Rule 89 of the Internet. If it exists, there’s a podcast of it.
If you think the indie author world is niche enough that finding podcast content would be difficult. Baby, you don’t know podcasting.
There are all kinds of books that swear they can teach you how to write. You just need to buy their book and spend hours reading it! One small problem though, you’re a writer and you’re already surrounded by books you need to read. Podcasts can be a great way to augment your writing, planning and organisational skills, while also keeping you up to date on the latest news in your industry.
Driving in your car and learning the finer points of character development. Cooking dinner and listening to tips on worldbuilding.
Sitting in front of your computer, writing about characters, or even worlds, that come entirely from your imagination, means locking yourself in your own head. Writing can get lonely. No matter if you’re writing at home by yourself, or surrounded by people in a cafe or library, once you start writing, you’re in a world by yourself. Sure the hope is that one day readers are going to venture into this world that you’ve created but, in the meantime, it can get pretty lonesome.
Podcasts also offer a sense of community. Here is a voice in your ear that totally understands the situation you’re in and is in the same boat. Week in week out, with each new episode, you get to know the hosts and listen to interviews with other authors, as they give invaluable advice.
Let’s get started…
These guys are the big guns. They’ve been around for a long time (right now they’re in season 13) which means that there’s a big back catalogue so you can really dive in and binge listen.
Their tagline claim is that each podcast is only 15 minutes, and although that isn’t always accurate they’re never longer than 25 minutes. They get to the point fairly quickly, covering topics that really get into the mechanics of writing, but broken up into manageable, easily digestible bites.
If you want to give them a try then I’d recommend starting from the beginning of season 10. The previous seasons kinda leap from one topic to another, but season 10 is arranged as a class, with each episode building off the last. The aim is that, by the end of the season, the listener will have written a complete story of their own.
Tl;dr – Popular, short, digestible pods, from experienced podcasters. Perfect for a short commute or while getting ready for work.
This podcast is only in its second series but it’s already a classic. The presenter really sets this podcast apart from others because of his personality. Tim Clare is a funny guy, it’s obvious that he’s having a great time doing what he loves and he passes that enthusiasm on to you, the listener. It’s easy to start listening to a podcast when you know you’re going to be learning something and have a great time as you do.
So much of the advice offered to writers is about the architecture of writing. Those big things that we all have to think about; character arc, planning, pacing. And that’s great, don’t get me wrong, you need to be thinking about those things too. But there’s not much out there that actually discusses the actually nitty-gritty of writing. Sure, it’s great that you know how your characters are going to develop in the current scene that you’re writing, but it doesn’t help when you’re staring at your screen, agonising over what word to write next.
That’s where Tim steps in! He spends time talking about how to write prose, what you should be thinking about on a sentence by sentence basis.
Tl;dr – A fun (and funny) podcast for anyone who’s ever worried their prose might not be good enough and wants to learn how to make it better.
Katie Weiland has been putting out great content for years. She’s a published author, with two books aimed at helping writers: Outlining Your Novel and Structuring Your Novel. Her website is massive, with blog posts stretching back years. It’s an amazing resource that I’d highly recommend everybody take a look through.
Katie’s podcasts cover all sorts of diverse topics; from characterisation to marketing. However her main focus is on story structure and she has a lot to say about it!
A lot of writers worry about relying too heavily on story structure. If every story uses the 3 act structure, then won’t it seem formulaic and dull to the reader? Katie is here to explain why you need to follow the rules of writing, and how to use them to make your story flow smoothly.
Tl;dr – Insightful, energetic and prolific. Her podcasts are 15-20 minutes long and, like with her blog posts, she has a back catalogue of podcasts that goes back years.
With a title like “The Sell More Books Show” you know what to expect here. Bryan Cohen and Jim Kukral have been hosting this show for 5 years and have developed quite a following in that time. It’s a light, fun podcast that covers a lot of industry news and tips for self-published authors of all stripes. There is definitely more of a focus on the marketing and selling of books than you’ll find on other self-published and writing focused podcasts, and so it’s a great addition to your podcast list to fill that niche.
Tl;dr – Two friends with tons of industry experience dissect the news and give tips on how to be a successful indie author.