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A narrative non-fiction treat this week as bestselling historian Damien Lewis tell us about the extraordinary heroes of his new book SAS Great Escapes. We also discuss research methods, using primary and secondary sources, how to earn the trust of interviewees, adapting history for the screen and why history is not static. In this episode […] The post EP321: Damien Lewis — History Isn’t Static appeared first on The Bestseller Experiment.

Nadine Matheson’s debut thriller The Jigsaw Man has been hailed as one of the event debuts of the year. But this was far from an overnight success. Nadine’s writing journey is one from competition wins, to NanoWriMo, to self-publishing, to a six-publisher auction and the publication of her bestselling debut The Jigsaw Man and a […] The post EP320: Nadine Matheson — A Little Bit of Dismemberment appeared first on The Bestseller Experiment.

Do you have a favourite teacher? One who encouraged you to write, maybe? This special episode is for all the teachers and students out there who have inspired one another over the years, and we have two of them on the show. Sarah Moorhead is the author of Witness X and started out as a […] The post EP319: Sarah Moorhead and Stuart Turton — Teacher, Student & Metempsychosis appeared first on The Bestseller Experiment.

Sex scenes in fiction can be difficult to get right, so much so that there’s even an award for writers who get it horribly wrong. We speak to Jacqueline Silvester and NJ Simmonds, who write together as Caedis Knight, about how they make the sex scenes in their Blood Web Chronicles work effectively. They answer […] The post EP318: Deep Dive — Writing Sex Scenes with Caedis Knight appeared first on The Bestseller Experiment.

Dean Wesley Smith is one of the most prolific writers working today, with over 200 novels, and countless short stories published. He reveals how he has learned how to stop listening to his critical voice, and to stop thinking of the story as a “product”, and how that has unleashed his creativity. In this episode […] The post EP317: Dean Wesley Smith — Plug in to your Creative Voice and Play appeared first on The Bestseller Experiment.

Josie Lloyd tells us why The Cancer Ladies Running Club is the most important and personal book she’s written, and how she balanced a story that is brutally honest about cancer and is still brimming with hope and positivity. She also takes us through her extraordinary career, including co-writing with her husband Emlyn Rees, and […] The post EP316: Josie Lloyd — Make ‘em laugh, Make ‘em cry appeared first on The Bestseller Experiment.

When Andrew Hunter Murray decided to end the world with his novel The Last Day he had no idea how hard it would be. His research involved astrophysics, climate migration, geopolitics, sleep cycles and much more. Andrew tells us how he achieved a balance of storytelling and worldbuilding to write what became one of the […] The post EP315: Andrew Hunter Murray — Terror Leads to Productivity appeared first on The Bestseller Experiment.

The dream for many authors is to see their novel made into a big-budget Hollywood movie. Debut author D. Eric Maikranz decided that he would make his dream a reality. His novel, The Reincarnationist Papers, has been adapted into a Paramount movie starring Mark Wahlberg, and directed by Antoine Fuqua. Taking a tip from his day job […] The post EP314: Eric Maikranz — Infinite Reward appeared first on The Bestseller Experiment.

Ellie Barker had always dreamed of becoming an author, and her debut novel The Pink Coffee Shop was ten years in the making. Ellie talks honestly about rejection, dusting herself off, finding the right editor, rolling with the punches, and discovering that dreams do come true… but might look a little different to how you […] The post EP313: Ellie Barker — Dreams Come True… Eventually appeared first on The Bestseller Experiment.

In this week’s episode from the BXP Archives… How do you touch the heart of your readers? We get emotional over tea and cake with bestselling author Erica James. Erica has sold over 5 million copies of her twenty books, is winner of the Romantic Novel of the Year Award, and she never fails to […] The post EP038: From The Heart | Erica James appeared first on The Bestseller Experiment.

Adele Geras is one of Britain’s most acclaimed writers, and has written over 100 books for both children and adults. With her latest novel Dangerous Women she’s written her first historical thriller under the pseudonym Hope Adams. We talk about writing under a pseudonym, taking liberties with history, the challenges of writing a thriller for the first time, […] The post EP312: Adele Geras — Be Whoever You Want appeared first on The Bestseller Experiment.

In this week’s episode from the BXP Archives… Mark Edwards is a bestselling author, having sold over two million psychological thrillers including The Magpies. Having been self-published and traditionally-published, Mark is now one of Amazon’s ‘Thomas & Mercer’ imprint’s most successful authors with five number one bestsellers. His extraordinary story will be an inspiration to any […] The post EP035: The Incredible Tenacity Of Mark Edwards appeared first on The Bestseller Experiment.

Catriona Ward’s first two novels Rawblood and Little Eve won awards and critical acclaim, but her new novel The Last House on Needless Street got the kind of pre-publication buzz that comes along very rarely. We spoke to Catriona about the changes she made to her career and her writing that led to her writing what Stephen King called “a true […] The post EP311: Catriona Ward — Nerve Shredder appeared first on The Bestseller Experiment.

Anne Cater is the founder of Random Things Tours and has been organising book blog tours for over four years. She answers our listener questions on everything you need to know about blog tours, including when to book them, how to find a reputable organiser, how much they cost, what to expect, how to make […] The post EP310: Deep Dive — Blog Tour Q&A with Anne Cater appeared first on The Bestseller Experiment.

We welcome Sarah Pinborough back to the podcast to celebrate the release of the Netflix adaptation of Sarah’s bestselling novel Behind Her Eyes. We first discussed the book with Sarah way back in episode 18, and Sarah spills the beans on the TV show’s production and we discuss plot spoilers throughout, so be warned! In this episode […] The post EP309: Sarah Pinborough — Behind Her Eyes Spoiler Special appeared first on The Bestseller Experiment.

Mitch Benn is a comedian, songwriter, musician, actor and author of the Terra Trilogy, a science fiction adventure series that Neil Gaiman called “Wise, funny and human”. Mitch takes us through the extraordinary story of how the first two books were published, how he overcame what could have been a disaster and completed, self-published and […] The post EP308: Mitch Benn — Helvetica Breakdown appeared first on The Bestseller Experiment.

In this week’s episode from the BXP Archives… 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 […] The post EP034: Into The Woods With John Yorke appeared first on The Bestseller Experiment.

Justine Solomons is founder of Byte the Book, an organisation dedicated to getting authors published, traditionally or self-published. Justine answers our listener questions on networking in publishing with tips for authors, what NOT to do, networking in lockdown, online events, how to prepare for networking and how to follow-up. Links: You can find out more […] The post EP307: Deep Dive — Networking in Publishing with Justine Solomons appeared first on The Bestseller Experiment.

Linwood Barclay is the international bestselling author of over twenty novels, and his latest thriller Find You First is a fast-paced, high-concept, page-turner. In this jam-packed chat we discuss head-hopping, point-of-view, flashbacks, fan fiction, deadlines, writer’s block, self-doubt and more! In this episode you will discover: How breaking the rules can work for you How fan fiction […] The post EP306: Linwood Barclay “Chapter Breaks Are Commercial Breaks” appeared first on The Bestseller Experiment.

In this week’s episode from the BXP Archives… 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 quiz them on the pitfalls authors should look out for […] The post EP032: Legal Eagles | Keith Mathieson and Paul Joseph appeared first on The Bestseller Experiment.