Mark Stay's Blog, page 21

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…

Mark Stay Christmas Q&A

LM Chilton Swipes Right for a Chat

It’s always great to have a guest on the podcast who was a listener who got a book deal, and Luke Chilton described himself as a “hardcore fan” when he dropped us a line pitching to come on the show. How can we turn down a request like that? Also, I had the pleasure of giving Luke feedback of an early draft of his debut novel ‘Don’t Swipe Right’ when it was called ‘Ex’. It’s a cracking read, a thriller with heart and humour and the rights have been sold in over ten countries and Luke has had the most amazing reviews.

Here’s the episode with our chat, and also enjoy the moment where I make a very inappropriate joke about the Joy of Sex with Mr D…

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 announce it here at 51:41…

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…

Jake Lamar Makes Words Sing

As if getting notes from an editor wasn’t stressful enough, this week’s podcast guest Jake Lamar recounts a time when he got his edit notes while recovering from a heart operation in an intensive care unit. He tells me that during recovery he found that writing was ‘Even more of a solace.’ And he’s right. Even as I’m typing this I’ve just had some notes come through on a project, and while it make me groan and think, ‘Here we go again…’ this thing we do is still better than spending a fortune commuting on a delayed train to an office that’s designed to grind me into submission. So I’ll take these notes on the chin and get on with it. It’s a privilege that I’m all too aware of.

We discuss all sorts in this week’s episode, including jazz, making your writing sing, and I recount that time I was in a minibus from London to Manchester with Joe Hill, Joe Abercrombie, Joanne Harris, Brandon Sanderson and more…

Ten Years On: Robot Overlords Test Screening

Long time readers of this blog will know that I’ve been looking back at my diaries from ten years ago, during the filming of Robot Overlords. Some of the diary entries you’ll see are the ones featured in the back of the film’s novelisation (and if you want a signed and dedicated copy of the paperback, then please step this way and click here). 

You can’t be a film fan and screenwriter and not have heard a few horror stories about test screenings, so I was naturally nervous when it came to popping my test screening cherry. If you don’t know, test screenings are where films are shown to unwitting members of the public. They often have no clue what they’re about to see, the film is usually lacking finished visual effects and score, and the audience is asked to complete a survey scoring various aspects of the film with room to leave comments. Careers have been launched/destroyed by these things…

Monday 25th November – First test screening

This evening saw a screening of Robots for children. There were about 30+ of then and alarm bells began ringing when we saw how young some of them were. Jon asked who was youngest during his introduction: 8 years old. A bit too young, maybe.

So it wasn’t a complete surprise when one poor traumatised girl asked to leave during the Morse Code Martin deep scan scene (referred to by many afterwards as ‘the torture scene’).

But, that aside, it was a hit. Considering how few completed VFX we have, and the temp score, dialogue and sound effects, it scored very highly, with boys between 9-14 really liking it. Not a massive surprise, but that’s exactly who we designed it for (though Jon said he was impressed by a couple of 8-year-old girls who loved it and asked some very intelligent questions in his Q&A).

We split them into age groups for the Q&A. Chris Clarke and I got the +12s. The 12 year-old boys loved it. The older girls thought their younger brothers would love it too. The older boys – 16,17 – liked it with reservations. A bit too young for them, clearly.

Apparently, Natascha Wharton (one of the BFI producers) got an earful from one of the teachers who was angry that some of the kids were too young for the material. Not Natascha’s fault at all, but I guess they needed to vent at someone. Hopefully there won’t be any bad fallout from that.

Reading the cards afterwards was great fun. Lots of effusive praise, apart from the girl who walked out who WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THE FILM TO ANYONE! But then she listed her favourite film as Babe, so she’s not our target market. From the comments made by the adults it was clear that dads like it, but some mums don’t. Some of the younger boys noted that they liked it, but their parents probably wouldn’t take them to see it. Poor kids.

This kind of testing is always a blunt instrument, and I’m uncomfortable with lumping genders and age groups together – as if we’re all alike and the same – but it does give you some kind of steer, and so far it’s working in our favour. I’ll surely complain when we get negative feedback!

Looking back it’s not difficult to see signs of some of the things that helped/stymied the film’s release and marketing. The fact that so many kids loved it, but instinctively knew that their mums would not approve of it was a bit of a red flag. Kids might know what they want, but it’s the parents who have the purse strings. Ultimately, if you want to generate the kind of ‘pester power’ that gets children to convince their parents to go and see a movie then you’ll need to spend millions to reach what is a very competitive market: the minds of children between ten and fourteen.

However, all that is to come. In the meantime, we had to collate our notes and see how we might tweak the film in the edit suite. Stay tuned for the next instalment coming soon…

Soft Linkage with Graham Hurley

Soft Linkage sounds vaguely filthy (or that just might be my warped mind), but it’s a concept that the brilliant Graham Hurley — author of 49 books and counting — came up with when pitching his series of Second World War thrillers to his publisher. They naturally wanted a central character that the reader could follow through the war, but Graham wanted to tell the stories that fascinated him without having to shoehorn the same protagonist into every novel. And it really works. His latest novel, The Blood of Others, is well into the series but anyone could pick it up and if you love WWII thrillers you definitely should.

We also discuss the benefits of long publisher lunches, searching for the Titanic (yes, really) and writing in a genre you’re not a fan of. Full disclosure: I used to sell Graham’s books when I worked at Orion so there’s a little bit of nostalgia in here too. Enjoy!

Christmas Signings

I’ll be popping up a couple of times before Christmas to sign books in the Herne Bay area…

CHISLET CHRISTMAS FAIRSaturday 2nd December: 10am to 1pm

I’ll be signing books at this fair. It’s as close as you can get to actually visiting Woodville. No tickets necessary, just turn up…

LITTLE GREEN BOOKSHOP CHRISTMAS SHOPPING NIGHTSunday 3rd December

We had so much fun last year, we’re doing it again! Some fab local authors will be signing books for Christmas gifts (or why not treat yourself?). There will be mulled wine and mince pies! 

See you at The Little Green Bookshop in Herne Bay, 38 High St, Herne Bay, CT6 5LH

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

Fight for your Rights with Fiona Valpy

A surprising number of traditionally-published authors don’t realise that their publisher only owns the rights to their novel for a set period of time. It’s usually five years, and yes there are caveats in contracts meaning that they can retain the rights for longer if the book is still “in print”, and print on demand technology can complicate this arrangement, but… there’s a good chance that one day you’ll get the rights back to your book. It happened recently with me and The End of Magic and opened the door for me to write a sequel.

Fiona Valpy discusses this and much more in this week’s episode of The Bestseller Experiment!

And in the extended version for Academy members and podcast Patrons, me and Mr D discuss reissuing books with new titles, why you should think of your books as lifetime assets, research when you can’t travel, and much more! If you want to support the podcast and keep us going click on this here link.