How to write a blockbuster

Can anyone remember a world before Harry Potter? Or a time when “twilight” simply meant the onset of darkness, instead of Stephenie Meyer’s addictive vampire series? Whether it’s Stieg Larsson’s Millennium trilogy or Dan Brown’s yarns, a must-read book these days seems to demand a sequel or, ideally, a series. But what does it take to create a blockbuster?

Matthew Reilly, Australia’s most breathtaking rags-to-acclaim writer, famously began his career by self-publishing his first novel, Contest, at the age of 19. Pan Macmillan took notice, and his second novel, Ice Station, had a print run of 30,000 copies that sold out within weeks. Since then, Reilly has written eight more thrillers, including a young-adult book, Hover Car Racer, which was first published on the internet.

His most recent thriller, The Five Greatest Warriors, has sold more than 150,000 copies in hardback. In Australia, it was the best-selling book by an Australian author for 2009, overtaking former adman-turned-author Bryce Courtenay. Reilly’s novels have sold more than three million copies worldwide.

So much for the “books don’t sell anymore” argument – it’s the era of the blockbuster. But how do you pen one?

“That’s the sixty-four-thousand-dollar question!” says Reilly. “You just have to try to write the best book you can. I was talking to a poet at a writer’s festival, who wrote a thriller because he wanted to make money. It didn’t happen. People talk about authors as ‘brands’ and I don’t like that. It’s much better if readers feel, He tells a good story and I get my money’s worth.”