» The Penguin Podcast celebrates its 100th episode with highlights from our most memorable interviews, featuring: Elizabeth Gilbert, Ken Follett, Nathaniel Philbrick, Jasper Fforde, and Rafe Esquith.

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100th Podcast

Elizabeth Gilbert

Ken Follett

Nathaniel Philbrick

Jasper Fforde

Rafe Esquith

Penguin Podcast

podcast

Books

Penguin Books

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Penguin Group (USA) Dominates The New York Times Bestseller Lists, With Four #1 Bestsellers Simultaneously for the Fourth Time in the First Eight Weeks of the Year

The House Also Owns Nearly 40% of The New York Times Hardcover Fiction List; 45% of the Mass Market List, and Has Nine Debut Bestsellers

Penguin Group (USA) once again holds four #1 positions simultaneously on The New York Times bestseller lists. This is the fourth time this year that Penguin Group (USA) has achieved four simultaneous #1 New York Times bestsellers in the same week.

For the week of February 24th, In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan (The Penguin Press) holds at #1 in its sixth week on the hardcover nonfiction list; The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett (NAL) holds at #1 in its thirteenth week on the trade paperback fiction list; Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert (Penguin) is #1 in its 55th week on the paperback nonfiction list; and A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle (Plume) (see item above) holds at #1 in its second week on the paperback advice, how-to, and miscellaneous list.

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In my experience, when an average citizen finds out I'm a "writer," his first question is, "How do you do it?" The process of printing one word after another doesn't seem that mysterious to me, but I suppose what people are really asking is, "How do you find the stamina to keep writing one word after another when so many of them are going to be so bad?" That question I understand.

For me, it's all about beating myself up enough every morning until I'm able to sit down and spit it out. Usually my "process," so to speak, goes something like this:

1) 6:45 am Wake up. Spend the next 15-20 minutes in bed, frozen with dread.
2) 7:05 am Forced to get out of bed in order to stumble to the bathroom.
3) 7:12 am Kitchen. Discover pots that need scrubbing, a dishwasher that needs unloading, and tea that needs making.
4) 7:34 am Walk into office. Look at pages from yesterday. Rub face and walk back out.
5) 7:46 am Gulp tea. Pace kitchen floor.