Why is "Popular Fiction" popular?

Is it a particular blend of ingredients and a recognisable style?

Is it a question of marketing, the "hyping" of particular texts?

Is it because they attempt to satisfy audience desires and wishfulfillment?

Of course there is no recognisable sure-fire way of writing and selling a Bestseller, or of knowing that such and such a text will be "popular" and therefore commercially successful: publishing is still a risk business, but it cannot be completely hit-and-miss! Publishers have to ask themselves these questions before they publish, so what would your answers be? You might think about ways in which you would write, market or otherwise identify a "popular" text.

Return to Approaches to the study of Popular Fiction