The Bestseller Experiment

Angela Marsons' first novel Silent Scream was rejected by every major UK publisher, but she never gave up and now she's sold an incredible three million copies and counting. Her story is incredible and inspirational and she may just be the loveliest author we've ever interviewed…

Sherrilyn Kenyon's first book was published when she was still in college, since then she has had more than 80 novels on the New York Times list, and more than 70 million books in print. We talk to Sherrilyn about her rise from childhood poverty to eBook pioneer and a bestselling phenomenon.

Editor Emad Akhtar has worked with authors like Michael Connelly, Ian Rankin and Justin Cronin and was kind enough to join our show and answer our listeners' questions!

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. N...

John Yorke is one of the world's leading lights in the art of storytelling. As former head of Channel Four Drama, Controller of BBC Drama Production and head of Company Pictures, he has worked on shows like Shameless, Life On Mars, and the UK's most popular soap opera EastEnders. He is also the author of Into The Woods, one of our favourite books on the craft of storytelling.

Gareth L Powell is one of the most generous authors on social media and a font of writing wisdom. He's also the award-winning author of the Ack-Ack Macaque trilogy, his short stories have appeared in Interzone, Clarkesworld, and The Year's Best Science Fiction, and he has written for The Guardian, The Irish Times, 2000AD and SFX. With his new book Embers of War he has returned to his love of space...

Best known for her novel Chocolat, which sold well over a million copies and was made into a movie starring Johnny Depp and Juliette Binoche, Joanne has written over twenty books, including Runemarks and Gospel of Loki, which were based on Norse legend. We spoke with her about writing, aspiration and sheds.

Mark Billingham is renowned for his bestselling crime thrillers, not least the Jack Thorne series. Having now sold over 5 millions copies of his books, Mark takes us through his incredible career which takes in acting, stand-up comedy, writing for TV, and a little bit of kidnapping.

Taylor Jenkins-Reid's latest novel Daisy Jones and the Six has been a global smash, but what makes it all the more extraordinary is that she has written fiction in a non-fiction format. Taylor describes the challenges in writing a novel that is up against real life, stranger-than-fiction rock and roll history.

Mark Victor Hansen is an American inspirational and motivational speaker and author . He is best known as the founder and co-creator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul book series.  Mark was turned down 144 times trying to get his book published. He kept going when others told him it was not a good idea.. Today with almost 500 million Chicken Soup for the Soul books sold, Mark holds the Guinness Wor...

We celebrate seven years of the podcast with the amazing Heather Morris, author of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, which has sold over 6 million copies worldwide. She returns with a new novel, Sisters Under The Rising Sun, which transports the reader to the women in Japanese POW camps in WWII and is another incredibly powerful story. Heather talks about the role of listening in her work, creating fict...

In Part 2 of this series, Mark Desvaux takes you on a deep dive into five more hallmark habits of bestseller authors, distilled from seven and a half years of deep interviews and analysis. Drawn from over 500 conversations with top writers, this series offers possibly the most comprehensive exploration of what it takes to reach the bestseller lists. Join Mark as he unveils the critical practices a...

We're celebrating nearly five years since the launch of the 200 Word Challenge—a project that has helped countless writers finish their books with over 40 million words banked so far. The project grew out of research that showed many aspiring authors struggle with finding time to write (83% according to our survey), as well as self-confidence issues, and challenges around perfectionism, procrastin...

In Part 1 of this new series, Mark Desvaux takes you on a deep dive into the habits of bestseller authors, distilled from seven and a half years of deep interviews and analysis. Drawn from over 500 conversations with top writers, this series offers possibly the most comprehensive exploration of what it takes to reach the bestseller lists. Join Mark as he unveils the critical practices and routines...

We caught up with fantasy bestselling author and super nice dude Brandon Sanderson and in a jam-packed episode he answered our listeners' questions and let us in on some of his inspirational top tips for productive writing…

We've reached a monumental episode – the 500th – on the Bestseller Experiment podcast! To celebrate, Mark Desvaux goes deeper than ever to uncover and countdown the most important, life-changing reasons why we write, drawn from seven and a half years and over 600 hours of interviews with bestselling authors.

Michael Connelly is one of the most successful crime authors in the world with over 60m book sales. Having just released his new Harry Bosch thriller, he shares secrets about developing characters & writing book series – in the back of a London cab!

Karen Storey's name has become synonymous with success in short story writing. With an impressive one-in-three win rate out of over 40 competitions last year, Karen exemplifies what it means to blend passion with strategy in writing. In this episode, Karen shares the secrets of her success, including the importance of great endings. In a final twist, we surprise Karen with the Bestseller Academy A...

Ben Aaronovitch started writing for Doctor Who and became the author of the bestselling Peter Grant series that started with Rivers Of London in 2011 and has been hugely successful, regularly hitting the Sunday Times bestsellers top ten. We were delighted to get Ben for a conversation full of fireworks.

Jacqueline O'Mahony was named Young Irish Writer of the Year by the Irish Examiner when she was fourteen. After a BA, MA and PhD she worked at Condé Nast, Vogue and Associated Newspapers as an arts editor. Her debut novel, A River in the Trees, was nominated for the Authors' Club Best First Novel Award and the Not the Booker Prize in 2020. Her latest book Sing, Wild Bird, Sing is set during the Ir...

Joe burst onto the fantasy scene in 2003 with his debut The Blade Itself. His books have climbed high up the Sunday Times and New York Times bestseller, and he had some unusual advice for writers when we spoke to him at GollanczFest. Joe is best known for the First Law Trilogy – The Blade Itself, Before They Are Hanged and Last Argument of Kings – and the stand-alone novels in the same world – Bes...

In this episode, we dive into the world of Rachel Lynch.  Rachel Lynch is a renowned crime fiction author whose work has captivated over a million readers. Rachel is best known for her gripping Kelly Porter series of 12 books, set against the picturesque backdrop of the Lake District. She began writing full time in 2016 and Canelo signed her first three novels in 2018. The Rich is Rachel's latest...

Breaking Bad's Bryan Cranston tells us about his life and new bestselling memoir, A Life In Parts. Oscar-nominated, with two Golden Globes, two Tony Awards and 6 time Emmy winner, he's best known for roles in Malcolm in the Middle, Seinfeld and most famously, Walter White. Few people know that he is also an accomplished writer having written a number of screenplays, plays, and his autobiography. W...

In this interview, listen in as Mark Desvaux pitches his forthcoming book Pacivida to NY literary agent Lucinda Halpern, who has been securing book deals with all major publishers over the last 15 years. Lucinda represents a range of New York Times and internationally bestselling authors in nonfiction or fiction, and her new book "Get Signed: Find an Agent, Land a Book Deal, and Become a Published...

Lucinda Halpern is a literary agent with over 15 years' experience securing book deals and working with all major publishers. She represents a range of New York Times and internationally bestselling authors in business, health, lifestyle, popular science, narrative nonfiction, memoir, and upmarket fiction. Lucinda worked for HarperCollins on New York Times bestsellers including Freakonomics. She l...