Podcasts and the Author
Did you know that almost 500 million people listen to podcasts? That’s a lot of potential readers. But how can you tap into that?
First you must do your research. Find the most popular literary podcasts and pay attention. How often do they interview authors? What genres do they focus on most? How do they discuss the books? Take notes and focus on the ones that match best with your work.
Next, spend some time really listening to the podcasts, especially the episodes with author interviews. Bonus points if you find one with an author who writes in the same genre that you do. Pay close attention to the flow of the episode and the questions asked by the podcasters. Your goal, author, is to familiarize yourself with this format of media.
Once you have narrowed down the extremely large category of podcasts into a few channels that you think would be beneficial to you, spend some time on their other social media channels. See if you can find clips from the episodes with author interviews, and review comments, views, and likes.
When you feel comfortable with the idea of podcasts and author interviews, put yourself out there and make contact! Send emails, DMs, and submit forms. You won’t get a response if you don’t submit.
Most times these channels have their schedules set far in advance, so don’t get discouraged if they don’t have any availability for a while. Get on their schedule. It won’t matter if it’s in 6 weeks or 6 months, you will be on track for a podcast interview, and soon you will be sharing your voice with their listenership who can turn into adoring fans.
