs and the clich\u00e9s, and you, too, may see the best-seller list.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2014\/01\/09\/the-bestseller-algorithm-and-other-news\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Best-Seller Algorithm, and Other News by Dan Piepenbring\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"January 9, 2014 \u2013 Scientists have developed an algorithm for writing a hit novel. Go easy on the verbs and the clich\u00e9s, and you, too, may see the best-seller list.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2014\/01\/09\/the-bestseller-algorithm-and-other-news\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Paris Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-01-09T14:45:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-01-09T18:31:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-1.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"675\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dan Piepenbring\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@parisreview\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@parisreview\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dan Piepenbring\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2014\/01\/09\/the-bestseller-algorithm-and-other-news\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2014\/01\/09\/the-bestseller-algorithm-and-other-news\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Dan Piepenbring\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/6b16ca558fc538230f135c3220dfd3c8\"},\"headline\":\"The Best-Seller Algorithm, and Other News\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-01-09T14:45:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-01-09T18:31:12+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2014\/01\/09\/the-bestseller-algorithm-and-other-news\/\"},\"wordCount\":130,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2014\/01\/09\/the-bestseller-algorithm-and-other-news\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/Computer-Reading.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Al Sa'eh\",\"algorithm\",\"bestsellers\",\"Cormac McCarthy\",\"librarians\",\"libraries\",\"Tripoli\"],\"articleSection\":[\"On the Shelf\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2014\/01\/09\/the-bestseller-algorithm-and-other-news\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2014\/01\/09\/the-bestseller-algorithm-and-other-news\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2014\/01\/09\/the-bestseller-algorithm-and-other-news\/\",\"name\":\"The Best-Seller Algorithm, and Other News by Dan Piepenbring\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2014\/01\/09\/the-bestseller-algorithm-and-other-news\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2014\/01\/09\/the-bestseller-algorithm-and-other-news\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/Computer-Reading.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-01-09T14:45:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-01-09T18:31:12+00:00\",\"description\":\"January 9, 2014 \u2013 Scientists have developed an algorithm for writing a hit novel. Go easy on the verbs and the clich\u00e9s, and you, too, may see the best-seller list.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2014\/01\/09\/the-bestseller-algorithm-and-other-news\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2014\/01\/09\/the-bestseller-algorithm-and-other-news\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2014\/01\/09\/the-bestseller-algorithm-and-other-news\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/Computer-Reading.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/Computer-Reading.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2014\/01\/09\/the-bestseller-algorithm-and-other-news\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Best-Seller Algorithm, and Other News\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"The Paris Review\",\"description\":\"The best prose, interviews, poetry, and art. Since 1953.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"The Paris Review\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png\",\"width\":696,\"height\":696,\"caption\":\"The Paris Review\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/parisreview\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/parisreview\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/6b16ca558fc538230f135c3220dfd3c8\",\"name\":\"Dan Piepenbring\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6fde7ced443ba5b52db3b06239dca8a2eaeff111fccecd7bf483663c99d2762b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6fde7ced443ba5b52db3b06239dca8a2eaeff111fccecd7bf483663c99d2762b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dan Piepenbring\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/author\/dpiepenbring\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Best-Seller Algorithm, and Other News by Dan Piepenbring","description":"January 9, 2014 \u2013 Scientists have developed an algorithm for writing a hit novel. Go easy on the verbs and the clich\u00e9s, and you, too, may see the best-seller list.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2014\/01\/09\/the-bestseller-algorithm-and-other-news\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Best-Seller Algorithm, and Other News by Dan Piepenbring","og_description":"January 9, 2014 \u2013 Scientists have developed an algorithm for writing a hit novel. Go easy on the verbs and the clich\u00e9s, and you, too, may see the best-seller list.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2014\/01\/09\/the-bestseller-algorithm-and-other-news\/","og_site_name":"The Paris Review","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/","article_published_time":"2014-01-09T14:45:23+00:00","article_modified_time":"2014-01-09T18:31:12+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":675,"url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-1.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Dan Piepenbring","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@parisreview","twitter_site":"@parisreview","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dan Piepenbring","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2014\/01\/09\/the-bestseller-algorithm-and-other-news\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2014\/01\/09\/the-bestseller-algorithm-and-other-news\/"},"author":{"name":"Dan Piepenbring","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/6b16ca558fc538230f135c3220dfd3c8"},"headline":"The Best-Seller Algorithm, and Other News","datePublished":"2014-01-09T14:45:23+00:00","dateModified":"2014-01-09T18:31:12+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2014\/01\/09\/the-bestseller-algorithm-and-other-news\/"},"wordCount":130,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2014\/01\/09\/the-bestseller-algorithm-and-other-news\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/Computer-Reading.jpg","keywords":["Al Sa'eh","algorithm","bestsellers","Cormac McCarthy","librarians","libraries","Tripoli"],"articleSection":["On the Shelf"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2014\/01\/09\/the-bestseller-algorithm-and-other-news\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2014\/01\/09\/the-bestseller-algorithm-and-other-news\/","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2014\/01\/09\/the-bestseller-algorithm-and-other-news\/","name":"The Best-Seller Algorithm, and Other News by Dan Piepenbring","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2014\/01\/09\/the-bestseller-algorithm-and-other-news\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2014\/01\/09\/the-bestseller-algorithm-and-other-news\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/Computer-Reading.jpg","datePublished":"2014-01-09T14:45:23+00:00","dateModified":"2014-01-09T18:31:12+00:00","description":"January 9, 2014 \u2013 Scientists have developed an algorithm for writing a hit novel. Go easy on the verbs and the clich\u00e9s, and you, too, may see the best-seller list.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2014\/01\/09\/the-bestseller-algorithm-and-other-news\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2014\/01\/09\/the-bestseller-algorithm-and-other-news\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2014\/01\/09\/the-bestseller-algorithm-and-other-news\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/Computer-Reading.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/Computer-Reading.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2014\/01\/09\/the-bestseller-algorithm-and-other-news\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Best-Seller Algorithm, and Other News"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/","name":"The Paris Review","description":"The best prose, interviews, poetry, and art. Since 1953.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization","name":"The Paris Review","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png","width":696,"height":696,"caption":"The Paris Review"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/","https:\/\/x.com\/parisreview","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/parisreview"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/6b16ca558fc538230f135c3220dfd3c8","name":"Dan Piepenbring","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6fde7ced443ba5b52db3b06239dca8a2eaeff111fccecd7bf483663c99d2762b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6fde7ced443ba5b52db3b06239dca8a2eaeff111fccecd7bf483663c99d2762b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Dan Piepenbring"},"url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/author\/dpiepenbring\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64639","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/38"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64639"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64639\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":64682,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64639\/revisions\/64682"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64639"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64639"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64639"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}