PODCAST · arts
The Bestseller Experiment
by Mark Stay & Mark Desvaux
Join author and screenwriter Mark Stay with coach, entrepreneur and recording artist 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.
Episodes
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Ep540 - David Koepp – Everything You Write Moves You Forward
David Koepp is one of the most successful screenwriters in Hollywood history. With a collective box office somewhere in the region of $250b he’s written Jurassic Park, Spider-Man, Death Becomes Her and many, many more. We were delighted to talk to David about his fantastic new novel COLD STORAGE...
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Ep539 - Sarah Moorhead and Stuart Turton — Teacher, Student & Metempsychosis
Do you have a favourite teacher? One who encouraged you to write, maybe? This special episode is for all the teachers and students out there who have inspired one another over the years, and we have two of them on the show. Sarah Moorhead is the author of Witness X and started out as a […] The…
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Ep538 - Michelle Paver | Research To The Extreme
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. LISTEN Subscribe now to the Bestseller Experiment App and get...
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Ep537 - Maria Semple | How To Find Your Voice As A Writer
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…
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Ep536 - A Christmas Special with Ian Rankin
A Christmas treat as we speak to bestselling author Ian Rankin who takes us through his incredible career, including tips on plotting, research, and his worst habit when writing, his favourite mistake (which he kept in the book) and he tells us his Sean Connery story… LISTEN Subscribe now to the...
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Ep535 - Behind Sarah Pinborough’s Eyes!
Sarah Pinborough has had over twenty novels published and written for TV and film. Sarah’s new thriller Behind Her Eyes is getting incredible buzz after a heated auction. Sarah is always funny, insightful and often eye-wateringly honest. Brace yourselves for one of our most entertaining author...
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Ep534 - John Connolly | No Formulas & Finishing Books Author
John Connolly has won pretty much every crime award going, and his books are regular Sunday Times bestsellers. He doesn’t do workshops, doesn’t suffer fools, and tells us about the massive issue with leaving a book half-finished. John’s words are dripping in wisdom and we loved him. LISTEN...
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Ep533 - Shannon Mayer - Million-Selling Indie Author
From farrier to million-selling indie author, USA Today bestseller, and writing machine, Shannon bestows wisdom, inspiration, and a quote that we want on t-shirts and bumper stickers. Episode Highlights:Shannon Mayer: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Mailing List LISTEN Books Mentioned Subscribe…
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Ep532 - LJ Ross – Rebel with Four Million Sold
LJ Ross has long refused to play by other people’s rules and when she didn’t like the look of a publishing contract she struck out on her own. Over four million copies of her books have been sold to date and she’s still going strong. She answers our listener questions on marketing, pricing…
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Ep531 - Joanne Harris — Squeeze Your Characters
Joanne Harris returns to the podcast with her gripping page-turning thriller A Narrow Door. Joanne answers our listener questions, tells us the importance of human interaction to her writing, why she doesn’t see a distinction between plotting and pantsing, and why ideas are like planets in a…
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Ep530 - Angela Marsons - on getting a 12-book deal
We welcome the wonderful Angela Marsons back to the podcast. Angela is the multi-million bestselling author of the DI Kim Stone series. And she’s back with Six Graves, the 16th book in the series. Despite her mega sales (five million and counting) and a 12-book contract, Angela tells us why she...
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Ep529 - Michael Connelly - How to Write Every Day
We are delighted to welcome worldwide bestseller Michael Connelly back to the podcast to discuss his new novel The Dark Hours, which explores an LA scarred by fear and social unrest. Michael reflects on how the world of Harry Bosch has grown over an incredible thirty years, and he answers our...
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Ep527 - Joe Abercrombie Returns
We celebrate international bestselling fantasy writer Joe Abercrombie’s return to the podcast with The Wisdom of Crowds, which brings his Age of Madness trilogy to a thrilling climax. As always, Joe is a treasure trove of amazing advice for writers and he answers our listener questions on...
