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The Bestseller's Beginning

The Bestseller's Beginning

Written by: Lianna S. Feng and Dakota S.
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About this listen

The Bestseller’s Beginning is a writing podcast started by two friends and aspiring authors, Lianna and Dakota, who wanted to share the often unseen part of the novel writing process. Behind the scenes, you’ll hear our feedback shared with one another during critiques of draft chapters, as well as commentary and jokes on the struggles faced by new writers. Writing a first book is daunting, but we’re manifesting some bestsellers and taking you along for the ride!

Co-hosted, edited, and produced by: Lianna Feng and Dakota S.

Artwork by: Rachel Mehus

Disclaimer: Concepts and writing shared on this podcast are our own. While we hope to inspire our fellow writers, please don’t be a dick and plagiarize lol!

Lianna S. Feng and Dakota S. 2025
Art
Episodes
  • 10. Tension, tension, tension (and dogs)! - Ch 4 LF
    Jan 27 2026

    Today's episode covers Chapter 4 of Lianna's WIP and in it we get a little distracted up front talking about potential comps for our books and different inspirations that have come into play in our writing, along with the funny differences between what we read and watch vs what ends up getting put on the page. But we also get into the meat and potatoes of it guys, we swear we're serious writers! We wear suits and ties and everything while we record and stare wistfully out of fogged up windows onto cobblestones streets............We also talk about a really important and challenging aspect of writing: building tension and keeping it up even during quieter chapters. We also talk about giving our book dogs a purpose to advance plot or characters, and more!

    Follow the podcast on Instagram @thebestsellers_beginning or tag along for the ride with Lianna and Dakota on Instagram and Threads @lifeng.stories and @locodakoko.writes.

    Patreon in progress! Stay tuned!

    Co-hosted, edited, and produced by: Lianna Feng and Dakota S.

    Artwork by: Rachel Mehus

    Music by: Dakota via the magic of GarageBand

    Disclaimer: Concepts and writing shared on this podcast are our own. While we hope to inspire our fellow writers, please don’t be a dick and plagiarize lol!

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    27 mins
  • 09. Bonus - Fighting Writing Doubt and Fears of Social Media
    Dec 14 2025

    Oops, we got carried away in this bonus episode and almost ran out of time (yes we use free Zoom calls because we're cheap) so that's how you know it's jam packed!

    Today we're talking all things doubt and anxiety related to writing, including aiming for quantity over quality in first drafts and accepting bad first drafts. We also get into our fears of public perception and reader interpretation and the monster that is social media. AND we also dive into a much deeper discussion than we anticipated about stories and authors with spicy takes and baggage and how we engage ethically or not with them.

    Follow the podcast on Instagram @thebestsellers_beginning or tag along for the ride with Lianna and Dakota on Instagram and Threads @lifeng.stories and @locodakoko.writes.

    Patreon in progress! Stay tuned!

    Co-hosted, edited, and produced by: Lianna Feng and Dakota S.

    Artwork by: Rachel Mehus

    Music by: Dakota via the magic of GarageBand

    Disclaimer: Concepts and writing shared on this podcast are our own. While we hope to inspire our fellow writers, please don’t be a dick and plagiarize lol!

    Show More Show Less
    33 mins
  • 08. Stupid Sexy Nasir - Ch 3 DS
    Nov 30 2025

    In this episode we cover chapter 3 of Dakota's WIP, get more of an introduction to Nasir (Lianna is already a big fan as you can probably tell from the title of this episode), talk about writing in secrets into the plot and the pay off needed for reveals, clear up character ages, and talk about how to reflect or not reflect real-world patriarchy in fantasy.

    Follow the podcast on Instagram @thebestsellers_beginning or tag along for the ride with Lianna and Dakota on Instagram and Threads @lifeng.stories and @locodakoko.writes.

    Patreon in progress! Stay tuned!

    Co-hosted, edited, and produced by: Lianna Feng and Dakota S.

    Artwork by: Rachel Mehus

    Music by: Dakota via the magic of GarageBand

    Disclaimer: Concepts and writing shared on this podcast are our own. While we hope to inspire our fellow writers, please don’t be a dick and plagiarize lol!

    Show More Show Less
    36 mins
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