Utilizing Podcast Guest Interviews to Advertise Your Book

By M.K. McDaniel, Author of “MISFIT IN HELL TO HEAVEN EXPAT”

The increased popularity of the Podcasting phenomenon was a major benefit generated by the Covid outbreak. These homegrown radio and television combinations mushroomed into an everyday occurrence on computer screens, smartphones, and a variety of online giants like YouTube and Spotify.

With a little assistance from an online seminar and a relatively inexpensive service provider, a home-bound plague avoider could communicate with thousands of others across the globe.

The topics Podcasters utilized were endless and evolving. Hobbies and personal beliefs, serious and frivolous interests, became fodder for the fertile minds of the bored and disconnected.

Google recently reported: "There are currently over 5 million podcasts in the world, boasting over 70 million episodes between them."

The pandemic eliminated an author’s ability to meet with potential readers in a library setting, or at any organized book-selling event. Podcasts offered authors the unique opportunity to reach out to house-bound readers and to offer up their newest stories via the mail or the internet.

Podcasters quickly determined that interviewing a steady flow of fascinating people would grow their own popularity and, in many cases, an income stream from the episodes. The task of finding these individuals was daunting, but with time, a new industry was born for “match making” a host with the guests.

The Podcast Collaborative and Podcast Guests are two of the better-known companies that gathered an incredible amount of information about existing Podcasts and available Guests via memberships. The minimal fees charged each party affords accessibility to both halves of the Podcast equation.

Another method for recruiting Guests includes the use of “Google” search engines to find online episodes of Podcasters with similar programs, and then to contact their guests directly.

Authors wishing to become a Guest on a Podcast have similar opportunities in their search for a compatible program, but first they must possess most of the following:

1.     A published book, or one that is ready to launch.

2.     The technical savvy to be able to use a computer/smartphone to connect with the Host via “Zoom links” or other media.

3.     Sufficient stage lighting, earphones, a computer and/or smartphone, and other required gear.

4.     A small, suitable location for staging and broadcasting that is visually pleasing and quiet.

5.     Confidence in his/her ability to speak publicly in a semi-professional manner.

6.     A sufficient commitment of time for the ongoing work generated by this project.

7.     Realizing and accepting that no guarantee can be made that all the time, energy and money expended for this venture will produce any significant monetary gain.

8.     A good sense of humor and a love of people.

As a published Author of four years, I’ve been a Podcast/Radio Program Guest on over 130 shows to date and have garnered roughly 2 million "Views" on videos and well over that amount of people listening to the audios. It has taken a significant amount of my time and energy to apply to hosts, via various means, and to research programs with offers for me to appear.

Their proffered dates to connect with me have often conflicted with my family get togethers or vacation plans, and hard decisions had to be made to live a balanced life.

Imagined wealth triggered by innumerable book sales is not a legitimate expectation for a first-time or self-published author. The bottom-line payment for actual book sales is pathetic after all the myriad deductions.

The bottom line? The number one question that you must ask yourself before venturing out into this arena is “What do I hope to gain from being a Podcast Guest?”

My answer was, and still is: “I love doing podcasts because it is FUN! I love meeting new people from around the world who are interested in my book, and in me. I love the idea that my book’s message is being heard all over the planet.”

I’d be thrilled to recuperate what I have invested in this venture, but it’s not my primary motivation. Writing and publishing my book allowed me to share my life’s lessons and to encourage others to be more at peace about the Afterlife.

If being a Podcast Guest remains FUN, I know I am on the right track. It is worth all the time, passion, and money that I’m investing in this unique adventure that is my current incarnation.

I hope that by sharing this article, I’ve given the reader something to reflect upon, the courage to further their book’s influence, and to have some fun, by becoming a frequent Podcast Guest.