This is it! The last author interview I did for The Bestseller Experiment podcast has been released and it’s with the brilliant Jacqueline O’Mahony and we discuss stuff like coming up with the title before the book, writing about ‘intangible things’, writing about tragedies like the Great Famine, winning awards at a young age, and the excellent advice, “Keep writing and something will come.” Enjoy!
Tag: The Bestseller Experiment
I’m Leaving the Bestseller Experiment Podcast
Yup. After seven years, 480+ episodes, 500+ authors and countless hours of award-winning waffle I’ve decided to hang up my podcasting headphones. Why would I do such a thing? Well, I need to spend more time focusing on my writing. The podcast can take up to half of my working week, and I’ve currently got four big writing projects on the go with more on the horizon and I need every spare minute I can get.
I’ve tried to pre-empt what questions listeners might have and answered them below, but if you have any other questions then do please pop them in the comments section below…
When am I leaving? The last episode I’m recording is the Christmas Day special. I have recorded a few author interviews that will go live in January, so you’ll hear those, but I won’t be recording the usual before and after chat with Mr D.
Will the podcast continue? You betcha! Mr D has some very exciting plans for the Bestseller Experiment. I have no doubt that it’ll be bigger and better than ever.
Are you leaving the Bestseller Academy? Yes. But again, there are hours and hours of my pearls of wisdom (aka writerly waffle) in the academy archive and my courses are still there. And, like the podcast, Mr D has some great plans for the academy going forward. I’ll leave it to him to reveal them in his own time, but it’s still a great place to find a wonderful writing community.
Will you start your own podcast? I don’t have any immediate plans to do so, but I love speaking with authors and who knows what the future holds. I won’t rule it out, but it won’t be happening soon. I might even take a wee step back from social media for a bit. But I’ll always be here on the blog.
Have you and Mr D had a falling out? Is this like the break up of the Beatles!? Definitely not! I love that man and wish him only happiness. Chatting with him every week has been a delight. Though I should make it clear that we don’t live together like Morecambe and Wise or Bert and Ernie…
What if I want advice on writing? Can you still look at my novel and script? Definitely! Just drop me a line here and we can get the ball rolling.
The podcast has been a huge part of my life these last seven years and I’ve loved every minute of it. It’s been a privilege speaking to so many amazing authors and publishing folk, and there’s no question that it’s made me a better writer. There’s a wonderful cliche in storytelling that the real prize is the friends we made along the way, and that’s never been truer than with the podcast: Mr D, and all the members of the BXP Group and the Academy, I now have the honour of calling my friends. It’s been a joy getting to know them all and see their writing blossom in so many different ways. And I will always look back on the podcast with a huge sense of pride and joy. It’s goodbye from Mark Two…
Andrea Dunlop on the Bestseller Experiment and Should Writers Ever Just… Give up?
This week’s podcast guest is Andrea Dunlop who, like me, worked in traditional publishing before becoming an author, and that allowed both of us to go into publication with our eyes open. We both knew it wouldn’t all be big advances and lavish launch parties. Many books fail to sell to their full potential, and most authors don’t have a career beyond their third book.
If traditional publishing is so bleak, then why perser… parse… keep going? I think it all depends on your attitude to success and your goals as a writer. When we tell you that publishing can be slow, brutal and the money is crap, we mean it and the truth is there is virtually nothing you can do about it. Likewise for self publishing: you have more control over the finished book, but selling it means having the budget to pay for ads and few authors have the spare cash to do it properly.
Andrea talks about writing being a ‘second reality’ and that actually sitting down and putting words to paper — the real writing — is what makes her happy. And I’m the same. I suspect you are, too. Writers have to love the process. And yes, that includes all the days where it doesn’t quite work, but there’s nothing like sitting down and creating something out of nothing. It’s magic. Love the process. Write as often as you can. The other stuff — deals, money, launches, events, signings — that might happen, or it might not, but they can never take your words away from you.
Other highlights of this episode: I have a pop at the pisspoor wording of Bookbub’s Facebook ads (which they’ve since reworded) and Mr D has a wonderful rant about book pricing. And in the extended version for podcast supporters I talk about recurring themes and how they can help us as writers. You can listen to that by supporting the podcast here.