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Ep527 - Steve Cavanagh: “A Masterclass in How to Hook Your Readers”
Sunday Times bestselling thriller writer Steve Cavanagh returns triumphant to the podcast. When we last spoke to him he was on the verge of a great breakthrough. Today he’s an award-winner and international bestseller and with his new thriller The Devil’s Advocate he’s done it again. Steve…
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Ep526 - Kate Mosse: “Unlocking the Secrets of Kate Mosse”
Kate Mosse CBE is a global bestselling author with over 8 million sales. Her previous 10 novels include Labyrinth, which became the highest selling novel of the year and was made into a TV series. She is also founder of the Women’s Prize for Fiction which has changed the landscape for women’s...
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Ep525 - Dean Wesley Smith - How to Stop Listening to Your Critical Voice
Dean Wesley Smith is one of the most prolific writers working today, with over 200 novels, and countless short stories published. He reveals how he has learned how to stop listening to his critical voice, and to stop thinking of the story as a “product”, and how that has unleashed his creativity....
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Ep524 - Linwood Barclay - How to Be a Bestseller Rulebreaker
Linwood Barclay is the international bestselling author of over twenty novels, and his latest thriller Find You First is a fast-paced, high-concept, page-turner. In this jam-packed chat we discuss head-hopping, point-of-view, flashbacks, fan fiction, deadlines, writer’s block, self-doubt and…
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Ep523 - Dean Koontz: “The Soul of Dean Koontz. All-Time Bestselling Author”
Dean Koontz is one of the most successful bestselling authors, with over 120 novels published, which have sold an incredible 500m+ copies. This ranks Dean among the top 10 bestselling authors of all time, and one of the top three living authors, an accolade he shares with J.K. Rowling. In his...
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Ep522 - You Are Not Alone
The Two Marks talks about isolation, loneliness, the voices in our head and all the other stuff that can make a writer feel like they are alone. We discuss what we can do to build a healthy community around us, even in lockdown. And we share the good news stories from our communities on Patreon,...
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Ep521 - B.J. Fogg — Tiny Habits
BJ Fogg, PhD, founded the Behavior Design Lab at Stanford University and created the Tiny Habits Academy to help people around the world. He tells us how the smallest changes can make a huge difference to your productivity as a writer. In this episode you will discover: LISTEN Subscribe to...
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Ep520 - Philip C. Quaintrell — The Bestseller Breaking All The Rules
Philip C. Quaintrell is in Amazon’s top 1.8% of self-published authors. He does this with no marketing spend, no newsletter, and epic fantasy novels so massively epic that even Brandon Sanderson would quake at their page count. He’s also one of the nicest authors we’ve interviewed. He gives us…
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Ep519 - Richard Armitage Returns - “Hobbits, Audiobooks and How to Manifest Your Dreams”
Hollywood actor Richard Armitage is best known as Thorin in The Hobbit, appearances in Ocean’s 8, Captain America and the seventh most viewed Netflix show – Harlan Coben’s ‘Fool Me Once’. Richard also starred in shows including Obsession, Red Eye, Spooks, Robin Hood and North & South, as lead…
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Ep518 - Kim Bretton – Working with ACX Audiobooks Producers
Kim Bretton is an actor and has worked in theatre, TV and film, but these days she’s found great success producing and narrating audiobooks in Nashville. We talk to Kim about her career shift into audiobooks and the spooky connection she had with Back to Reality. In this episode you will…
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Ep517 - Our Listeners’ Challenges and Triumphs
What better way to celebrate our 400th episode than by speaking to some of our longtime listeners and members of the Bestseller Academy who have faced their greatest writing challenges and come through the other side: In this episode you will discover… LISTEN Subscribe to Bestseller Experiment on...
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Ep516 - Writers & Mental Health – Live Show Highlights
We discuss one of the most important topics we’ve ever covered: writers and their mental health. With questions from our live studio audience we share our experiences of loneliness, anxiety, self-doubt and support. In this episode you will discover… LISTEN Subscribe to Bestseller Experiment on...
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Ep515 - Angela Marsons – 3 million sold in 3 years
Angela Marsons’ first novel Silent Scream was rejected by every major UK publisher, but she never gave up and now she’s sold an incredible three million copies and counting. Her story is incredible and inspirational and she may just be the loveliest author we’ve ever interviewed… In this episode...
