The two Marks and their years of talented guests have been inspirational, motivational, and a bit of a guiding light in the avalanche of writing advice out there. They don’t take themselves too seriously either, which always makes for a good time. I’m so grateful for all their hard work and the huge part they’ve played in kicking my writing career into life.

I first stumbled across the Bestseller Experiment podcast after they had a run in with Ben Aaronovitch (author of the Rivers of London books) in the now infamous episode of the podcast, Episode 22: Ben Aaronovitch and the Great Bollocking… After stumbling on that bombshell I devoured the first 21 episodes, and have been an avid listener ever since.

They’ve now clocked up a staggering 345 episodes and just celebrated their fifth anniversary! You can catch the recording of the special live streamed episode right here:

It was great fun celebrating this milestone with the two Marks and a whole bunch of other writers I’ve met in the wonderful community they’ve built around the podcast.

An excellent takeaway was the top 5 most repeated pieces of advice on the Bestseller Experiment podcast:

1. Write every day. Or at least think about it!
2. Be yourself, find your voice.
3. Find your tribe. Find other writers.
4. Persevere. Don’t give up.
5. Semicolons are the work of satan.

Another interesting segment was hearing everyone’s breakthrough moments they made when listening to the podcast. Mine even made an appearance on the big screen!

I’ve posted about the Bestseller Experiment podcast a few times before:

• They’re mentioned in the acknowledgements of my first published book, Duck and Dive.
• In my round up at the end of last year: 2020 has been a year…
• When my book, Over and Out, was briefly mentioned on the podcast itself.
• When the two Marks discussed on the podcast my book cover redesigns, website, emoji use, and quiche.

And one more piece of news is that they’re producing hardbacks for the book they co-wrote during the first year of the podcast, Back to Reality. They’re including some bonus content too! The original first chapter that was cut from the final version, and if you’re one of the first 100 to pledge, you’ll get your name in the back of the book. I can confirm Back to Reality is a great read – so much fun! – and I’ve pledged to get my copy of the hardback too.

But, back to the podcast itself, I highly recommend! Jump in and listen to the latest episode, cherry pick from the vast backlist, or plunge in at the start and binge your way through! All the details are on the Bestseller Experiment website.