I Thought I would share the key points of Albert Zuckerman's 1994 book Writing the Blockbuster Novel. "Big Books" tend to have the following elements. There will be exceptions to all of these: High stakes Larger-than-life characters Dramatic question(s) High concept Multiple points of view Exotic setting
I've read this book and it's not bad. And the points are good, especially if you're going for a kinda Savages-by-Shirley-Conran or Peter Benchley type of book. ( I loved Savages! ) And I like that he's pretty honest about the fact that he's not trying to push a formula. Here's someone that did an article on the book if you want to check it out - http://www.jamiegrove.com/big-huge-book-reviews/writing-the-blockbuster-novel-by-albert-zuckerman-part-1
I'd advise against trying to get rich. Just write what feels good, fame and riches should be a side effect, not the purpose.