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Ep514 - Defying the Odds with Sherrilyn Kenyon
Sherrilyn Kenyon’s first book was published when she was still in college, since then she has had more than 80 novels on the New York Times list, and more than 70 million books in print. We talk to Sherrilyn about her rise from childhood poverty to eBook pioneer and a bestselling phenomenon. In...
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Ep513 - Ask the Editor with Emad Akhtar
Editor Emad Akhtar has worked with authors like Michael Connelly, Ian Rankin and Justin Cronin and was kind enough to join our show and answer our listeners’ questions! In this episode you will discover… LISTEN Subscribe to Bestseller Experiment on Apple Music Subscribe to Bestseller Experiment…
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Ep512 - Steve Cavanagh – Author on the verge of a massive breakthrough
Steve Cavanagh is the author of the Eddie Flynn legal thrillers The Defence, The Plea, The Liar and now, with his new book Thirteen, he is on the verge of a bestselling breakthrough. Steve brings his legal expertise to his writing and creates compelling characters and nail-biting thrillers, and...
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Ep511 - Into The Woods With John Yorke
John Yorke is one of the world’s leading lights in the art of storytelling. As former head of Channel Four Drama, Controller of BBC Drama Production and head of Company Pictures, he has worked on shows like Shameless, Life On Mars, and the UK’s most popular soap opera EastEnders. He is also the...
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Ep510 - Gareth L Powell – How to sing a space opera
Gareth L Powell is one of the most generous authors on social media and a font of writing wisdom. He’s also the award-winning author of the Ack-Ack Macaque trilogy, his short stories have appeared in Interzone, Clarkesworld, and The Year’s Best Science Fiction, and he has written for The…
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Ep509 - Joanne Harris | Chocolat & Sheds
Best known for her novel Chocolat, which sold well over a million copies and was made into a movie starring Johnny Depp and Juliette Binoche, Joanne has written over twenty books, including Runemarks and Gospel of Loki, which were based on Norse legend. We spoke with her about writing, aspiration...
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Ep508 - Mark Billingham – From a shoutline to five million books sold
Mark Billingham is renowned for his bestselling crime thrillers, not least the Jack Thorne series. Having now sold over 5 millions copies of his books, Mark takes us through his incredible career which takes in acting, stand-up comedy, writing for TV, and a little bit of kidnapping. In this...
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Ep507 - Taylor Jenkins-Reid – Breaking The Rules = Bestseller
Taylor Jenkins-Reid’s latest novel Daisy Jones and the Six has been a global smash, but what makes it all the more extraordinary is that she has written fiction in a non-fiction format. Taylor describes the challenges in writing a novel that is up against real life, stranger-than-fiction rock and...
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Ep506 - Mark Victor Hansen - “Your Life Story”
Mark Victor Hansen is an American inspirational and motivational speaker and author. He is best known as the founder and co-creator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul book series. Mark was turned down 144 times trying to get his book published. He kept going when others told him it was not a good...
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Ep505 — Heather Morris — “Shut up and Listen!”
We celebrate seven years of the podcast with the amazing Heather Morris, author of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, which has sold over 6 million copies worldwide. She returns with a new novel, Sisters Under The Rising Sun, which transports the reader to the women in Japanese POW camps in WWII and is...
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Ep504 - Mark Desvaux - “The Hallmark Habits of Highly Successful Authors (Part 2)”
In Part 2 of this series, Mark Desvaux takes you on a deep dive into five more hallmark habits of bestseller authors, distilled from seven and a half years of deep interviews and analysis. Drawn from over 500 conversations with top writers, this series offers possibly the most comprehensive...
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Ep503 - Mark Desvaux - “How to Create a Writing Habit for Life”
We’re celebrating nearly five years since the launch of the 200 Word Challenge—a project that has helped countless writers finish their books with over 40 million words banked. The project grew out of our research that showed that 83% of aspiring authors struggle to find the time to write. The…
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Ep502 - Mark Desvaux - “The Hallmark Habits of Highly Successful Authors (Part 1)”
In Part 1 of this new series, Mark Desvaux takes you on a deep dive into the habits of bestseller authors, distilled from seven and a half years of deep interviews and analysis. Drawn from over 500 conversations with top writers, this series offers possibly the most comprehensive exploration of...
