Best Sunyi Dean Podcasts (2025)

1
E44: More Than The Text Of Our Book, ft. Greatest Author Chuck Tingle 1:35:22

6M ago1:35:22

1:35:22

Famed for his highly unique fiction, and for the the pink mask that conceals his secret identity, Chuck Tingle (pseudonymous name) is a much-beloved icon in the SFF book world and beyond. Today he joins us to share the incredible story of his journey through publishing, and to make a passionate case for why authors are so much more than just the st…

1
S2 Ep 43: Momentum, Worldcon, and Arguing on the Internet (ft Sunyi and Scott) 46:43

8M ago46:43

46:43

Catch-up episode after a long gap! Sunyi and Scott both discuss career momentum, cheerfully losing at the Hugos, and the pushback they've had from Reddit / the internet. Sunyi explains why she'd turn down other nominations in the future, while Scott talks about why he was happy to sign a smaller deal for his UK rights. They also cover future plans,…

1
SPECIAL EPISODE: The Grim World Predatory Publishers (ft. James MacDonald) 42:44

11M ago42:44

42:44

Ever heard the phrase "Money flows to the author"? James "Jim" MacDonald is the one who coined it. Jim is a long-time author and anti-vanity press advocate who, along with many others, has dedicated years of his life to investigating predatory publishers and teaching new authors to protect themselves. Today, he joins us in this Special Episode to s…

1
S2 E42: Managing Your 'Author Bandwidth', ft Suyi Davies Okungbowa 1:04:13

11M ago1:04:13

1:04:13

Authors are expected to juggle many different demands on their time and energy--from social media and self-promotion, to side projects and live events. How do we decide what is or isn't worth our efforts, and where do we set boundaries to prevent burnout and overwhelm? Award-winning author and professor, Suyi Davies Okungbowa, discusses how he make…

1
Season 4.4 - An interview with best selling author Sunyi Dean and the most incredible WW 2 battle you've never heard of! 1:21:55

12M ago1:21:55

1:21:55

Welcome back! Sorry for the delay, we've been focusing on a new format and preparing some back cataologue material, but from here on, we are back with a regular release bang! Logan is flying solo in this episode, interviewing USA Today and Sunday Times best selling author Sunyi Dean about her recent hit, The Book Eaters. They discuss her writing pr…

1
S2 E41: Write-to-market & the Rise of Romantasy, ft. Nisha J. Tuli 42:48

12M ago42:48

42:48

After years of mostly existing in indie space, Romantasy has finally burst onto the trad pub scene where it now reigns supreme, especially in SFF. Today, we talk to Nisha J Tuli, who spotted romantasy's trad potential early and whose career took off as a result. Her career trajectory is a microcosm of what is happening with romantasy more broadly, …

1
S2 E39: The State of the Industry, ft. Kristina Perez 55:01

12M ago55:01

55:01

Kristina Perez has lived all over the world, working alternately as a journalist, an author, and now as top literary agent. In this episode we cover a number of different topics, putting forward a combination of our own questions and reader-submitted questions, chatting with Kristina generally about the state of the industry and her multi-sided per…

1
S2 E40 - The Downside of Blockbuster Advances, ft Ed Wilson (literary agent) 1:06:50

1y ago1:06:50

1:06:50

Sunyi and Scott have always maintained that "bigger is better" when it comes to book deals, and that any downsides will also apply to smaller advance sizes. But Ed Wilson, the literary agent and director Johnson & Alcock, believes the discussion is much more nuanced, and that 'blockbuster' book advances can sometimes be a symptom of publishing not …

1
Season 4.3 - The Only Slightly Dating LIVE Speed Dating Special! 2:00:11

1y ago2:00:11

2:00:11

Here it is! This is the one we know you've been waiting for. In December, the OSD team held a party and recorded live while it was happening, and it worked brilliantly. So we decided to do it again - hold a live event, record in the middle of it, and see what happens! To that end, we worked with The Hideaway Cafe in Highland Road, Southsea, Portsmo…

1
S2 E32 - Our Hugo Awards "Voter Pack" Compilation 31:18

1y ago31:18

31:18

This audio file is a compilation of 11 clips across various episodes, and is part of our submission to the Hugo Awards "Voter Pack." Everyone who pays for Hugo membership is given a "voter pack" with electronic copies of the books, short fiction, novellas, essays, and--in our case--audio files for fancasts. Rather than subject voters to hours of ep…

