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.
Latest episodes
Jan 4, 2021 • 58min
EP029: Kate Harrison | Bestselling Insights
Kate Harrison is a rare breed. A fiction and non-fiction award-winning author who used her insight experience with the BBC to produce a huge bestselling series of non-fiction diet and lifestyle books. We discuss with Kate about her phenomenally successful 5:2 Diet series, how she straddles the life as both a fiction and non-fiction author, and how her experience on shows like Panorama have shaped her storytelling.
Dec 28, 2020 • 1h 6min
Ep 298: Mark Victor Hansen — Pick A Target, Set Goals!
Mark Victor Hansen is co-writer of Chicken Soup For The Soul, the mega-selling phenomenon that has sold over half a billion copies worldwide. He takes us through his extraordinary story to publication and beyond.
Dec 28, 2020 • 4min
Ep 297: Deep Dive — Book Marketing Q&A with Leslie O'Connor
Leslie O’Connor has worked extensively in corporate marketing, and she put those skills to use when relaunching Mitch Benn’s Terra trilogy of books.
Dec 21, 2020 • 1h 2min
EP027: From Script, To Screen, To Book | Jo Ho
Jo Ho is an award-winning screenwriter and director, best known for creating the BBC TV series Spirit Warriors, but she has recently turned her hand to self-publishing with great success.
Dec 14, 2020 • 55min
Ep 296: 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, Facebook and the Academy.
Dec 7, 2020 • 53min
EP026: Author & Editor In A Hot Mess | Lucy Vine & Katie Seaman
Lucy Vine is a freelance journalist who has written for pretty much every magazine going. Inspired by one of Lucy’s articles, editor Katie Seaman commissioned Lucy to write Hot Mess, a full-length novel, in an incredibly short space of time and, between them, have discovered a brilliantly efficient way of working together.
Dec 3, 2020 • 31min
Ep 295: Fearless Worldbuilding. A Deep Dive with Allen Stroud
Author Allen Stroud is the current chair of the British Science Fiction Association and has a Masters Degree in Science Fiction and Fantasy Worldbuilding. In this special Deep Dive Allen talks about his new novel Fearless, writing for characters with disabilities, and he has some amazing tips on world building.
Nov 30, 2020 • 1h 4min
Ep 294: 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.
Nov 23, 2020 • 1h 6min
EP025: The M Word | Shannon Mayer
We welcome back Shannon Mayer for the third and final part of our epic interview with her and we finally tackle something that can put the fear of death into many authors… Marketing.
Nov 20, 2020 • 4min
Ep 293: Getting Published is Just the Beginning. A Deep Dive with Rhoda Baxter
Rhoda Baxter returns to the podcast with an amazing book that covers everything authors need to know about all the scary stuff: contracts, intellectual property, rights, and income. In this Deep Dive, she answers listeners questions on advances, choosing agents, negotiating terms, audio rights, and the steps that you can take before you’re even published.
