What I learned from doing 75 podcast interviews: A guide for fellow authors
Podcasting tips for authors.
Those of you who have followed my Substack for awhile know that I’ve spent a significant amount of time publicizing my debut memoir SLIP. I spent more than half my life working on different iterations of the book, so I can’t help but want it to be as successful as possible.
I was fortunate to have support from my in-house publicist at Simon Element (the Simon & Schuster imprint that published my book), and from a (reasonably priced) freelance publicist who worked with me for the three months leading up to publication. Both were wonderful, and both helped in different ways.
But even with their pre-publication support, book publicity still sometimes felt like a full-time job. As my in-house and freelance publicists were pitching SLIP on my behalf, I was sending out my own slew of pitches each day — to media outlets, podcasts, newsletters, freelance journalists, book reviewers, and more.
I took notes along the way and am going to share them with you this month. This week, I’ll take a deep dive into podcasts. Next week, I’ll focus specifically on tips for planning and carrying out a book tour. The following week, I’ll discuss a wider range of media opportunities and events that authors should consider.
I’m dedicating this post specifically to podcasts for two reasons: 1.) I’ve appeared on more than 75 podcasts since June and have gleaned a lot of lessons learned and 2.) I’ve found that podcasters are more likely than legacy media to say “yes” to pitches. There is a lot of opportunity in the podcast space, especially if you’re open to talking about a variety of topics.
With that in mind, here are some related pointers:
1.) Identify a range of podcasts.
Do some research to see which podcasts relate to the main topic of your book. Then, do the same for your book’s sub-topics.
In my case, this meant making a list of podcasts about eating disorders, followed by a list of ones related to body image, grief, loss, diet culture, perfectionism, motherhood, and more. Since I’m a professor, I also made a list of podcasts related to writing and publishing (there are many).
My publicists and I divided and conquered. My in-house publicist focused on bigger podcasts (which were naturally harder to land), while my freelance publicist focused on smaller ones. I reached out to a range of podcasts and crafted distinct pitches for each one.
2.) Personalize your pitches.
Some podcast hosts who interviewed me said they’re inundated with pitches and can barely keep up. This is all the more reason why a personalized pitch is important.
In your pitch, briefly mention a recent episode from the podcast and what you liked about it. From there, segue into why you think you would be a good fit for the podcast. Describe your book and your background, all the while drawing connections between your work and the podcast at hand. You want to make the “why me” message clear.
If you’re interested in seeing examples of some personalized pitches that led to a “yes,” please consider becoming a paid subscriber to this newsletter. Once you’ve subscribed, you can gain access.
3.) If your publicist isn’t having any luck, ask if you can pitch the podcast yourself.
Occasionally while pitching, I would get a positive response pretty quickly. Sometimes I’d never hear back. Other times, I’d get a “yes” after months of outreach and follow-ups. I didn’t send any more than two follow-ups but often found that the second follow-up led to a positive response. Being pleasantly persistent paid off.
I also learned that some hosts are more likely to respond to the authors themselves, especially if the author has crafted a strong pitch. Early on, I created a spreadsheet to track who my in-house publicist and I were pitching, and we updated it along the way. If my in-house publicist had reached out to podcasters and others but hadn’t received a response, I would ask if I could reach out directly. She was fortunately open to the idea, and in some cases, my direct outreach led to media bookings. Not every publicist will be amenable to this approach, but it’s worth asking.
4.) Space out your interviews.
I recorded most of my podcast interviews over the summer, during the two months leading up to my book’s publication. Some weeks, I recorded up to six podcasts in one day, largely because my freelance publicist was successful at booking me on a lot of them in a short amount of time.
I wouldn’t recommend recording so many each day (!), but it was the only way I could make it work while juggling childcare, navigating book publicity, and teaching a summer class.
It can be emotionally draining to repeatedly share the most painful parts of your life story day after day. As a coping mechanism, I developed some talking points that I knew I could easily draw upon from one podcast to another. This saved me the mental bandwidth of having to think of something new each time.