The Bestseller Experiment according to ChatGPT…
I asked ChatGPT to transcribe a typical episode of the Bestseller Experiment podcast. This is what it spat out (I swear, I have not tinkered with this one bit!)…
[Intro music]
MARK: Hello and welcome to the Bestseller Experiment, the podcast where we discover what makes a bestselling novel and inspire you to finish your book. I’m Mark Stay, and today I’m joined by…
MARKUS: Markus, hi, great to be here again.
MARK: It’s great to have you here, Markus. Now, today we’re going to be talking to a fantastic guest, an author who has sold over a million copies of her books worldwide.
MARKUS: Wow, that’s incredible. Who is it?
MARK: It’s none other than Jane Smith.
MARKUS: Oh, I love her books. This is going to be a great interview.
MARK: Absolutely. So, before we get to that, Markus, how has your writing been going this week?
MARKUS: Well, I’ve been struggling a bit with the second act of my current novel. It’s been tough trying to figure out how to keep the tension high without it feeling contrived. How about you, Mark?
MARK: I’ve actually been working on a short story this week. It’s a bit of a departure for me, as it’s a sci-fi story, but it’s been really fun to write.
MARKUS: That sounds interesting. Have you got any tips for writing sci-fi?
MARK: Definitely. I think the key is to start with a strong concept. You need to have something that’s going to capture people’s imagination and make them want to keep reading. And then, once you have that, you need to really think about the world that your story is set in. The more you can make it feel real and believable, the more your readers will be invested in the story.
MARKUS: That’s great advice, thanks.
MARK: No problem. So, let’s get to our interview with Jane Smith. Jane, thank you so much for joining us today.
JANE: It’s my pleasure. Thank you for having me.
MARK: So, first of all, congratulations on selling over a million copies of your books. That’s an incredible achievement.
JANE: Thank you. It’s been a bit of a whirlwind, to be honest.
MARK: I can imagine. So, what do you think has been the key to your success?
JANE: I think it’s a combination of things. Firstly, I’ve always tried to write stories that are emotionally engaging. I want my readers to care about the characters and what happens to them. And secondly, I think it’s important to have a strong brand. When people see my name on a book, they know what to expect.
MARK: That’s really interesting. How did you go about building your brand?
JANE: It was a gradual process, really. I started off by writing in a particular genre, and over time I developed a style and a voice that people could recognise. And then, as my readership grew, I started to focus more on what they wanted from me. I made sure that I was delivering the kind of stories that they were looking for.
MARK: That’s great advice. So, what’s next for you? Are you working on a new book at the moment?
JANE: Yes, I am actually. It’s a bit of a departure for me, as it’s a historical novel. But I’m really excited about it.
MARK: That sounds great. Well, we’ll be looking out for that one. Jane, thank you so much for joining us today.
JANE: Thank you for having me.
MARK: That’s all we have time for today. Join us next week when we’ll be speaking to another bestselling author. And remember, keep writing and never give up on your dreams.
[Outro music]
Simon Scarrow on the Bestseller Experiment
One of the easiest jobs I had when I was a sales rep was selling Simon Scarrow’s books to booksellers. Of course, the writing is superb, but so much of that first book, Under the Eagle, had everything it needed to become a bestselling series. A great premise, a great package, and Simon knew exactly who his readers were. Lots to absorb in this one! I was joined by guest co-presenter Julian Barr, whose own fantastical historical fiction is definitely worth checking out. Have a look here!
I Wrote Every Day in 2022… Was it Worth It?
We bang on about our 200 Words a Day Challenge on the Bestseller Experiment podcast constantly (click here to find out more), so it only seemed fair that I should give it a go. It also occurred to me that the sheer number of projects I had lined up for 2022 might benefit from me writing every day, so why the hell not.
I was also inspired by one of our listeners, Mark Hood, who (at the time of writing) has written every day for over 1100 days. Check out his daily word counter here.
How to keep track of these words? I downloaded a simple to use spreadsheet from MoonBunny Creative’s Kofi page. In fact, I’ve just got my 2023 spreadsheet from Moonbunny here. I saved it on my desktop and popped the words in at the end of every session.
Here are the numbers…
A total of 388,854 words in 2022.
That’s 32,405 per month. A little over a thousand words a day. I rarely wrote more than 3,000 words a day, and in December there were a few days where it was a scrabble to get to the 200 minimum (mostly due to travel/family commitments).
Those 2599 minutes per month translate into about 43 hours a month spent writing… Which, considering I’m supposed to be a full time writer, doesn’t feel like a lot. But I’m also taking meetings, travelling to conventions, co-running/presenting a podcast, interviewing authors/guests, editing books and scripts for clients, and doing housework (it’s often the only exercise I get during the day!).
