More than 480 million people listened to podcasts in 2020. To think that ten years ago, most people hadn’t even listened to one. Some of the reasons podcasts became popular are people seeking alternative media to get news and entertainment.

Also, audio has become extremely popular in the last few years, especially for books. Audio Publishers Association stated that audiobook sales increased by 12% in 2020. Since millions of people listen to podcasts and purchase audiobooks, a podcast is a perfect medium for Book advertising.

You’ve got two options with podcasts: start your own or be interviewed on someone’s podcast who will promote your book.

If you start your own podcast, you have complete control of the content, and you can publish whenever you want. I started a podcast in September 2021, and listenership increased by 300% in three months.

The format of your podcast is up to you. I chose to read short stories from my blog, and I advertised the book at the end. You can read chapters or sections of your book. Another option is to review books and promote yours as well.

You can also interview authors and market your book at the beginning or the end of the show. Don’t bombard your listeners with your book marketing throughout one episode. They may get annoyed and not listen to you again. Sprinkle the marketing, not pour it on.

An important aspect of podcasting is…

Voice

Having the right Voice is especially important if you read your book or short stories. The voice needs to match the content. I read my erotic short stories, and listeners didn’t enjoy it. I saw that by the statistics, and I changed the narrator to a female.

Listeners enjoyed a seductive female voice much more than mine. That makes sense since my content was erotic and most of my listeners were male.

It’s important that the voice matches the content. If your voice isn’t suitable for your book genre or you’re uncomfortable reading, you can hire professional voice artists. Some are expensive, so a cheaper alternative is a text-to-speech generator.

The first thing that pops into many people’s minds when they think of an AI voice generator is a robotic voice. However, several companies have made their voices sound human-like. With some AI voices, it’s difficult to ascertain if they’re human or computer-generated.

Listeners love hearing different voices in audio. If you can have a unique voice for each character in your story, that’ll boost your podcast to a higher level.

Distribution

Since podcasts have become so popular, numerous platforms offer them. You want your podcasts to be on as many platforms to reach the optimal audience. The most popular podcast is Apple Podcasts. Spotify is also popular, as well as Player FM, Google Podcasts, and Castbox.

Uploading your podcast to each of these platforms is time-consuming. To make the uploading process easier, you need a central distribution point.

I found that at Anchor.FM. The great thing about Anchor FM is that it distributes to any podcast platform you desire. It provides you with an RSS Feed. You can input the RSS Feed once when you open an account with a platform and Anchor.FM will distribute your podcast to them every time you upload an episode.

Publishing Consistency

It’s important to publish your podcast consistently so that your subscribers get used to a routine. Ensure that you post on specific days. You can indicate it in your bio so that new listeners know when to expect an episode.

Benefits

Not only does your podcast offer you an opportunity to promote your book, but you can make money. If you have a significant readership base, sponsors will proposition you to advertise their product and pay you.

You can also direct your listeners to a paid platform such as Patreon for exclusive content. On the paid platform, you may include your audiobook.

Your podcast is advertised to the world, so you never know who may discover you. Publishers are always looking for great content and may proposition you. Other podcasters may love your book and want to interview you. That will broaden your book marketing to an entirely new audience.

The knock-on effects of your podcast are difficult to determine, but they may open up a whole new world to you.

Being a Guest on Podcasts

If starting a podcast isn’t your thing, your other option is to promote your book on a podcast with an established listenership.

I’d recommend getting in touch with podcasts in your book genre. It’s more effective to promote your horror book to a podcast that specifically caters to a horror audience than appear on a podcast with a general audience, even if it has a higher listenership than the niche podcast.

If you don’t want to be interviewed, you can proposition podcasts that feature guest stories. They’ll read your story. I did it, and it brought me a new audience that I might not have gotten if I hadn’t developed that relationship.

If you’d like to know more ways to promote your book, check out our article 3 Ways To Promote Your Book Like a Marketer.

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