We've all done it; spent valuable time complaining about crappy books that are popular and make oodles of money. We've whined that they're puerile, vacuous and derivative. We've dismissed the people who like them as illiterates with poor taste.

Come on, you know what I'm talking about. You probably know some of the books I'm talking about too. I will not, however, name these books because:

a) It's not nice.

b) I don't want hate mail.

c) You never know when unkind things you've said or, God forbid, put in writing will come back to bite you in the tush. (example, the time, when looking for a writing job, I almost sent a scathing screenplay review to the head of a production company who turned out to be the author of said screenplay.)

But recently, I've had an epiphany inspired by the Broadway production of Mama Mia. After seeing the show, and finding it to be extremely ludicrous (sorry Abba guys Benny and Bjorg. I apologize in advance for when this comes back to bite me in the tush) I realized that, in my snobbery, I was missing an opportunity to learn something. Because when I stopped judging the show, I actually started enjoying it along with a grillion audience members who were having a damn good time.

Could a grillion people be wrong? Or did Mama Mia provide lessons about the basic rules of dramatic structure, character development, pacing, holding and entertaining an audience and leaving them satisfied? More importantly, could I apply these lessons to being a children's book author? Here's what I've learned:

* Write likable characters the reader can relate to

In M.M., the main character has sex with three guys, but is not a 'ho,' because she was young and impetuous at the time. She doesn't know who the father is, she never had a blood test or tried to find the father (??!) but she's cute and loves her daughter so we accept this. 

 The point? People like likable characters who do stupid, wacky (not to be confused with stupid mean) things, so that we can shake our heads affectionately, feel smarter than they are and root for them as they grow and learn (and hopefully start keeping their pants on).

*Be a Nice Author

The actors in M.M. were extremely nice. They invited audience members onstage for the finale, and, afterwards, they took picture with fans for charity (er...I actually have one of these). Seriously, how nice can you get?!

Plus, on another note, many of us original Star Trek fans have heard the story about Sulu, who attended all the Star Trek conventions and was so shmoozy and the fans liked him so much that in one of the last S.T. original cast movies, he was promoted to Captain Sulu and got his own ship!

Don't you want to be made Captain of your own ship? (ya know, metaphorically speaking) I know I do!

I've heard many stories where authors who made time for their fans online and in person, not only sold a ton of books but got endorsed by Oprah!

* Have Good Timing

I read once that a famous author wouldn't have sold so many books, if she had come up with the idea ten years ago. So, in other words, she wasn't talented, she was lucky.

Not so! Part of talent is reading the trends. I don't think this author would have pitched the idea ten years ago, because I think she instinctively knew the right time for her book.

Understand the trends, and then give your book a unique angle.

* Get Your Audience to Tap their Feet and Sing Along

What made M.M. so successful? The catchy music, of course! For authors, I think this translates into paying attention to pacing and rhythm. Keep those characters moving/funny/in jeopardy, etc. Boredom = A book that doesn't earn out.

And lastly

*Know Your Audience

I'm guessing that Benny and Bjorg knew that M.M. wasn't going to be a big hit with the off, off Broadway crowd or, say, groups of political analysts from non-Western cultures.

They knew that Abba fans had grown up, owned credit cards to buy tickets and had children and grandmas they wanted to take to the theater for some clean, fun, entertainment (ya, know, aside from that whole 'ho' pregancy thing that everyone seems to ignore).

Authors, know your audience. Research your genre, your age group, their interests. Shape your subject matter and characters accordingly. If you're aiming for tweens who dream of being courted by hot undead guys, then by golly, I say go for it!

What have super popular books you hate, taught you?