How Can Authors Get Podcast Coverage?

               

Podcasting has exploded – and Americans show no signs of losing interest in the hot medium.  Authors, take note!

Here are some interesting stats, compiled by Musicoomph.com:

·         There are 700,000 active podcasts with 29 million episodes.

·         A year ago, those numbers were 550,000 and 18.5 million.

·         70% of Americans are familiar with podcasting and 1 in 2 Americans has listened to a podcast.

·         Around 1 in 5 Americans listen to podcasts weekly.

·         Those ages 18-44 make up 67% of the podcast listenership.

·         Average podcast listeners listen to seven different shows per week.

·         Weekly podcast listeners spend an average of 6 hours and 37 minutes listening to podcasts.

Podcast listeners tend to be more active on social media, better educated, and wealthier than those who do not listen to podcasts. Many listen to podcasts on their smartphones, and like audiobooks, listen while in the car, at the gym, or at home.

So what does this mean for authors?

To market a book effectively, consider developing your own podcast. Even better, get interviewed on other people’s podcasts. Either strategy nets you more exposure for your book.

Not sure how to get started to create or launch your podcast? Here are three resources worth checking out to find out more about beginning your own podcast:

https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/how-to-set-up-a-podcast-instructions-var

https://www.thepodcasthost.com/planning/how-to-start-a-podcast/#part1

https://www.podcastinsights.com/start-a-podcast/

Looking to get on someone’s podcast? Here are some helpful directories to identify which shows exist in specific categories:

https://www.weeditpodcasts.com/20-best-podcast-directories/

https://toppodcast.com/top-podcasts

https://www.podcastinsights.com/podcast-distribution-guide/

Or you can simply google a topic and the word podcasts after it, such as “health podcasts’ or “business podcasts.” Feel free to go to iTunes and see “top charts” in each category, where you can locate the 200 most popular shows in each category. The list changes daily.

Getting interviewed by someone’s podcast is very hard at times – or very easy. The more popular the show, the harder it is. Further, the more often a podcast episode is created, the more air time that is available to you. If someone only podcasts monthly, you won’t have much of a chance to get on.

Your approach to podcasters is similar to what you would say to any media outlet. You would briefly identify who you are, mention your book, state your message, identify that you know what their show covers, that you like it, and that you would be a great guest. Sound passionate, but not desperate. Appear qualified, but don’t read off a resume or refer them to a zillion links. Summarize your life, book, and message in a paragraph or two and add 4-5 bullet points as to what you hope to discuss in an interview.

Are you ready to create your own podcast or be interviewed by someone’s podcast? You better be. This is now an integral part of the marketing mix for books and authors today.

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Brian Feinblum’s insightful views, provocative opinions, and interesting ideas expressed in this terrific blog are his alone and not that of his employer or anyone else. You can – and should -- follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels much more important when discussed in the third-person. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2020. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester. His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s Independent.  This was named one of the best book marketing blogs by Book Baby http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs and recognized by Feedspot in 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. Also named by WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.” He recently hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America.