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.

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…