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The Bestseller Experiment

Join author and screenwriter Mark Stay with coach and entrepreneur Mark Desvaux, as they discover the secrets to writing a bestseller and challenge themselves and you to write, market and self-published a bestselling book in just one year. Each week, they are guided by and interview million-selling, chart-topping authors, publishers on the inside, editors, agents, social media specialists, and many more big names who play a part in the bestseller process. From the writing to marketing, plotting to publishing, learn the secrets to help you write your way to the top of the charts.
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Now displaying: Page 3
May 15, 2023

Jonathan Whitelaw started out as a journalist, writing darkly satirical fiction on his commute to work. Jonathan tells us how he went from thinking that he could never write a crime novel, to creating a new cosy crime series with The Bingo Hall Detectives and The Village Hall Vendetta featuring a son-in-law and mother-in-law crime solving duo!

May 8, 2023

Jessie Keane has Romany heritage and her Gran — who had ’the sight’ — foretold that that Jesse would not only write, but be famous for it. 6.5 million copies later and with each book becoming a Sunday Times top ten bestseller, that prediction has come true. Jesse celebrates fifteen years since her debut novel, Dirty Game, with her latest thriller, Never Go Back. She tells us how she found her voice as a writer and why she never takes no for an answer. The Two Marks also answer the questions, ‘What’s the worst that can happen?’ by revealing their own most humiliating moments.

May 1, 2023

Katy Brent is an award-winning journalist whose debut novel How To Kill Men and Get Away With It is perfect for fans of How To Kill Your Family and Killing Eve. Katy tells us how the novel evolved from a fun idea to something that drew on the Me Too movement to and the anger around the victim blaming of abused women. Katy talks about her journey from writing articles in lockdown to writing a provocative novel that tackles difficult issues with satire and humour.

Apr 24, 2023

Amita Parikh’s debut novel The Circus Train took six years to write and has been earning praise worldwide, but it might never had happened if she hadn’t found herself lost in London, asking for directions. Amita tells us how she bounced back from rejection, why sport is the best way to train for writing, and how she created a writing habit.

Apr 21, 2023

Jeevani Charika is the author of Playing for Love, Picture Perfect and more, but she’s also a scientist and has been experimenting with ChatGPT to discover if writers should fear our AI Overlords or embrace them. 

Apr 17, 2023

JS Monroe worked as a foreign correspondent in Delhi, becoming a full-time writer. His psychological thriller Find Me became a bestseller in 2017, and, under the name Jon Stock, he is also the author of five spy thrillers. Warner Brothers bought the film rights to the Dead Spy Running trilogy hiring Oscar-winner Stephen Gaghan (Traffic, Syriana) to write the screenplay for Dead Spy Running, and now he’s back writing as JS Monroe with NO PLACE TO HIDE, a thriller with a Faustian pact at its heart.

Apr 14, 2023
In this special deep dive episode we speak to Jenny Geras, Managing Director at Bookouture. Jenny tell us what it is that makes this innovative digital first publisher so different, and she answers our listener questions on submissions, the difference in trends with digital and physical books, and if it pays to be prolific.
Apr 10, 2023

Delilah S Dawson is the New York Times bestselling author of Star Wars: Phasma and many more titles across an incredibly diverse backlist, and she returns with a new thriller called The Violence which explores themes of women of escaping domestic violence and reclaiming their power. Delilah also gives us tips for writing for big intellectual properties like Star Wars and Minecraft, and the writing habits that have made her so prolific and successful.

Apr 7, 2023

In the latest of our Academy All-Stars mini episodes, we talk to Kate Baker who tells us how being ultraflexible and never worrying about the word “should” helped her make the most of the Academy and publish her acclaimed debut novel Maid of Steel. We also discuss branded earrings, nails and Toblerone!

Apr 3, 2023

David McCloskey is a former CIA analyst and his smash hit debut novel Damascus Station was inspired by his time working in field stations in the Middle East. David tells us how the novel started as an exercise in processing his thoughts about the events in Syria, what he learned from writing for US presidents, how letting go of his ego helped him write a novel, and the role played in his career by a hot dog machine in Langley...

Mar 31, 2023
Stuart Gibbon is a former UK senior police detective who served in London and the East Midlands. In 2014, he launched his own business providing a consultancy service for writers. Stuart also appears on TV and radio as a policing expert. He's also co-written a series of books with Stephen Wade: The Crime Writers' Casebook, Being a Detective and Catching a Killer. And a series of indispensable guides on criminal investigation procedures.
In this packed Deep Dive on UK police procedures, Stuart identifies the common errors made by writers new to crime, and answers our listener questions.
Mar 27, 2023

Jayne Davis is a leading Regency Romance author, with nearly 40 million KU page reads, and through sharing her research on her blog she has become a go to resource for authors in the genre. Jayne reveals the essential elements of period romance, tips for writing period appropriate dialogue, and why publishing more books creates its own marketing.