I also only average 13 words per minute, so I’m not particularly fast.
But… I wrote every day and, as you can see, it all adds up. I usually start at 7:30am on my main project and work for two hours. I start writing by hand in a notebook (each project has a specific notebook), usually typing it up the next day and, in the process, redrafting it. Later in the day, I might work on a secondary project, or edit a client’s book etc.
May was my most productive month as I was in the thick of the drafting of Woodville #4 (exciting title to be revealed soon!). January was my least productive month, at least in terms of words, as I was in the thick of drafting TV scripts: lots of story, though not as many words as a novel.
What Was I Writing?
Here are the projects I worked on in 2022. Most of these have vague titles/descriptions because they’re either works in progress, or they simply haven’t been picked up or announced yet.
- YA TV Science Fiction series: a pilot episode, a series episode, and pitch document.
- Caesar on Watling Street.
- Interstellar Mega Blaster (a middle grade book that never worked… I had another stab at it earlier this year… and it still doesn’t work).
- The Ghost of Ivy Barn (final edits prior to publication earlier this year).
- Woodville novel #4 (main first draft and by far the biggest project I worked on this year).
- An historical romance screenplay that I’m working on with another writer.
- The Wish Demon comic book.
- New Fantasy Novella (hoping to self-publish this next year).
- Cosy Crime Mystery that I’m co-writing with my wife Claire.
- A Disco-themed RomCom screenplay that I’m working on with another writer and is in development with a production company.
What’s Not Included?
I only counted words that contributed towards creative projects, so I didn’t include my diary entries, emails, newsletters, blogs (like this one), or any of the notes or reports I’ve made while editing books/scripts for clients. I’m also a story consultant on a TV thing, which involved reading scripts and giving feedback, but while that was sort-of creative, it’s not my show, so I didn’t count them.
Was it Worth it?
I remember in those early episodes of the podcast where almost every author we spoke to said they wrote every day, and we got very excited thinking we were onto something… Until we got to Sarah Pinborough who said in her own brilliant way that she thought the whole “write every day” ethos was “bollocks” (listen to the full episode here, it’s one of my favourites). And she’s right in a way… If we’ve learned anything in over six years of the podcast it’s that every writer finds their own way of doing things. There are no rules, only principles.
That said, if you’re just starting out then one of the most important things you can do is develop a regular writing habit. And all you need to do is write 200 words a day. You can do that in 20-30 minutes tops. We ask people to try it for a week, and see if they get hooked (and they very often do, and also end up writing a lot more than 200 words a day). It’s less intense than NanoWriMo, and if you follow the #200WordsADay hashtag on Twitter you’ll find me and a community of writers sharing our word count every day. We’re all in it together. Sign up for free to the challenge here, and download Moonbunny’s tracker here.
Was it worth it? Definitely. I got a lot done this year, and I never lost any momentum and it never felt like a burden. Will I do it again? I think I probably will… I might give myself more time off over Christmas next year, but who knows? The thing is, I love writing. It’s a privilege to do it full time, and getting those words in every morning is my happy place. When I’m writing, nothing else worries me and I can’t wait to get back there again. Maybe I’m just weird? Or I’m a writer? Or a combination of the two?
Happy New Year to you all and good luck with your writing in 2023!
Elizabeth Noble on the Bestseller Experiment
I had a great time chatting to Elizabeth Noble on this week’s podcast and she talks about writing novels with huge casts and big families and lots of moving parts etc. And before that, me and Mr D talk about the recent ALCS report that showed that UK’s authors earn only an average of £7,000 a year from their writing, and a bit in Private Eye that noted that so many of our big brand male authors (and their characters) are all getting quite long in the tooth… so where are the new big brands coming from?
SJ Bennett on the Bestseller Experiment podcast
SJ Bennett is great fun on this week’s podcast. After a successful career writing award-winning YA, she made a big shift in genre and category to cosy crime with her new series Her Majesty the Queen Investigates. We talk about fear of failure, life-changing decisions, and getting publisher royalty cheques for 97p…
The Bestseller Experiment Live Show
Wednesday 31st August, 6:30pm at Waterstones, Canterbury
The UK’s favourite podcast for writers celebrates 400 episodes with a special live show at Waterstones, Canterbury.