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Ep501 - Brandon Sanderson
We caught up with fantasy bestselling author and super nice dude Brandon Sanderson and in a jam-packed episode he answered our listeners’ questions and let us in on some of his inspirational top tips for productive writing… In this interview, you will learn: Listen Love the show? Support the...
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Ep500 - Mark Desvaux - “The Six Life-Changing Reasons You Write”
We’ve reached a monumental episode – the 500th – on the Bestseller Experiment podcast! To celebrate, Mark Desvaux goes deeper than ever to uncover and countdown the most important, life-changing reasons why we write, drawn from seven and a half years and over 600 hours of interviews with...
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Ep499 - Michael Connelly | 60 Million Thriller Books
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! Listen Love the show? Support the podcast today...
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Ep498 - Karen Storey - “How to Become a Short Story Superstar”
Karen Storey’s name has become synonymous with success in short story writing. With an impressive one-in-three win rate out of over 40 competitions last year, Karen exemplifies what it means to blend passion with strategy in writing. In this episode, Karen shares the secrets of her success,...
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Ep497 - Ben Aaronovitch and the Great Bollocking…
Ben Aaronovitch started writing for Doctor Who and became the author of the bestselling Peter Grant series that started with Rivers Of London in 2011 and has been hugely successful, regularly hitting the Sunday Times bestseller Top 10 list. Listen in as the Two Marks get a roasting by Ben over...
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Ep496 - Jacqueline O'Mahony - “Sheer Determination Beats Everything”
Jacqueline O’Mahony was named Young Irish Writer of the Year by the Irish Examiner when she was fourteen. After a BA, MA and PhD she worked at Condé Nast, Vogue and Associated Newspapers as an arts editor. Her debut novel, A River in the Trees, was nominated for the Authors’ Club Best First Novel...
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Ep495 - Joe Abercrombie - “The Best Writing Advice Ever”
Photo Credit: Lou Abercrombie 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. Joe is best known for the First…
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Ep494 - Rachel Lynch - “Speed Drafts, PTSD & The Rich”
In this episode, we dive into the world of Rachel Lynch. Rachel Lynch is a renowned crime fiction author whose work has captivated over a million readers. Rachel is best known for her gripping Kelly Porter series of 12 books, set against the picturesque backdrop of the Lake District. She began...
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Ep493 - Bryan Cranston on... Writing, Breaking Bad and Donald Trump
Breaking Bad’s Bryan Cranston tells us about his life and new bestselling memoir, A Life In Parts. Oscar-nominated, with two Golden Globes, two Tony Awards and 6 time Emmy winner, he’s best known for roles in Malcolm in the Middle, Seinfeld and most famously, Walter White. Few people know that he...
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Ep492 - Lucinda Halpern - “Get Signed! How to Pitch to an Agent”
In this interview, listen in as Mark Desvaux pitches his forthcoming book Pacivida to NY literary agent Lucinda Halpern, who has been securing book deals with all major publishers over the last 15 years. Lucinda represents a range of New York Times and internationally bestselling authors in...
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Ep491 - Lucinda Halpern - “Get Signed! Why You Need an Agent”
Lucinda Halpern is a literary agent with over 15 years’ experience securing book deals and working with all major publishers. She represents a range of New York Times and internationally bestselling authors in business, health, lifestyle, popular science, narrative nonfiction, memoir, and…
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Join author and screenwriter Mark Stay with coach, entrepreneur and recording artist 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.
HOSTED BY
Mark Stay & Mark Desvaux
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does The Bestseller Experiment have?
The Bestseller Experiment currently has 300 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is The Bestseller Experiment about?
Join author and screenwriter Mark Stay with coach, entrepreneur and recording artist 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...
How often does The Bestseller Experiment release new episodes?
The Bestseller Experiment publishes regularly with 300 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to The Bestseller Experiment?
You can listen to The Bestseller Experiment on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts The Bestseller Experiment?
The Bestseller Experiment is created and hosted by Mark Stay & Mark Desvaux.
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