The Bestseller Experiment

David Koepp is one of the most successful screenwriters in Hollywood history. With a collective box office somewhere in the region of $250b he's written Jurassic Park, Spider-Man, Death Becomes Her and many, many more. We were delighted to talk to David about his fantastic new novel COLD STORAGE and to get an insight into his writing process.

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 teacher. One of her students was young Stuart Turton, author of The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle and The Devil and the Dark Water. They tell us how they reunited over Twitter and how discussing big ideas in the class can change the course of a life.

How do you research your books? Michelle Paver has written eighteen novels, including the bestselling Chronicles Of Ancient Darkness. She's encountered killer whales, wolves, polar bears and a runaway Yak, all in the name of research.

Have you every wondered how important your "Voice" is as a writer? This week on The Bestseller Experiment podcast, New York Times success Maria Semple tells us just how essential your voice is. Maria was recently named a "Power Author" by the Hollywood Reporter, putting her alongside such giants as JK Rowling and George RR Martin. Maria started as a screenwriter. Her book, Where'd You Go, Bernadette? spent over a year on the New York Times bestsellers. Her new book "Tomorrow Will Be Different" was announced as a TV series with Julia Roberts as the lead. She spoke to us about the things that stop us writing truthfully.

A Christmas treat as we speak to bestselling author Ian Rankin who takes us through his incredible career, including tips on plotting, research, and his worst habit when writing, his favourite mistake (which he kept in the book) and he tells us his Sean Connery story…

Sarah Pinborough has had over twenty novels published and written for TV and film. Sarah's new thriller Behind Her Eyes is getting incredible buzz after a heated auction. Sarah is always funny, insightful and often eye-wateringly honest. Brace yourselves for one of our most entertaining author chats yet… WARNING: Contains strong adult language!

John Connolly has won pretty much every crime award going, and his books are regular Sunday Times bestsellers. He doesn't do workshops, doesn't suffer fools, and tells us about the massive issue with leaving a book half-finished. John's words are dripping in wisdom and we loved him.

From farrier to million-selling indie author, USA Today bestseller, and writing machine, Shannon bestows wisdom, inspiration, and a quote that we want on t-shirts and bumper stickers.

LJ Ross has long refused to play by other people's rules and when she didn't like the look of a publishing contract she struck out on her own. Over four million copies of her books have been sold to date and she's still going strong. She answers our listener questions on marketing, pricing, Kindle and she tells us why she's launching her own imprint and a prize for authors.

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 pantsing, and why ideas are like planets in a solar system. And the Two Marks discuss a chicken-writer analogy that has to be heard to be believed…

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 a 12-book contract, Angela tells us why she doesn't take a single book for granted, and why every one she starts feels like the first. She also answers our listener questions and the two Marks discuss the pros and cons of being prolific.

We are delighted to welcome worldwide bestseller Michael Connelly back to the podcast to discuss his new novel The Dark Hours, which explores an LA scarred by fear and social unrest. Michael reflects on how the world of Harry Bosch has grown over an incredible thirty years, and he answers our listener questions of writing habits, outlining and much, much more.

We celebrate international bestselling fantasy writer Joe Abercrombie's return to the podcast with The Wisdom of Crowds, which brings his Age of Madness trilogy to a thrilling climax. As always, Joe is a treasure trove of amazing advice for writers and he answers our listener questions on outlining, symmetry, POV and much more. We also ask him if he still dances naked in the rain… and his answer might surprise you.

Sunday Times bestselling thriller writer Steve Cavanagh returns triumphant to the podcast. When we last spoke to him he was on the verge of a great breakthrough. Today he's an award-winner and international bestseller and with his new thriller The Devil's Advocate he's done it again. Steve reveals how he works hard to engage the reader straight away.

Kate Mosse CBE is a global bestselling author with over 8 million sales. Her previous 10 novels include Labyrinth, which became the highest selling novel of the year and was made into a TV series. She is also founder of the Women's Prize for Fiction which has changed the landscape for women's writing over the last 30 years. A full-time carer and author, Kate is a huge inspiration to writers. Her latest novel is The Map of Bones and her theatre tour based on Labyrinth.

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.

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!

Dean Koontz is one of the most successful bestselling authors, with over 120 novels published, which have sold an incredible 500m+ copies. This ranks Dean among the top 10 bestselling authors of all time, and one of the top three living authors, an accolade he shares with J.K. Rowling. In his latest novel, The Forest of Lost Souls, Dean weaves suspense and nature with our innate connection with animals to create a suspenseful page-turner.

The Two Marks talks about isolation, loneliness, the voices in our head and all the other stuff that can make a writer feel like they are alone. We discuss what we can do to build a healthy community around us, even in lockdown. And we share the good news stories from our communities on Patreon, Facebook and the Academy.

BJ Fogg, PhD, founded the Behavior Design Lab at Stanford University and created the Tiny Habits Academy to help people around the world. He tells us how the smallest changes can make a huge difference to your productivity as a writer.