The Bestseller Experiment

Hosted ByMark Stay & Mark Desvaux

Join author and screenwriter Mark Stay with coach, entrepreneur and recording artist 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.


All Episodes

EP391: Lizzy Barber — I Carry My Work With Me

Lizzy Barber’s critically acclaimed debut novel My Name is Anna won the Daily Mail First Novel competition, and her latest thriller Out of Her Depth is a Richard and Judy book club selection. Lizzy’s journey has taken her from winning a Disney writing …

EP390: Patricia Gibney — Start Writing Immediately

Patricia Gibney has sold over 2 million copies of her Detective Lottie Parker books, and readers worldwide love her stories, but her career started at a very tough time in her life. Patricia left her job of thirty years and was able to work through gri…

EP389: Joanne Harris — Squeeze Your Characters

Joanne Harris returns to the podcast with her gripping page-turning thriller A Narrow Door. Joanne answers our listener questions, tells us the importance of human interaction to her writing, why she doesn’t see a distinction between plotting and pants…

EP388: Ian Skewis — Memories and Fiction

Ian Skewis’s debut novel A Murder of Crows became a no.1 bestseller and was long listed for the Guardian’s Not the Booker Prize. Ian tells us how it all began with a traumatic incident from his childhood, how he developed the story in different media f…

EP387: Angela Marsons — Every Book is a Brand New Journey

We welcome the wonderful Angela Marsons back to the podcast. Angela is the multi-million bestselling author of the DI Kim Stone series. And she’s back with Six Graves, the 16th book in the series. Despite her mega sales (five million and counting) and …

EP386: Deep Dive — Editing a Draft with Ian W Sainsbury

Ian W Sainsbury is the award-winning author of the Jimmy Blue series of thrillers. Ian has just started editing the fourth book in the series and he was kind enough to let us get a sneak peek at his editing process.

EP385: Louise Hare — Find the Discipline

Louise Hare’s debut This Lovely City was shortlisted for the RSL Ondaatje Prize and Louise was selected for the Observer’s top 10 best debut novelists. She returns with Miss Aldridge Regrets, a murder mystery set aboard the Queen Mary in 1936.

EP384: Andrew Chapman — How To Write a Bestseller in a Day

In a special mid-week episode, we speak to Andrew Chapman. Andrew is the author of horror novels like Jack’s Game, and he’s been a long-time supporter of the podcast on Patreon. A few weeks ago, he declared that he was going to write a novel in a day.

EP383: Simon McCleave — Start with the Twist

Simon McCleave’s first indie novel The Snowdonia Killings sold over 200,000 copies after its release in 2020. He is astonishingly prolific and all his novels since have been Amazon bestsellers. His new novel, The Dark Tide, kicks off a new series,

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