Mar 20, 2023

Derek and Dave Philpott have been writing strange letters to famous musicians for ten years now, and getting even stranger ones back. Their first book, Dear Mr. Kershaw, became a cult hit and the follow-up Dear Mr. Pop Star was released by Unbound Publishing to more acclaim. And now they return with a Punk edition, Grammar Free in the UK, which is raising money for the charity Crisis. Dave tells us how these extraordinary projects came about, and how it first gained momentum when his dad saw how many Facebook friends he had and suggested, ‘Why not ask them for a tenner each?'

Mar 13, 2023

Rosie Andrews’ debut novel The Leviathan is rooted in her passion for history and she tells us how she was inspired by the like of Thomas Hobbes to create page-turning historical fiction that’s relevant to readers today. And Rosie tells us why she abandoned her first unpublished historical fiction novel because she felt that it lacked an authentic voice.

Mar 6, 2023

Mark Edwards returns to the podcast to celebrate ten years since his first solo novel The Magpies. He tells us about his changing relationship with the book that changed his life, how he’s sustained a career writing standalone thrillers, and why it’s important to have a direct connection with his readers.

Feb 27, 2023
Matt Brown is the author of such wonderful children’s books at the Compton Valance series (about a boy who creates a time machine from a 13-week-old mouldy sandwich), the Dreary Inkling School books, and The Mab, a re-telling of the Mabinogi, which might be the oldest written stories in the history of Britain. Matt was also TV presenter, notably on Nickelodeon, and he’s a podcaster, but don’t hold that against him. He tells us what he’s discovered writing for children, why it takes a village to make a book, and why he keeps all his rejection letters...
Feb 20, 2023

Twin brothers Zack and Michael Urlocker write together as M.Z. Urlocker, and their debut novel The Man from Mittelwerk is a 50s noir thriller with a dash of science fiction. They take us through their collaborative process, how they defined their roles in the project, and whether or not they’ll work together again.

Feb 13, 2023

As well as starring in the likes of The Hobbit and Spooks, the actor Richard Armitage is also a prolific audiobook narrator. And now he’s written Geneva, an Audible original psychological thriller. Richard tell us how the project came about, and how his background in music, theatre and film helped him develop the characters. And he tells us the things authors do that can irk audiobook narrators.

Feb 6, 2023

Simon Scarrow is best known for his Eagles of the Empire series that began in 2000 with Under the Eagle featuring Roman soldier heroes Cato and Macro. 2022 saw the release of Death to the Emperor, the twenty-first book in the series, and he’s also just released Dead of Night, the second of his Berlin wartime thrillers. Simon takes us through his extraordinary career, with tips on historical research, co-writing, developing ideas, and creating a series where the reader can start with the twenty-first book and still enjoy it.

Feb 1, 2023

Digital-first publisher Bookouture are now applying their publishing model to science fiction and fantasy with their new imprint Second Sky. We speak to consultant associate publisher Jack Renninson who tells us what Second Sky is looking for, and he answers our listener questions on submissions, pitching to Second Sky, and what’s to come in the near future.

Jan 30, 2023

Bestselling author Peter May returns to the podcast with his gripping new novel A Winter Grave, a near future thriller where climate change has changed the landscape. Peter talks about coming out of retirement to write without a contract or a deadline, but with passion and a sense of urgency. Mark Stay is joined this week by guest presenter Caimh McDonnell, bestselling author of the Bunny McGarry series and the Stranger Times books, including Love Will Tear Us Apart.

Jan 27, 2023

Director Jon Wright joins Mark Stay to answer listener questions on the development of their new monster movie Unwelcome. They reveal what inspired them to write the script, how the story was developed (and was very early abandoned), how Jon blocks and shoots sequences and works with the cast and crew, they offer tips for screenwriters, and they start by discussing, er, chocolate bars. 

Jan 23, 2023

Lou Abercrombie worked in TV and film production and as a photographer, and a few years ago started writing children’s books combining her passion for swimming and mathematics. Her debut novel FIG SWIMS THE WORLD, was longlisted for the Bath Children’s Award, and her new book AMAZING MATHS makes the subject of mathematics accessible in a way that we wish was around when we were at school. Lou reveals how water solves her story problems and how she’s helped by a waterproof notebook...

Jan 16, 2023

Matt Cain endured rejections from thirty agents and fifty publishers before getting his debut novel published… and then it didn’t work out. Matt tells us how he made an extraordinary comeback, breaking crowdfunding records with The Madonna of Bolton, having a smash with The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle, and now he’s back with Becoming Ted, his latest heartwarming novel about following your dreams.

Jan 9, 2023

Cole Haddon is an Australian-American screenwriter and novelist whose first TV commission, Dracula, was produced by NBC and SKY and starred Jonathan Rhys Meyers. Psalms for the End of the World is his debut novel and Cole tells us how he was inspired by looking into the eyes of one of his young children, why he’s happy to fail, how he deals with notes, and he gives us tips for writing scripts and graphic novels.

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