
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

Sep 30, 2019 • 36min
Ep231: One Page Punch-Ups with Juliet Ewers
We are delighted to welcome back Orion Publishing’s Associate Editor Juliet Ewers to critique our latest round of One Page Punch-Ups. These are pages sent in by our Chart Topper Patreons. We read them and critique them and all learn a little something that we can use in our writing. To support the show go to bestsellerexperiment.com/support Our novel Back To Reality is out now bestsellerexperiment.com/backtoreality

Sep 30, 2019 • 3min
Ep230: The Business of Being An Author with Rhoda Baxter - Teaser
In the first of a series of Deep Dives into the business side of dealing with publishers and agents we welcome Rhoda Baxter back to the podcast and we talk about how to deal with publishers, agents, intellectual property, contracts, copyright, trademarks, advances, earning out, royalties and much more! To support the show go to bestsellerexperiment.com/support Our novel Back To Reality is out now bestsellerexperiment.com/backtoreality

Sep 23, 2019 • 1h 15min
Ep229: 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

Sep 23, 2019 • 3min
Ep228: Hera Books - Everyone is A-List
Just over a year ago Keshini Naidoo and Lindsey Mooney left their jobs and took a huge risk to create Hera Books. A year on they tell us the biggest lessons they’ve learned, how some of their first authors were our listeners. They give us tips on how publishers select books for their lists and why every one of their authors is on their A-list.

Sep 15, 2019 • 1h 8min
EP227: Phoebe Locke - Using Therapy To Create Characters
Phoebe Locke is the pseudonym of Nicci Cloke. Phoebe’s book The July Girls takes the life of a character from age ten to twenty-five, and in a fascinating interview Phoebe tells us how she had therapy sessions as one of her characters.

Sep 9, 2019 • 3min
EP226: An Audiobooks Masterclass with Kim Bretton
Kim is the narrator and producer of the Back to Reality audiobook and we go into detail about the process of preparing, recording and producing an audiobook with countless tips for writers on how to work with producers to get the best audiobook possible. Audiobooks are the fastest growing medium for writers and this is essential listening! To support the show go to bestsellerexperiment.com/support Our novel Back To Reality is out now bestsellerexperiment.com/backtoreality

Sep 9, 2019 • 41min
EP225: 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. To support the show go to bestsellerexperiment.com/support Our novel Back To Reality is out now bestsellerexperiment.com/backtoreality

Sep 2, 2019 • 60min
EP224: Edward Cox - Amazing Worlds Built From Notebooks
Edward Cox is the Gemmell Award-nominated author of the Relic Guild trilogy, and with his new book Song of the Sycamore he builds an incredible world, both magical and believable, and it all starts with scribblings in notebooks. To support the show go to bestsellerexperiment.com/support Our novel Back To Reality is out now bestsellerexperiment.com/backtoreality

Aug 29, 2019 • 2min
EP223: StoryOrigin promotions with Evan Gow
Evan Gow started StoryOrigin as a community of writers who promote one another through group promotions and newsletters. Evan takes us through the basics, tells us how it all works, what genres benefit the most from these promotions, and how it differs from other group promotion sites such as Bookfunnel. To support the show go to bestsellerexperiment.com/support Our novel Back To Reality is out now bestsellerexperiment.com/backtoreality

Aug 26, 2019 • 2min
Ep 221: Youtube Flash Fiction with Kit Cox
Kit Cox is an author, illustrator and actor and has just launched a Flash Fiction Youtube page where he tells stories in drabbles (a hundred words) and dribbles (fifty words or fewer). He also takes us through his unconventional route to publication working with small presses and self-publishing to great success. To support the show go to bestsellerexperiment.com/support Our novel Back To Reality is out now bestsellerexperiment.com/backtoreality