Happy New Year! I have read some truly wonderful books in 2023, meaning that it was impossible for me to pick just a top ten for the year, so make …
Top Fifteen of 2023
Top Fifteen of 2023
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Christmas Merry Meet: Mark Stay
Happy Boxing Day here in the UK. We all hope you had a lovely Christmas and Yule. Traditionally The Enchanted Emporium is closed from Christmas Eve …
Christmas Merry Meet: Mark Stay
Book Review: The Holly King by Mark Stay
Merry Solstice blessings! Yule is here, so it’s time to review one of the best Christmas books this year and beyond. While most novels focus on the …
Book Review: The Holly King by Mark Stay
The Very Entertaining Mike Gayle
Can’t think of a better author to wrap up 2023 on the Bestseller Experiment with than Mike Gayle. He’s celebrating 25 years of his amazing debut novel My Legendary Girlfriend and he’s got a new one out, A Song of Me and You. We chat about keeping warm in the winter (we’re middle aged writers, so this is relevant!), how to make unlikeable characters engaging, and the really important lesson he learned from being the agony uncle for the teen magazine Bliss in the 90s…
A Festive Q&A at Mai’s Musings…
I was delighted to take part in a festive Q&A with Mai’s Musings. Find out what I’m hoping to find in my Christmas stocking this year here…
Join me and Jen Williams and AY Chao at Guildford Library this Thursday
Come and join me, A.Y. Chao and Jen Williams as we take a look at the fantasy fiction that has inspired our writing. After the panel discussion, there will be a time for audience questions, then meet the authors for book sales and signing. BOOK TICKETS HERE
Michael R Miller is Epic
I did a panel with Michael R Miller at the MCM Comic Con yesterday and was once again struck by how generous he is with his advice. He’s done incredibly well since I met him at an Eastercon a few years ago, selling over 350,000 copies of his fantasy epic, but he’s always been the first to suggest new ideas and strategies for selling books and you would do well to heed his advice! It was great to get him back on the Bestseller Experiment to catch up on what he’s been up to, including getting Broken Binding editions of his books, having a D&D campaign based on his new series, and how he’s taken his experience with cystic fibrosis and used it in his fantasy world building…
And in the extended version for podcast supporters we discuss how you decided if you should write a series, trilogy or standalone, how to launch your audiobooks, and the differences between USA and UK editions of books. You can support the podcast here.
DO, meet your heroes
The adage “Never meet your heroes, for if you do, it will always disappoint” has been ingrained into us over many years. Yet, I find myself in strong…
DO, meet your heroes
Tip-Top TikToker and Author Suzie Edge
Suzie Edge has been a listener and supporter of the Bestseller Experiment podcast for many years, so it’s been such a joy seeing her rise to fame as an amazing TikTok star and a bestselling author. Her new book is Vital Organs, which delves (if that’s the right word) into history’s most extraordinary body parts. Suzie is great fun as always and regales us with some very icky historical stories and lets us know what it was like to release Mortal Monarchs, a book about dead royals, when real royals were actually dying!
And in the extended version for Academy members and podcast Patrons, Suzie answers listener questions on creating TikTok content that increases her following, balancing writing and social media, and much more! You can listen to that by becoming a supporter of the podcast here.
Every little helps
I finished the first draft of Entrapment this week. There’s still a long way to go – one thing I’ve discovered about myself in the last year is that …
Every little helps
Mark Stay Writes 