1
S2 E38: Taking Charge Of Your Book Launch, ft. Alexander Darwin 59:54

1y ago59:54

59:54

After submitting his debut self-pub novel to the annual SPFBO (self published fantasy blog-off) competition and reaching the semi-finals, Alex Darwin landed himself with a "trad deal" and agent. In the months leading up to his trad re-launch, Alex applied his self-pub experience to his upcoming book launch, trying a number of different angles. Refl…

1
S2 - BONUS CLIP: Scott Versus The Elk 6:55

1y ago6:55

6:55

Just an outtakes edit from Alex Darwin's episode 38, in which Scott shares a hunting misadventure. Absolutely no industry content whatsoever, simply a short bit of chat. Also featuring: Alex Darwin and Sunyi Dean. CONTENT WARNING: Animal hunting (elk) is discussed in detail, which may be upsetting to some listeners.…

1
Season 4.2 - Stripes on a tiger, gold and mysterious disappearances 1:25:39

1y ago1:25:39

1:25:39

Sorry for the delay, you can blame Logan…you’ll understand why when you listen to the episode. Anyway, here we go again, and Johnny kicks off by telling us some more random but “interesting actually” TYO’s, including why tigers don’t just have striped fur. Robbo then hits us with Bits of Space, explaining how gold is formed, and why it’s considered…

1
S2 37 - Reasons To Keep Writing, ft. David Wragg 59:48

1y ago59:48

59:48

After solid sales for his first duology, David Wragg's next book series got caught in the infamous post-covid "midlist death spiral". After this current trilogy finishes, his future in trad is uncertain at best.But with his usual good-natured humor, Wragg cheerfully dissects the past six years of his career, including advances, royalties (or negati…

1
S2 E36 - The Problem with Author Book Events, w/ Sam Missingham 44:53

1y ago44:53

44:53

What's the deal with author book events? Are they useful, do they shift books, and why do they all follow the same format? This week, we speak with Sam Missingham, who spent many years working with the Bookseller, and later with Harper as an author events creator. We talk about what works and what doesn't, whether hiring publicists as a trad author…

1
S2 E35 - AI Generation and the Future of Cover Art, w/ cover designer Steve Leard 52:19

1y ago52:19

52:19

Steve Lead is a freelance cover artist and industry podcaster, with many years' experience working on book cover designs in the publishing industry. Today, he sits down to help demystify the complicated process that goes into creating a book cover. We discuss briefs, trends, industry pay (or lack of it), the impact of thumbnail images on print book…

1
Season 4.1 - We're back! Would you lick a battery, can we time travel and great sporting comebacks 59:20

1y ago59:20

59:20

Yes! It's the moment you've all not been waiting for! OSD is BACK for Season 4 of our lovely half cut goodness. This episode may seem a little disjointed, as we decided to video it, but upon review we discovered that the video quality was a bit rubbish, so we're just putting the audio out there to welcome new fans and old. Johnny kicks us off with …

1
S2 Ep 34 - Challenging Tradpub's 'Culture of Defeatism', with Mark Stay of THE BESTSELLER EXPERIMENT 1:09:14

1y ago1:09:14

1:09:14

In addition to writing bestselling novels and cofounding a viral podcast (THE BESTSELLER EXPERIMENT), Mark Stay also spent many years working with bookstores and publishers, gaining great insight to all sides of the industry. We chat to Mark about his varied experiences, and reflect back on the seven years he spent recording his groundbreaking podc…

1
S2 E33 - The Myth of the Instant Bestseller, with JT Greathouse 54:34

1+ y ago54:34

54:34

As our one and only return guest, JT Greathouse joins us for the launch of Season 2, this time in his capacity as a true-hybrid author (with a bookseller's eye). JT sold his debut, HAND OF THE SUN KING, to a UK publisher, but didn't get a USA deal. With the support and help of his literary agency, he opted to self-publish the American version in th…

1
Season 3.18 It's the OSD Christmas Party! 1:15:08

1+ y ago1:15:08

1:15:08

It's the season finale of OSD, and we're going out with a festive bang. We recorded this show live in the middle of a Christmas party, with a rooms full of guest and festive songs playing in the background. At various points, we invited whoever wanted to sit with us a chance to join in with the recording, and it's bloody brilliant. We talk about to…