Beyond the camera’s view, I draped my coziest blanket over my lap and squeezed my most durable stress ball during each interview. I usually lit a candle too. (Here’s my favorite one right now.) Find your go-to sources of comfort and rely on them, especially during heavy recording days.
5.) Realize that many hosts will not have read your book.
As a journalism professor, I always relay one message to my students who want to interview authors: Read the book.
Many podcasters, though, aren’t trained journalists and don’t necessarily have the bandwidth to read their guests’ books (though I would argue that they all should)! It can also be tricky if you’re doing the podcast interview prior to publication and your publisher doesn’t have that many galley copies to distribute. (Mine did, but not all do.)
Prepare yourself for this reality, and try not to take offense if interviewers haven’t read your book. Be gracious, and remember that the podcaster is helping you by having you on the show. If the interview questions are vague, answer them with as much detail as you can to help listeners fill in the gaps. When you do an interview with a podcaster who has read your book (or who asked their producer to read it and take really good notes), you’ll be all the more grateful.
I love this video of Fresh Air’s Terry Gross talking about how she annotates books and why she always reads them herself before interviewing authors.
6.) Create an author Q&A.
A few months prior to my book’s publication, my in-house publicist sent me a list of questions related to the topic of my book. She asked me to provide brief responses to each one, with the goal of creating an author Q&A that we could share with podcasters, journalists, and media outlets that expressed interest in the book.
I’m so glad she made this suggestion. It proved beneficial when pitching, and it was helpful for podcasters who didn’t have time to read the book. In those cases, the Q&A gave them a better sense of SLIP’s main themes and arguments.
7.) Be open to conversations that unfold naturally.
Being on podcasts is great practice for speaking about your book. If you do a lot of podcast interviews prior to your book’s launch, you’ll be that much more prepared to talk about it once it’s out in the world.
The more podcasts I did, the more comfortable I got answering questions on the fly. I’m a planner, and I initially liked when podcast hosts would send me questions ahead of time. But the more recordings I did, the more I came to appreciate the organic conversations that weren’t tied to a list of pre-determined questions.
I’m learning that improvisation can lead to unexpected moments of inspiration. When we’re always anticipating what’s coming and have carefully crafted responses in mind, conversations can feel scripted, and creativity can get stifled.
8.) Let the host know how to pronounce your name.
My maiden name gets mispronounced all the time. Most people think it’s pronounced “ten-or,” when in fact it’s “ten-or-ee.” (I’m Italian.) My married name is pronounced with a hard “e,” too, though some mispronounce it as “Tar-play.”
To avoid confusion, I would kindly let the podcast hosts know how to pronounce my full name prior to each recording. They always seemed to appreciate this gesture.
If they happened to still mispronounce my name in their intro, they usually caught their mistake and restated my name correctly. (Most of the time, podcasters can edit out errors after the fact, so don’t worry if you happen to mispronounce something too!)
9.) Inquire about the episode’s air date.
Don’t be afraid to ask podcast hosts if they’d be willing to air the episode in timing with your book’s publication week. First-week sales are important because they factor into bestseller lists and help create initial buzz.
If the hosts can’t air the episode during your pub week, that’s okay. I had several podcast interviews launch during my book’s publication week, but just as many aired before and after the fact. Even now, four months post-publication, I’m continuing to do podcast interviews. I’m not recording nearly as many as I was over the summer, but I’m still doing a few each month.
Remember that every podcast interview is a chance to extend your book’s reach and impact.
10.) Get clarity on how video will be used (if at all).
A lot of podcasters record video along with audio. Some post the full video, while others post snippets on social media. This initially caught me by surprise, so I had to learn to ask how the video footage would be used (if at all).
If video is going to be shared, try looking into the camera as much as possible. After seeing some of the videos from my podcast recordings, I realized I had a tendency to look down while answering questions — and that I would literally sit on the edge of my seat. I had to work on looking at the camera and sitting back a bit so that my face wasn’t taking up the full frame. (One day, after seeing me sit on the edge of my seat one too many times, my husband scribbled the words “Sit back from the camera!!!!” on a Post-it note, which I stuck on my Ring light as a reminder.)
