My favorite podcasts for writers #WriterWednesday #AmWriting

I’ve never been a big podcast listener. I like the idea of podcasts, but I can’t sit still to listen to them. And don’t tell me to listen while at the gym. I need some pumping music to get me through the mundane hours at the gym. But recently, I’m spending a lot of time driving to and from our house in Germany. As it’s a four-hour-drive each way, I found myself with some prime listening time on my hands. I’ve discovered some great podcasts to help in my marketing endeavors. Here are my favorites:

The Smarty Pants Book Marketing Podcast. This podcast by Chris and Becca Syme features podcasts of about thirty minutes on various marketing issues. I like the short duration as I may have a slight attention span problem. Features include keys to successful bidding with BookBub ads, copywriting skills to help sell more books, and why social media helps sell books.

Novel Marketing. Thomas Umstattd Jr. and James L. Rubart host this podcast for ‘novelists who hate marketing’. Like the Smarty Pants Podcast, the episodes are short – sometimes as short as 15 minutes! The episodes concentrate on marketing efforts you can do yourself rather than Amazon or Facebook advertising. Examples include using bookmarks and business cards, getting speaking engagements, and using your book’s back matter to sell more books.

Spa Girls Podcast. This weekly podcast is hosted by four self-published authors. It is aimed at romance authors and those new to publishing. I’m not new to publishing and I’m not strictly a romance author, but I find many of the episodes helpful. Again, I like the short thirty-minute episodes.

The Self Publishing Show. No list of author marketing podcasts would be complete without the self publishing show. The show is hosted by Mark Dawson, the best-selling author famous for the self-publishing formula, a course to help self-published authors learn how to sell more books using ads. The podcast is co-hosted by James Blatch, who seems to do all the heavy lifting. The episodes are somewhat longer – around forty-five minutes – and provide weekly inspiration and education to writers in all stages of their careers.

The Creative Penn Podcast. This long-running podcast is hosted by Joanna Penn. The episodes are a mix of information, inspiration, and interviews on writing, publishing, marketing, and making a living as a writer. Her podcasts are usually an hour or so in length. Perfect for long drives in the car or trips back to the continent after London Book Fair.

I confess I don’t listen to each episode of each podcast. I pick and choose the topics I’m interested in and delete the rest. I’m sure there are some gems in those deleted podcasts but last time I checked there are still only 24-hours in a day and 7-days in a week.