In the cliffhanger conclusion to my chat with author and publishing consultant, Jodie Archer, we are joined this week by Dr. Matthew Jockers, English Professor & Dean at the University of Nebraska, and co-author of the internationally acclaimed book The Bestseller Code: Anatomy of the Blockbuster Novel. We’ll talk about Matt’s game-changing research at the heart of the book, the two authors’ new consulting service for writers based on the algorithm they developed at Stanford, and the author report from my beta test of the service.

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For 11 years Matt was a Lecturer and “embedded” Academic Technology Specialist (ATS) in the Department of English at Stanford University. There he co-founded and directed the paradigm-shifting Stanford Literary Lab with Franco Moretti.

In 2014 Matt also worked as a Principal Research Scientist for iBooks at Apple. His work on the bleeding edge of text-mining and digital humanities established him as an expert at the crossroads of technology and fiction.

His work helped lead to the award-winning algorithm behind The Bestseller Code, honed over four years text-mining 20,000 contemporary novels, using around 300,000 data points, and able to predict bestsellers 80% of the time.

Matt and Jodie were hounded by writers from all over the world for help with their manuscripts. On the heels of their international success and winning the NUtech Ventures 2017 Breakthrough Innovation of the Year award, Jodie and Matt have founded a unique book consultancy for authors, publishers, and agents, based on the algorithm in The Bestseller Code.

Beginning December 1st, 2017, ArcherJockers.com will offer three tiers of service to authors: single manuscript analysis, series analysis, and a VIP service.

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In Part Two of this file Jodie Archer, Matt Jockers, and I discuss:

• How Matt found the intersection of words and computing at the dawn of the Internet
• Why Archer & Jockers became a personalized service for authors and not just another app
• Who should (and shouldn’t) send their manuscripts to the service
• What exactly the “bestseller-ometer” measures when it looks at your book
• The benefits of distant reading vs. close reading for fiction
• How to perfect your own manuscript before submission to the service

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ArcherJockers.com Manuscript Consulting Services

How to Crack the ‘Bestseller Code’ with Jodie Archer: Part One

MatthewJockers.net

JodieArcher.com

The Bestseller Code: Anatomy of the Blockbuster Novel – Jodie Archer & Matt Jockers

Breakthrough Innovation of the Year – The Bestseller Code

Jodie Archer on Twitter

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