1
Season 3.17 - OSD Three is now OSD Four...Chicago's nickname, The White Ship Disaster and The History of Ouija Boards 1:32:01

1+ y ago1:32:01

1:32:01

It’s nearly the end of the season, and it’s the penultimate episode! To kick things off, we here at OSD Towers would like to welcome Eddie P as a permanent Host, rather than, as he always whined about before “first reserve”. Johnny starts as usual with TYO, and among other things, we learn how long it would take a single droplet of water to travel …

1
Season 3.16 - A Blue Whale's Heartbeat, The Rings of Saturn and The Mystery of Elisa Lam 1:05:35

1+ y ago1:05:35

1:05:35

After a much needed one week break, the chaps are back at OSD Towers, as we head towards the end of what's been a bumper and brilliant Season 3. Johnny's TYO intrigues and entertains as usual, and among other things, he tells us exactly how far away you could get and still hear a Blue Whale's heartbeat. Robbo's Bits of Space focuses on the rings of…

1
31 - SEASON FINALE: Leverage, success, and life after Debut Year 51:20

1+ y ago51:20

51:20

Our final show of the season! This week, we talk frankly about author leverage--what it means, and how to use it. We also discuss when and how to pitch new books on proposal, the impact of past sales on that process, and why Scott is (probably) walking away from writing trad fantasy as a result. Other topics: we reflect on regrets and highlights ac…

1
Season 3.15 - Johnny's Phobia, Fat William The Conqueror and The Rise of Liverpool / The Demise of Man Utd 1:42:50

1+ y ago1:42:50

1:42:50

It’s OSD time! Eddie P is back again this week, but will he be bossing it? He’s going head-to-head with Logan in a discussion over the reasons for Liverpool’s resurgence and Man Utd’s decline, as Johnny plays host and keeps the debate on track. Who wins? Who loses? Who cares? Not me. But we need you to listen to it, because the bar bill at OSD Towe…

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30 - Relaunching A Career, with Holly Race 53:16

1+ y ago53:16

53:16

After being orphaned by multiple agents, and a COVID book launch that hamstrung her sales, Holly Race started again--querying with a fresh manuscript, in a different age category--before finally landing on her feet... for now! Today, we talk about the instability of trad; relaunching a career that stumbled; what Holly learned from reading tv script…

1
Season 3.14 - Eddie P bossing the podcast! We have a new history segment and things that make no sense about 9/11 1:20:44

1+ y ago1:20:44

1:20:44

We've got a brand new guest host this week - Eddie P is at OSD Towers, and he's doing what he does best - bossing it! He joins the usual gang and lends his wit and perspective to the slightly drunk shenanigans. Johnny and Robbo lead off with Today Years Old and Bits of Space. If you want to know how many ways there are to cook an egg, and just how …

1
Season 3.13 - Halloween Special! Haunted Houses, Spooky facts and Paranormal Bits of Space! 1:42:27

1+ y ago1:42:27

1:42:27

Woooooooooooo!!! That’s meant to be a ghost, but it probably looks like Ric Flair has hijacked proceedings… Welcome to a bumper, special spooky edition of the podcast, as Scott makes a welcome return to OSD Towers to discuss all things scary and supernatural with the gang. It seems fitting that this years Halloween special is unlucky number 13! Joh…

1
Season 3.12 - Bobby Charlton Tribute, Could You Diffuse a Bomb and Should Celebrities be Role Models? 1:19:08

1+ y ago1:19:08

1:19:08

The clocks go back this weekend, so we all get an extra hours sleep…or lose an hours sleep? Actually, who cares? I can never tell, and let’s be honest, the only time most of ever cared was when we were in a nightclub and got an extra hour to drink watered down beer and be turned down by every single woman we spoke to. Or maybe that was just Logan… …

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29 - Readerships, Sales, and Discoverability with Gail Carriger 53:35

1+ y ago53:35

53:35

Does Twitter sell books? Do book tours improve sales? How do readers actually find authors in the first place? Across a fifteen-year-career, NYT best-selling author Gail Carriger talks about hitting list, collecting data on her readers, and walking away from bad book/film deals. Check the show notes to gain access to a wealth of info and author ass…

