According to the press there now exists an algorithm to help determine if your book will be a success...

Unfortunately they give only a few clues to what might work but it is worth investigating. Apparently high incidence of nouns and adjectives are found in more successful books whereas a high incidence of verbs and adverbs are found in less successful books.

Article in the Independent here and one a little more detailed on  the Inside Science site here.

Alternatively if you have time and an eye for statistical analysis the original article is here in .PDF format.