The Bestseller Experiment

We get lawyered-up in this fascinating episode where we talk to a pair of top entertainment lawyers: Keith Mathieson is an expert in defamation and privacy law, and Paul Joseph specialises in intellectual property cases and we quizzed them on the pitfalls authors should look out for when writing. In this episode you will discover: - If you can include song lyrics in your book - If you can use product placement in your writing - If you can put real people in your novel - If you can copyright an idea Get your free ebook with advice and tips from million-selling authors at: http://www.bestsellerexperiment.com    

Julie Cohen is the author of over twenty novels, including the Richard & Judy bestseller Dear Thing. She also teaches creative writing workshops and is a goldmine of writing wisdom.

David Shelley is the CEO of Orion Publishing and the Little, Brown Publishing Group, he started as an editor, working with some major talents including Iain Banks, Val McDermid and JK Rowling, and he talked to us about the future of the publishing industry. In this episode you will discover: - The personality traits and habits of successful authors - What major publishers look for in an author and how you can stand out from the crowd - How major publishers are looking to mentor and attract a more diverse workforce and author list. -Why authors should maybe get someone else to write their blurbs and titles Get your free ebook with advice and tips from million-selling authors at: http://www.bestsellerexperiment.com

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. In this episode you will discover: - How to channel your personal experience and passion into your work - How to use search results to discover a market for your book and connect with your readers - How you can apply the classic hero’s journey to your non-fiction writing - How writing your book’s blurb first will help you stay on track - Some great tips for newsletter content Get your free ebook with advice and tips from million-selling authors at: http://www.bestsellerexperiment.com  

We answer one of the most common questions we get on our quest: What is a bestseller? We spoke to Sara Mulryan of Nielsen Bookscan, the people who gather the data for the UK charts and made some fascinating discoveries. In this episode you will discover: - How book sales data feeds into different charts - Why you should pay close attention to your book’s genre, and which ones are the most popular - What you can get out of events like the London Book Fair - The best time of year, week and time of day to publish your book Get your free ebook with advice and tips from million-selling authors at: http://www.bestsellerexperiment.com

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. In this episode you will discover: - How Facebook groups can help guide you through your writing and self-publishing - How to cold-call editors and publishers successfully - How you can react to reader feedback and improve your book - And what essentials you need to build your readership Get your free ebook with advice and tips from million-selling authors at: http://www.bestsellerexperiment.com

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. In this episode you will discover: - How you can use a weekly deadline to increase your word count - Why you should look for gaps in the market - How you and an editor can work together on outlines and story before the edit begins - And even with an outline there’s room for new ideas Get your free ebook with advice and tips from million-selling authors at: http://www.bestsellerexperiment.com

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. In this episode you will discover: - The one piece of marketing that makes the biggest difference to your sales - Why writing on your vacation is okay - How you can grapple with the scary technical stuff - And why interacting with your readers is so important Get your free ebook with advice and tips from million-selling authors at: http://www.bestsellerexperiment.com

Is there such as thing as a positive rejection? This week we chat with award-winning author, Liz Fenwick about the importance of persistency on the journey to being published, why your book's location matters, the world of literary consultancies and how to silence your inner critic. In this episode you will discover… - How literary consultancies work - What you can learn from positive rejections - When to listen to your inner critic and how to banish the crows of doubt circling above - Why it’s so important to complete your novel      

Licking the wounds from their encounter with Ben Aaronovitch last week, the two Marks regroup, look at where they’ve gone wrong, and wonder if they can go on… In this episode you will discover… - Why taking a break from your main project might be a good idea - How to use your outline in a rewrite - Top tips for building your brand image and self-promotion - And Mr. Stay has been through the Kindle Direct Publishing process and reports on his findings Get your free ebook with advice and tips from million-selling authors at: http://www.bestsellerexperiment.com