The Bestseller Experiment

Rebecca Collins and Adrian Hobart combined their experience in publishing and broadcasting to create Hobeck Books, a publisher dedicated to a family ethos, merging the best of traditional publishing standards and indie marketing techniques. We talk through the steps they took to start a publisher from the ground up and how to keep it running through a pandemic, and a time of rising costs,

International bestselling author Deon Meyer returns to the podcast with his latest thriller The Dark Flood. Deon tells us how his journalistic hunger for fascinating stories has never gone away. And how he fuses two seemingly unrelated ideas, creating a chemical reaction, that results in great stories. We also discuss writing for cultures other than our own, and how the Two Marks used a glossary in Back to Reality to define some of the British colloquialisms used in their book.

Tim Sullivan is a critically-acclaimed screenwriter who turned his back on Hollywood to self-publish thrillers. 250,000 downloads later Tim became a self-publishing phenomenon whose new DS Cross thriller The Patient is published by Head of Zeus. Tim takes us through his extraordinary career, the research he undertook to write a character with autism, and the role that both Derek Jarman and My Little Pony played in his career.

FMA Dixon’s debut novel The Little House on Everywhere Street was awarded the inaugural Acheven Book Prize for Young Adult Fiction and is charming readers the world over. He tells us how he developed his craft and voice through short stories, and by creating a special gift for his daughter.

Martin Latham has been a bookseller for over thirty-five years and is proud to be responsible for the biggest petty-cash claim in Waterstones’ history. He’s also an author and his latest book The Bookseller’s Tale is a wonderful celebration of books and bookshops. Martin is an endless source of bookselling anecdotes and, as you’ll hear, he is deeply passionate about bookselling.

Bestselling author Manda Scott tells us about Thrutopia, an extraordinary project designed to challenge writers to rethink how they write in order to rebuild the future. It begins with the Thrutopia masterclasses that dive into idea generation, narrative incubation and the power of community.

Nina De Gramont takes on her most ambitious book yet with The Christie Affair, which explores what might have happened to Agatha Christie when she disappeared for 11 days in 1926. Nina takes us through the process of taking a real-life mystery and creating a fiction around it, mixing drama with research, and writing for a fanbase that has very exacting expectations.

Veronica Henry returns to the podcast with her latest bestseller The Impulse Purchase, where a mother, daughter and grandmother run a pub together. Veronica talks about writing across the generations, whether or not to include Covid in her novel, and — after over twenty novels — if she’s getting the hang of writing yet.

Veronica Henry returns to the podcast with her latest bestseller The Impulse Purchase, where a mother, daughter and grandmother run a pub together. Veronica talks about writing across the generations, whether or not to include Covid in her novel, and — after over twenty novels — if she’s getting the hang of writing yet.

Cathy Bramley is a bestselling author of romantic comedies and her new novel The Summer That Changed Us is delighting readers all over the world. Cathy started by self-publishing her first novel with a launch party in a phone box, and she used her expertise in marketing and PR to carve out a career as one of our most innovative and best-loved authors. Oh, and Mr D has a lovely rant about 99p eBooks.