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Originally Posted On: https://christine-ink.com/the-best-podcast-for-writers-could-be-yours/

“The medium of podcasting and the personal nature of it, the relationship you build with your listeners and the relationship they have with you – they could be just sitting there, chuckling and listening… there’s nothing like that.”

Marc Maron

I am an author with a writers podcast. Well, technically, I’m an author, book coach, and ghostwriter with a podcast. My daily podcast for authors, Your Daily Writing Habit is one of the most fun and rewarding decisions in the history of my business!

Can you imagine yourself doing a podcast? 

As an author you might be wondering what you would host a show about. Podcasts are huge right now and expanding their influence by the minute. But contrary to popular belief, compared to other forms of communication like YouTube videos, for instance, only a small percentage of the population has a podcast. Further, a miniscule percentage of your fellow authors host their own podcasts, including podcasts for writers.

Where does the podcast conversation fit into your author and book marketing strategy? How do you know if you as an author, your author brand, and your books, would lend themselves to a podcast?

Allow me to inspire your imagination!

Are you a nonfiction author?

Particularly if your author brand is business books, personal or professional development, or other variations of sharing wisdom with others. You’re a person with specialized knowledge and presumably, interesting stories to back up that knowledge. A podcast is an innovative way to share that knowledge and stories with others on a regular basis, and as creatively as you’d like, while also raising awareness for your books and brand.

Fiction author?

How fun would it be to translate the world of your novel(s) into podcast form?. With some creativity, it CAN be done! Look at the themes in your stories, the characters and their backstories, and the larger universal themes that your books deal with. Is there anything there that would make for interesting conversations with like-minded listeners?

Finally let me make this an even easier decision for you by removing some potential obstacles and myths.

It Doesn’t Have to Be Emmy Worthy

Your podcast doesn’t have to be a fancy one hour-long, professionally edited affair, where it takes weeks to produce a single episode and involves investing in an outside service provider to add music, and intro and outro.

Guests Optional

I only invite guests onto my show when I believe they have something specifically valuable to offer my listeners. This equates to once, maybe twice per month, and largely because I created a format that is not dependent on guests. My podcast for authors (over 1,000 episodes strong!) runs about 5 minutes a day, 7 days a week. Rather than a chat fest, it’s designed to be an actionable tool authors can use to write their books.

KSS

This simplicity is intentional on my part. From day one I wanted to remove as many obstacles as possible, so I  wouldn’t be tempted to quit in the long term. No editing, no turnaround time, no muss, no fuss – an easy to produce podcast. The perfect addition to my existing editorial strategy!

If, as an author, you had a podcast, what would be the goal? What would be your promise to listeners? Who would your target audience be? 

Feel free to contact me if you’d like to brainstorm a potential podcast premise and how it would fit in with your overall book/brand strategy!

Christine Whitmarsh is a celebrity ghostwriter, bestselling author, book writing coach, and owner of The Ink Agency. She helps authors write, publish and promote extraordinary books that drive powerful brands.