http://www.summitdaily.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...01/AE/104010004

A secret behind best sellers

And then there are the best-seller lists. One should be able to find a good "guy" book there, you would think. Well, yes and no. Sometimes. Maybe.

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Some people can publish their laundry lists and make the best-seller list with it, solely on advanced sales.

Writers like John Grisham and Clive Cussler always will make the best-seller list, regardless of the quality of their latest book, because of their reputations for delivering quality.

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(you can read the whole article at the link above)

yes you can say there's "brand name" authors whose writing has its own coterie of fans who buy just enough books to keep their writers on the best seller lists. what makes me mad is that some writers like celebrities who get such high advances that it makes it harder for new time writers who have to perform at a "certain" level that publishers think is required. That is why publishers stick with "brand name" writers who can perform at a certain level. i just read michael korda's book, "Making the List; A Cultural History of the American Bestseller, 1900-1999" recently and there is a definite pattern of "brand name" writers who have pretty much dominated the bestseller lists for the past 4 decades. :P

What is wrong Dan Brown? I've read all his books except DaVinci Code, and loved every single one. Deception Point was a real shocker. Digital Fortress may have gotten a bit technical, but it felt like you were reading classified material. Angel's and Demons was set in a unique location, with a very unusual situation. There's something about his stories that make you want to keep reading, to find out what happens. So many times did I think I knew who the bad-guy was, but then you read a little more and its not. Its somebody who you never thought it would be.

But that's just me.