Emmy winners and BAFTA-nominated, Huckerby & Ostler are one of the most successful TV writing partnerships around, and with their new novel, Defender Of The Realm, they’ve created a fantastic children’s adventure series.
Rachel Winters’ debut novel Would Like to Meet is an Amazon bestseller with rights sold in 14 territories and there was a big Hollywood auction for the film rights. Rachel tells us how her background as an editor enabled her to think of the book as 360 degree project — digital, audio and film — to help make it such a success.
Paul Ardoin talks us through the preparations he made for the promotion — including rewriting the opening of his first novel — and how he made the most of the promotion to increase sales across the whole series.
How do you research your books? Michelle Paver has written eighteen novels, including the bestselling Chronicles Of Ancient Darkness. She’s encountered killer whales, wolves, polar bears and a runaway Yak, all in the name of research.
Writing can be a solitary occupation, but it doesn’t have to be that way. The Two Marks discuss how accountability has helped them in their writing and offer six tips to help you focus on your writing, become more productive, and finish that book.
Have you every wondered how important your “Voice” is as a writer? This week on The Bestseller Experiment podcast, New York Times success Maria Semple tells us just how essential your voice is. Maria was recently named a “Power Author” by the Hollywood Reporter, putting her alongside such giants as JK Rowling and George RR Martin. Maria started as a screenwriter. Her book, Where’d You Go, Bernadette? spent over a year on the New York Times bestsellers. Her new book “Tomorrow Will Be Different” was announced as a TV series with Julia Roberts as the lead. She spoke to us about the things that stop us writing truthfully.
Sadie’s Jones’ debut novel The Outcast was a smash hit, selling over half a million copies, but Sophie’s road to publication was a long one with over 15 years of rejection. Sadie tells us what she discovered about her writing in those years and the important lessons she learned, including what kept her writing and how to tell good notes from bad and some tips on writing with your eyes closed!
The two Marks bring you up to date on the trials and tribulations their nascent bestseller, the processes that they’re going through, and how two writers can work together without driving each other bonkers.
James Swallow is the internationally bestselling author of the Marc Dane thrillers, and he takes us through his remarkable career, which takes in Star Trek, Star Wars, Doctor Who and a BAFTA nomination. His passion for working in tie-in fiction and his own original work is infectious, and he tells why always pushing himself out of his comfort zone led to his biggest success. Oh, and we start the show with a BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!
Robin is the author of the Murder Most Unladylike Mysteries books, a middle grade series following schoolgirl detectives Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong in a 1930s English boarding school, but Robin started out on her bestselling adventure with NaNoWriMo.
It’s all too easy to give up when your writing has been rejected, so how do you find the energy and the will to keep going? The Two Marks discuss strategies for perseverance, dealing with fear, rejection, and how to work on more than one more project at a time. Oh, there was a story in The Hollywood Reporter last week about a forthcoming monster movie called The Little People… written by none other than our very own Mr Stay! He talks about how perseverance helped him get the script optioned and into development.
In this week's episode from the BXP Archives... Joe burst onto the fantasy scene in 2003 with his debut The Blade Itself. His books have climbed high up the Sunday Times and New York Times bestseller, and he had some unusual advice for writers when we spoke to him at GollanczFest.
Caimh McDonnell is the bestselling author of the Dublin Trilogy and has one of the most entertaining and engaging newsletters out there with 10,000 subscribers and an astonishing open rate. Caimh answers our listener questions with tips on how to create great newsletters, even if you’re still writing your first novel, or launching the latest in a bestselling series.
Adele Parks has published 20 novels in 20 years and every one has been a Sunday Times bestseller. With over three and a half million copies sold in the UK, she is a phenomenon, and her latest novel Just My Luck hit the top spot again, but it all began with her grandfather paying her 50p for her stories. Oh, and in a shocking reveal… Mr D reveals his real full name. You don’t want to miss this.
In this week's episode from the BXP Archives...
Liz Moore is the NY Times bestselling author of Long Bright River, a novel ten years in the making that started with short stories, non-fiction sketches and community work in the neighbourhood where the story is set. All that due diligence led to one of the most acclaimed books of the year. Liz tells us how she crafts each of her books, and the Two Marks debate the pros and cons of the slow novel approach.
To support the show go to bestsellerexperiment.com/support
Our novel Back To Reality is out now bestsellerexperiment.com/backtoreality
Michael Connelly is one of the most successful crime authors in the world with over 60m book sales. Having just released his new Harry Bosch thriller, he shares secrets about developing characters & writing book series – in the back of a London cab!
Rachel Winterbottom is Senior Commissioning Editor at Gollancz and she also writes fiction as Rachel Winters. Rachel answers our listener questions on the editorial process, what editors are looking for, tropes, word count, social media, deadlines, publication scheduling, conventions and much more!
Ayisha Malik, author of This Green and Pleasant Land, gives us amazing tips on first drafts, sequels, publicity, social media and why writing commercial, comedic fiction doesn’t mean you can’t tackle big themes, and how being a ghostwriter taught her how to be a professional writer. We also catch-up on the good news stories from our listeners, and Mr. Stay has read the first draft of his wife’s debut novel and he gives his verdict...
In this week's episode from the BXP Archives... Breaking Bad's Bryan Cranston tells us about his life and new bestselling memoir, A Life In Parts.
Bestselling author Mel Sherratt tells us why she never gave up after twelve years of rejection. Since then, Mel has been self-published, traditionally published and digital-first published… she’s done it all and sold over a million and a half books! She tells us how publishing her first book changed everything. AND we celebrate five millions words banked on the BXP2020 Challenge with a chat with Claire Burgess, who just completed the first draft of her novel after starting the challenge in January.
Heather Fitt is the founder of Overview Media and organised our recent blog tour for the audiobook of Back to Reality. Heather takes us through the benefits of a blog tour and how they are organised and answers our listeners’ questions on costs, genres, bloggers, the lengths of blog tours and what to do with all those reviews when it’s over.
Links
Heather on Twitter: https://twitter.com/LifeBookish
Overview media: https://www.overviewmedia.co.uk
Every November hundreds of thousands of writers start their annual challenge of writing 50,000 words in one month. It’s called NaNoWriMomo (National Novel Writing Month). We get to speak with executive Director Grant Faulkner in the hectic run-up to NaNoWriMo, who shares his tips for both first-timers and veterans who make up the world’s most incredible writing community and event.
We scrambled to put this episode together in which we try and put some positive vibes out into the world. We celebrate some of our listeners’ recent triumphs, we answer listener questions, discuss creativity, strategies for working from home, how to make the most of your day and why writing is so important. Sit back and forget the world’s woes for just a short while...
Sign up to the BXP2020 Challenge here: https://bestsellerexperiment.com/bxp2020/
Karen Inglis is a bestselling indie children’s author based in the UK. Her books have sold over 100,000 copies and in this Deep Dive episode she answers our listener questions on finding illustrators, printing, marketing, blurbs, age-ranging, the craft of writing children’s books and tips on running great school events.
To support the show go to bestsellerexperiment.com/support
Our novel Back To Reality is out now bestsellerexperiment.com/backtoreality