The Bestseller Experiment

Sam Missingham fell in love with the quirks of the publishing industry when she started working at The Bookseller over a decade ago. Since then she has worked at HarperCollins as head of audience development, and now runs The Lounge, a marketing resource for writers. With an outsider’s perspective, she has been a pioneer of change in how publishers view digital sales and marketing... In this episode you will discover… - Changes in the publishing industry and what lays ahead in the future - How to reach 26 million people with a budget of £150 - How organisations like The Alliance of Independent Authors can help you - How you can use The Lounge to market your books - And what it takes to be an "empowered author”.  

This week's Deep Dive is a discussion with Julian Barr about the Hero's Journey. Hear more at http://bestsellerexperiment.com/support

In this week's Deep Dive is a discussion, Mr. Stay discusses Romcoms with literary agent and romcom devotee Federica Leonardis in this special Deep Dive. Hear more at http://bestsellerexperiment.com/support

This is not the usual ‘How do you get an agent?’ show, instead we talk about money, author’s earnings, shrinking advances, publishers’ profits, and that letter from the Society of Authors to the Publishing Association (and we get sidetracked into a conversation about socks)… In this episode you will discover… - How the income from a typical book sale breaks down between retailer, publisher, agent and author - Should you check an agent’s credentials before signing up with them? - How else can you make money as an author? - And why you should never send an oven glove in with your submission... - Here are some of the links we talked about in the show… To support the show go to bestsellerexperiment.com/support Our novel Back To Reality is out now bestsellerexperiment.com/backtoreality

You may know CL Taylor as the Sunday Times bestselling author of psychological thrillers The Lie, The Accident, The Fear and more… but it wasn’t always that way. As Cally Taylor she wrote romcoms, and has a career with more than her fair share of ups and downs that might have made a lesser mortal give up. But not Cally! Get inspired with a fun trip through an incredible career... In this episode you will discover… - How marking-up the best bits of a bestseller can help you - Why you’re never too young to get a rejection or indeed have a rivalry with another author... - How a baptism of fire in a short story bootcamp changed her writing style - How CL Taylor came from a voice in Cally’s head (when she was heavily pregnant) - Why a big advance doesn’t necessarily equal a successful book To support the show go to bestsellerexperiment.com/support Our novel Back To Reality is out now bestsellerexperiment.com/backtoreality

Veronica Henry is a Sunday Times bestselling novelist who started out as a writer on BBC radio’s The Archers after being kicked out of university, and then went on to win the RNA novel of the year award for her book A Night on the Orient Express. When we caught up with her, she had been indulging in cake and champagne… and we find out why... In this episode you will discover… - How a recipe book inspired a bestseller - Why Veronica is sort-of both a plotter and a pantser - Tips for working with editors and why they’re not as savage as TV script editors - And why we should all worship Jilly Cooper

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 co-presents the Two Crime Writers And A Microphone podcast… Which we’re not going to plug on the show. No way. In this episode you will discover… Why a screenwriting rejection from Frances Ford Coppola shouldn’t get you down Why holding your nerve when told to scrap your book can pay dividends Top tips on keeping your series character fresh and making your antagonists compelling Why it’s so important to be a fan of your genre and to become a member of the genre’s community And how to announce to an editor that what you’ve written is something different...

This week's Deep Dive is a discussion with Julian Barr about Beta Readers. Hear more at http://bestsellerexperiment.com/support

Warren Adler is best known for his classic bestseller The War of the Roses and has had the most incredible career as a writer of novels, stage plays, poems, essays and short stories. He was also an eBook pioneer and paved the way for countless indie authors. Warren’s first novel was published when he was 46, and his story is one of dreams and determination. To support the show go to bestsellerexperiment.com/support Our novel Back To Reality is out now bestsellerexperiment.com/backtoreality

This week's Deep Dive is a discussion with Sam Missingham.   Hear more at http://bestsellerexperiment.com/support