A few of the podcast hosts who interviewed me said they don’t use video at all, even during the recording. I actually liked this approach. Sometimes there’s less pressure when you can just focus on your responses without worrying about what you look like while doing so. If you’re having a rough day and don’t feel like appearing on camera but still want to do the podcast interview, ask if you can record with audio only.
11.) Invest in a good microphone.
Many of you have likely heard a podcast interview with poor audio quality. It may have even been so bad that you tuned out and moved on. I know I have.
To avoid poor audio quality, and to increase the likelihood that listeners will stick with you ‘til the end, consider investing in a microphone. There are lots of good options that are relatively affordable. My husband bought me a Rode microphone for my birthday, and I’ve been happy with it.
I also bought a thick rug for my office to reduce echoes and reverberation, and I tried to avoid wearing bangles or dangly earrings that could create distracting background noise.
Having high-quality audio goes a long way toward sustained listening.
12.) Listen to the interviews after the fact.
I admittedly didn’t listen to every single podcast interview I did, but I tried tuning in to as many as I could. You can learn a lot when you hear yourself speak, even though doing so can feel uncomfortable. As you listen, celebrate the responses you nailed and make a mental note of the ones you could improve upon.
While listening to my own interviews, I noticed that I tended to use the phrase “sort of” a lot. Once I realized this, I made a conscious effort to avoid it. We all have our own fillers/phrases that can be distracting when heard in excess. But it’s easy to miss them in the moment when we’re talking. Listening to your interviews will help you improve your public speaking and polish your talking points along the way.
13.) Be a promotional partner with podcast hosts.
Encourage podcast hosts to tag you on social media when they air your episode, and ask them to invite you as a collaborator on Instagram. When someone invites you to collaborate on an Instagram post, the post will appear on their profile and on yours, thereby increasing its reach.
Thank the podcast hosts on social media, and share the episode without shame. If you do a lot of podcasts, you’re going to end up doing a lot of sharing. It can feel icky at first, but remember: it’s all in service of helping your book reach as many people as possible so that it can help and impact as many people as possible.
When podcast hosts inevitably ask you to rate their podcast, take a few minutes to do so. Then, consider asking if they’ll rate your book — with the good intention of celebrating and supporting each other’s work.
14. Remember your “why.”
It’s ultimately hard to know if podcasts move the needle much in terms of sales; I can’t tell how many sales they ultimately generated for me, or which ones sold the most copies. But I can gather clues based on the number of emails or social media messages I get (or don’t get) in response to each one.
The truth is, publicity can seem nebulous. With this in mind, I’ve found it helpful to develop clarifying messages about why I choose to spend so much time on publicity; this helps me stay intrinsically motivated even in moments when extrinsic factors feel discouraging.
I try to remind myself that podcasts have staying power and can contribute to the long arc of a book’s lifespan. Publicity is the ultimate exercise in lengthening that arc over time — and reminding yourself why it matters.
What tips resonated with you? What are some of your own tips? What follow-up questions do you have? I’m happy to answer them in the comments section.
These are all great tips. As someone who interviews authors a lot, I'll just add one more idea: Its important for authors to actually know what they want to say about their book and have answers ready for interviewers who do the work and ask deeper questions. One of my biggest challenges, particularly as a guest host on NPR, was when I interviewed authors early in their book tours who weren't used to answering questions about their book and hadn't necessarily thought through some issues raised in their own work. They were so used to interviews with people who hadn't read their book deeply, they weren't necessarily prepped for questions that probed a little deeper. They Q&A your publicist asked to you assemble can help with that. Besides acting as a primer for podcast hosts, it can help authors figure out the big ideas in their books and what they want to say that may easily fit into a podcast coversation.
This is so helpful. Thanks for sharing and congrats on 75 (wow!) podcasts!