5 Reasons Why Writers Should Consider Podcasting

In recent years, many writers have been tempted by the idea of podcasting. Some have felt pressured to enter the podcast space, and lots of writers are interested but anxious about podcasting. 

(5 Things I Learned From Co-hosting a Book Podcast.)

We are living in a time of large scale media changes, and it is a little anxiety inducing but it’s also exciting. Radio feels more antiquated all the time—overly mainstream even for mainstream cool—and podcasting has become an integral part of our academic and pop culture landscapes.

Many podcast listeners are trying to learn something or dig deep into a particular topic. Nonfiction writers can be great candidates for educational or society and culture podcasts because they are well versed on specific topics, and usually have a backlog of writings and research that can be converted into podcast series. 

There is also an enormous population of listeners who crave narrative style storytelling content, which is great for fiction writers. We have seen the emergence of radio theater style podcasts, fiction dramas with famous actors voicing the characters, audio book chapters released as podcast episodes, short story podcasts, and all kinds of fiction adapted for audio streaming.

Niche Advantage

It used to be that if I was deeply interested in vintage sewing machines (for example), I would have to travel to trade shows and scour my local library for whatever I could find. This left people with quirky interests (which I think is most of us) lonely and craving seemingly unpopular content.

Then, the internet created a hyper-personalized world for each of us. A quick keywords search and niche communities are able to connect without traveling to each other. Podcasters can reach all the little pockets of listeners spread across the globe without anyone leaving their home. 

Writers can reach more potential readers by creating a podcast or by appearing as a guest on a podcast with an overlapping target audience. If writers understand their audience demographics, they can tap into the mighty power of internet subcultures.

Audience Expansion

One of the greatest advantages of podcasting is that listening is passive—we can listen while we do other things. If I publish a story both as a written text and as a podcast, my audience will have significantly more opportunities to engage with my podcast simply because they will have more opportunities to listen than to read. 

There is a tier of listeners called ‘Super Listeners,’ which is a loose industry term meaning people who consume 10-15+ hours of podcast content per week. I am a Super Listener, as are many of my friends and we are definitely multitasking during the 10-15 hours of listening. I don’t usually sit down and read a book, but I listen to 3+ hours of podcasts each day.

Another advantage is that podcasts are quickly and easily shareable. Links to episodes can be copied to Instagram stories and reposted into infinity. For more anticipated work, writers can post a trailer of their upcoming podcast to be blasted out across the internet, and put the episode or series behind a paywall. 

Another approach is to release the first chapter or two of an audio book for free and release the rest as pay-to-download. This can be a good way to increase interest and revenue—especially if paired with a sharing campaign on social media to promote the free chapters when they drop.

Creating a podcast isn’t the only way for writers to take advantage of podcasting. They can also utilize existing podcasts to advertise their work. Writers are often booked as guests on established podcasts in order to promote an upcoming release, but they can also consider paying to run an ad for their upcoming work on a podcast with an overlapping audience. 

Let’s talk again about how listening is passive. Someone has to choose to read a book summary, but an audio ad just plays in their ears, exposing them to samples of beautiful prose without venturing into a bookstore or even intending to check out the work. Not to mention audio excerpts are far more engaging than a stagnant print or digital advertisement.

Supports Multiple Streams of Income

When it comes to direct income from a podcast, the primary cash flow comes through ad sales and Patreon accounts (where listeners can pay for additional content and make donations). There is no minimum listenership required to start a Patreon account, but podcasts need at least 1,000 downloads per episode to be considered for advertising. 

Podcast creators can work directly with businesses to sell ad space on their episodes, or monetize their podcast via their distributor (Audioboom, Acast, Anchor, others). Podcast backlogs can provide passive income for writers through ad sales and Patreon payments. Network deals are another way for writers with a large following to be paid for podcasting, but payment and terms differ greatly.

There is also indirect income to be made from podcasting because a podcast is not just a podcast, it’s also an advertisement for a writer’s other work. Releasing work in several types of media creates a flywheel where regardless of which media a user begins consuming, they are always directed to the other content. This converts listeners to readers and vice-versa, driving numbers up across all platforms. In this way, podcasting can be considered an investment in an overall brand.

Networking

Podcasting is an excellent way for communities of writers and creators to support one another. Sharing each other’s podcast links on social media doesn’t [have to] cost anything and is a great way to gain contacts, support other podcasters, and promote work to wider audiences.

Being a guest and having guests on a podcast is one of the best ways to organically network and grow an audience. ‘Guesting’ can also be good for writers looking to get their feet wet before diving into creating a podcast of their own, and there are a wide variety of ways for writers to be podcast guests. 

For example, if I’m an author who writes Medieval European Historical Fiction, I might reach out about being a guest on podcasts that cover medieval history or European lore. Maybe even something like the BBCs ‘In Our Time’ podcast which features historians and scholars discussing events throughout world history. While the topics covered on these podcasts are not exactly the same as Medieval European Historical Fiction (my pretend genre), the idea is to find podcasts where I can contribute to the conversation and gain access to established audiences that might be interested in my work because it is similar to what they are already consuming.

Accessibility

The last and perhaps most obvious reason that writers should consider podcasting is that podcasting can deliver all of the advantages discussed in this post with very low barriers to entry. Podcasts can usually be recorded at home with relatively inexpensive equipment and internet hosting fees are typically in the $0-$10 per month range. 

Lots of new podcasters over pay for expensive equipment and studio time, but with a little bit of intel writers can launch low-stress, professional grade podcasts and reap all the benefits of getting their work in people’s ears.

Next in this series, I’ll go over a checklist of specifics for writers who want to start podcasting.