1
Season 3.11 - How do you cook your steak, has football become too toxic and movie themed trivia 1:23:06

1+ y ago1:23:06

1:23:06

It’s another OSD, and this week Robbo goes rogue right from the off! He encroaches on Logan’s “how are you chaps” territory, picking up that verbal ball and running with it as fast as he can…and he nails it! In fact, he nails it to such an extent that the decision is made to let Robbo continue running with it from now on. It feels a bit weird that …

1
Season 3.10 - AI gone wild, the Roman Empire, Abi on Russell Brand, crazy coincidences and a crazy cocktail 1:25:48

1+ y ago1:25:48

1:25:48

It’s another OSD, and as usual, we’re bringing a mix of fun, trivia, unpredictability and slightly drunk chat that only this podcast can provide. Scott and Abi are with us, and we start with Logan joyfully telling us all what titles the AI suggested we call the previous music debate episode – and they all feature Scott, front and centre. Is Scott a…

1
Season 3.9 - From 60s Vibrance to 90s Eclecticism: Which musical decade was best? 1:39:07

1+ y ago1:39:07

1:39:07

Unleash the nostalgic power of music with us here at OSD Towers, as friends of the show John Bishop and Patch join Robbo, Johnny, Logan and Scott for a bumper edition of the best podcast recorded in our house that day. We turn back the hands of time to debate which decade of music was the greatest, as each of our guests take their turn presenting t…

1
Season 3.8 - From Banter to Russell Brand: A Journey Through Hair Care, Controversies, the Cosmos and Only Fools and Horses 1:08:01

1+ y ago1:08:01

1:08:01

Get ready for a wild ride through an array of topics, from the intimate to the astronomical, and even the controversial. With a promise of laughter and learning, your hosts Robbo, Johnny and Logan take you on a unpdrecitable but amusing journey. From insights into Johnny's hair care regime and Robbo's new voiceover career, to our sad story of the f…

1
28 - The Art of Success, with Wesley Chu 1:00:10

1+ y ago1:00:10

1:00:10

Against the odds, Wesley Chu's small-press debut novel became a break-out success. In the ten years since, he has published a dozen other titles, written for large IPs, signed deals with the Big 5, and even dabbled in self publishing. Today, he sits down to chat about unexpected wins, getting blacklisted by publicists, learning to write sex scenes …

1
27 - Foreign Rights and the Frankfurt Book 59:13

1+ y ago59:13

59:13

This week, we chat with Anika Scott, an international bestselling author of historical fiction. After years of writing, querying, and revising, Anika's debut novel was snapped up amidst a whirlwind of interest and buzz--only to then launch a week before COVID shut the world down. On one continent, her book flourished, while on another, it tanked. W…

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26 - Why Don't We Just Quit? with Kameron Hurley 53:28

1+ y ago53:28

53:28

After years of rejections, Kameron's early book deals ran into problems when her publishers either folded or went bankrupt, Instead of quitting, she kept going. And going. In the decade since, Hurley has signed new deals, built a fanbase, and even won a Hugo. We sit down with her today to ask hard-hitting questions: Why don't we just quit? Why keep…

1
25 - How to Write For Film, TV, and Tie-Ins (with D. V. Bishop) 1:04:30

2y ago1:04:30

1:04:30

If you've ever been curious about alternate or adjacent writing careers, this episode is for you! David "D.V." Bishop got his start 30 years ago writing for comics and IP franchises, before later moving to tv/film scriptwriting. These days, he's back to books and is now an award-winning historical crime novelist. Bringing to bear years of varied ex…

1
Season 3.7 - Premier League Preview and "Robbo, I've never known anyone laugh as much at their own jokes as much as you do..." 1:13:41

2y ago1:13:41

1:13:41

This week, we're talking all things football, with a Premier League season preview. Regular guest host Scott joins us once again, and so does Abi, who stuns and horrifies us all by actually knowing a fair bit about the game...shame she's a Watford fan, really. We've got top four predictions, which team we think will surprise by struggling, which ne…

1
24 - The Pervasive Joy of Writing, with RJ Barker 59:07

2y ago59:07

59:07

Because it's NOT bad, not all the time ;-) After Dr. Kerry's brilliant but hard-hitting previous episode, we wanted to return after summer with something gentler, funnier, and possibly even wholesome. This week, please join us as we talk to award-winning fantasy author RJ Barker. Despite dropping out of high school, suffering a chronic illness, los…