Join me and a panel of amazing writers including Rowan Coleman, Pernille Hughes, Nadine Matheson and Julie Wassmer.
After six years and 400 episodes, we’ll be asking if writing is a job for life. In these uncertain times, can an author really earn a living from just their writing?
Our authors share their experiences of being an author in an ever-changing world.
Oh, and this is a celebration! There will be wine, cake, a chance to meet the authors, a book signing and plenty of surprises.
Rambling Thoughts on Writers and Mental Health
I recorded a few rambling thoughts about writers and their mental health on World Mental Health Day…
TRANSCRIPT
Hello folks, I’m recording this on World Mental Health Day, and this is something we talk a lot about on the Bestseller Experiment podcast, which is writers’ mental health, which is fragile at the best of times. And I honestly don’t really have any answers for you or anything like that. If you’re having serious problems then talk to a professional. Call The Samaritans, that sort of thing. But I can talk about it from my own perspective. And what’s helped me in the past because the thing is, it doesn’t really go away. It never really stops.
If you achieve any kind of success, you get different kinds of stresses. Certainly, if you’re starting out, it’s stressful because you might have a job and a family and all sorts of of things clamouring for your attention, making it difficult for you to write. And then there’s where you do get something published, either self published or hybrid traditionally. And it goes out there… (exhales)
And it can be… Not many people talk about this. It can be a bit of an anti climax, frankly. Because you’ve got to write the next one and the one after that. And it never really stops. And then… I get this all the time, which is you see other people doing well and you think, Why isn’t that me? What did they do to get that thing?
I’m sure people look at me and say, how come that flabby pasty git got a film or a book deal or whatever… But this is it, y’know, we’re all in it together. We are. I saw a thing the other day on a writers’ group I’m on where a couple of writers sort of turned each other. It’s heartbreaking to see that because we need to support each other.
I mean, if there is any big piece of advice for writers, I’d say find other writers. Find other writers because they understand you better than anyone else. I know a lot of people… Writers who, y’know, their family, frankly, don’t understand what they do, why they do it. So find other writers, find another group. I mean, we’ve got the Bestseller Experiment. We have a lovely group on Facebook.
We’ve got the Bestseller Academy, a lovely bunch of people there. We all… There is a very positive attitude there. We do lift each other up and console each other… (distant train horn) When our trains are late, that kind of thing. Seek out other writers. Seek me out if you want to drop me a line. I’ll do what I can do, but I’m not a doctor. Not a professional. Anyway, there was a point to all this… Well… Mental Health Awareness Day or whatever it is. We’re all aware that there are big mental problems. We talk about them more, which is a good thing. Perseverance is a thing. If you want the answer to how come that big pasty flabby git got so much of this, or that, or the other… it is perseverance.
I mean, I started writing seriously just before my daughter was born. She’s 21, nearly 22. And the number of times I could have stopped. Number times I could have given up. Number of times I could’ve said, nah, this is not for me. I’m not getting the success that I, y’know… this soon. Or not getting the success I want. But I love the writing. I think that’s the key for me.
I enjoy the process. I won’t pretend it’s always easy. Sometimes it’s really, really difficult. Sometimes there are days you need a break. Like today. Not doing any writing. Going for a walk, which I haven’t done for ages. Absolutely ages.
See this is a bit of a ramble. But anyway… Find other writers. Persevere. Keep at it. Take a break if you need one. But as Mr D says on our podcast, you know, the one guaranteed way to fail is to give up and… It’s understand in the face of: you publish a book, 25 people buy it. You get a stinky review. No one sees your movie. Now one reads your book. You’d be forgiven for giving up.
And if that makes you happy, then maybe that’s the way to go. But if, like me, you’re compelled to write, then you kind of have to. One of the first guests we had in the podcast was Joe Abercrombie, and he gave the best advice. He said that the longer you dance naked it in the rain, the more likely you are to be struck by lightning. And that is the best summation because it’s a crazy thing to do what we do.
It’s irrational, sometimes. It doesn’t make sense. Makes no financial sense.
But every now and then… Zap. It works. Anyway, like I said, this is a bit of a ramble while I’m rambling. I hope that helps. But happy writing. Keep writing. If you’re enjoying it. If it’s making you miserable, maybe it’s time to stop. But if you’re enjoying it, with all the rough and tumble that comes with it, keep writing. Happy writing.
And I’ll see you next time.
Mark Stay Writes 