The Bestseller Experiment

We welcome Paul Bulos back to the podcast to discuss what burnout is and how it affects writers. Paul also offers ten strategies to help you overcome burnout. You can discover more about Paul’s services at http://www.thecompletecoach.co.uk

Katie Khan is the author of the bestsellers Hold Back the Stars and The Light Between Us, and now she’s a tutor at the Novelry, bringing her experience from both the film world and the book world to her students. Katie talks about inspirational teachers, writing around a day job, how getting feedback too soon can be counterproductive, and the lessons she’s learned from working with the likes of Paramount and Warner Bros.

Award-winning horror author Adam Nevill answers our listener questions on setting the mood, balancing gore and terror to find the right tone, research into the supernormal, getting into the minds of perpetrators of evil, the biggest lessons he has learned in his extraordinary career, how screenwriting has helped his novel writing, and how he’s conditioned himself to write in any place at any time . This is an essential listen for authors of all genres.

Welcome to the latest of our occasional Academy All-Stars mini episodes, where we talk to writers who have joined our academy and have done something extraordinary.  How long would it take you to write 400,000 words? Mark Hood has an unbroken writing streak of nearly two years and writing an average of 600 words a day he’s written 419,000 words and counting. Mark tells us what changes he made to his writing routine to make it happen, how he has kept it going (especially on the days when he’s not in the mood), and how it has helped him as a writer.

Alan Gillespie & Emma Grae are writers from Scotland who both have unique and distinct voices. Alan wrote The Mash House dialogue without punctuation, and Emma wrote Be Guid Tae Yer Mammy in Scottish vernacular. We talk about finding your voice as an author — and the voices of characters — who might otherwise have been overlooked by traditional publishing.

The Two Marks celebrate five years of the Bestseller Experiment and answer listener questions on favourite moments, best writing advice, how their writing has changed and how much of Mr D’s woo-woo had rubbed off on Mr Stay and why semi colons are the work of Satan. We’ve also added some birthday messages from guests and listeners that weren’t featured on the live show!

Felix Francis has continued the legacy of his father Dick Francis’s literary success, selling over 80 million novels in 40 languages. Felix tells us how the books were always a family business, and why the continued success owes so much to knowing the reader wants, and how he works really hard to make the books easy reading. And we announce the winner of the Joe Abercrombie giveaway!

Elise Valmorbida’s new book The Happy Writing Book is a unique guide for writers at all levels with 100 prompts to help you develop your writing and wellbeing. We discuss show not tell, success, engaging the senses and why we are all a work-in-progress. Also, the Two Marks launch a new hashtag upon an unsuspecting world… #LooBooks

Jenn T. Grace is the founder of Publish Your Purpose, a hybrid publishing company that helps first-time authors get their books written and finds them an eager audience. Jenn takes us through the first steps of writing non-fiction and memoir, the essential elements of a book proposal, and how to make your books stand out from the crowd.   You can discover more about Publish Your Purpose here… https://publishyourpurposepress.com/

Awais Khan returns to the podcast after the publication of his second novel No Honour, which has been getting the most extraordinary acclaim. Awais tells us about the lessons he’s learned since the publication of his debut, In The Company of Strangers, not least what he did at times when he felt like giving up.