1
Season 3.6 - Life after Death, Games and "I feel like Gordon the Gopher with Phillip Schofield" 1:04:21

2y ago1:04:21

1:04:21

This was recorded a few weeks back, but Logan's complete inability to be even slightly competent meant it's only just been saved from the abyss and published. The small but perfectly formed Scott Parkes is back, and hits us with his usual selection of brilliant one liners and demands for things to be edited out seconds after he's said them. We star…

1
Season 3.5 - Listeners Questions and "I give it a year before it's just the two of you" 1:36:00

2y ago1:36:00

1:36:00

Here we go again! Fun fact - this was supposed to be our first ever OSD on camera, but technical hiccups meant it didn't actually record. Which is a shame, because Johnny's hair was ON POINT, BABY! (Logan's wasn't) Jodie joins us at OSD towers again to watch and cringe, and this time Abi comes along, and if you listen carefully, you can hear her la…

1
Season 3.4 - Flat and Hollow Earth and "I've made enough of w*nker of myself tonight already..." 1:19:38

2y ago1:19:38

1:19:38

It's the weekend, and that means it's time to sit back, have a drink and unwind with what the Podcast that Podcasts R Us recently called "The best Podcast ever. Fact." * This week at OSD Towers, Robbo, Logan and Johnny, along with specially invited VIP audience member Jodie, made the mistake of taking an hours break during recording. During the bre…

1
Season 3.3 - Exorcisms and "I'm not actually THAT small, you know..." 1:10:27

2y ago1:10:27

1:10:27

And here we go again! Thanks to technical issues (Logan is a useless twat) what SHOULD be episode 4 is actually being published as episode 3. It will all make sense eventually. Probably. Maybe. Ok, it won't. Scott Parkes joins us for the first (second) time this season to add his unique wit and perspective to the show. We kick off with Johnny givin…

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23 - The Minimum Viability Threshold: Why Some Books Don't Sell (w/ Dr. Kerry Spencer Pray 1:11:31

2y ago1:11:31

1:11:31

In 2008, Dr. Kerry Spencer Pray watched her book die on submission after the financial crash halted publishing acquisitions. She then decided to do a PhD, focusing her research on what makes books sell. After studying hundreds of factors, Dr. Kerry Pray zeroed in on a handful that seemed correlated with book sales in some way. All of them were mark…

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22 - The Mayonnaise Buffet 49:26

2y ago49:26

49:26

This week, the wise and witty Ella McLeod sits down to talk with us about the hard-hitting, ever-prevalent topic of whiteness in publishing, including in our own podcast (!) and dissecting the dreaded Diversity Tick-Box. (And if you're curious about that title, we do explain it in-episode!) But first, we also chat about some of the differences betw…

1
Blitz Book Club: Daisy Jones and The Six and BookTok 36:51

2y ago36:51

36:51

In this episode of Blitz Book Club, Alexa and Belle are joined by Thierry and Adya to discuss the works of Taylor Jenkins Reid, the influence of TikTok on YA readers and the evergrowing book to TV adaptations.

1
21 - Against All (g)Odds 1:08:43

2y ago1:08:43

1:08:43

After 25 years, 47 books, and at least 4 different genres, Miles Cameron (aka Christian Cameron) has seen and survived a lot in publishing. In addition to being an author, he is also a US Navy officer, trained historian, and martial artist. But when the thriller market changed and sky-high advances evaporated, Miles moved on to historical, fantasy,…

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20 - When Passion Meets Business, with Daphne Tonge 1:10:49

2y ago1:10:49

1:10:49

In 2015, Daphne Tonge started a small "book crate" subscription service out of her London living room, with a tiny pool of subscribers. Today, Illumicrate is a well-known specialist retailer, with a thriving fanbase and strong industry presence, which has laid the groundwork for Daphne's next co-current venture: Daphne Press, an independent publish…

1
19 - The 50k Download Special: My 600-Rejection Life, with R.R. Virdi & Wayne Santos 51:40

2y ago51:40

51:40

Huge thanks to our listeners for helping us hit 50,000 total downloads! We are incredibly humbled by the interest and support so far. This episode was recorded during the week while Scott was off for paternity leave, and only features Sunyi as host, with R.R. Virdi (author of THE FIRST BINDING) and Wayne Santos (author of THE CHIMERA CODE) as dual …