Radio no longer rules but Podcasters

Celebrating Podcasters

Podcasters are a group of people who make digital audio files that are further distributed on certain platforms and listeners can access them either for free or at a subscription price. Podcasts became a format for creating audio content with the introduction of products such as the iPod and the number of creators sharing the content grew with time. According to the records of 2018, there are podcasts available in more than 100 languages now.

The attraction of podcasters who make audio files based on different subjects and topics is the fact that listeners get to choose what they want to hear. This is a wonderful alternative in comparison to television and radio broadcasts. Different podcasters cover varying topics which can be about lifestyle, politics, literature, religion, creativity and more. Podcasters are also providing the opportunity to business owners, writers and creators to take interviews that will share their talents with the world. 

Finding the right podcast channel

If you are looking for podcasters who hold author interviews, following tips will help you come across the right podcaster channel:

Research Podcast Hosts 

      You must begin your research by looking into different podcasts that target book writers and book promotions specifically as their audience will be mainly readers too. Listen to the interviews on the podcasts so you can narrow down your options.

   Collaborate with Creators

As someone who is also creating, you might have a blog, YouTube channel or similar platforms yourself. If you are interested in a particular host to feature you in author interview, invite them first. 

You can write about their content, promote their podcast through your channel or give them a shout out. 

         

       

Tailor Your Pitch

Many podcasters focus on certain subjects in their podcasts and author interviews. When you send your pitch to the podcast host make sure that it aligns with their purpose along with yours. For example, if a podcast focuses on healthy lifestyle, tailor your pitch as to how your book focuses on well-being and so on. 

Be Comprehensive 

Try to follow the format of a thesis statement when you write your pitch. The podcast host is more likely to feel compelled to feature you if they are able to grasp the idea of your podcast easily. Focus on 3-4 things that you want to talk about during the author interview. In other words, keep the pitch interesting and brief. These are helpful tips for interacting with the podcasters that you think have useful platform for your own voice. 

Podcasters are becoming personas that people look up to now. They inspire millions regularly in their own ways through personal stories. Many have heart-warming and spectacular accounts that will inspire you to begin your own journey of creative work. Here is an example of one..

Dr Shahnaz Ahmed

The creator of Living A Life Through Books. Shahnaz’s podcasts are about a life-changing journey. The journey of starting, sustaining, and learning from the habit of reading.

 

Here’s her latest Podcast Interview With Andrew Segal… 

The author of The Lyme Regis Murders, talks to Shahnaz Ahmed about writing, favourite authors, his new book The Lyme Regis Murders and his experiences in life that propelled him forward.

I see you have a great many hidden talents...tell us about your career and how you manage to intertwine your very busy life with being a podcaster. 

‘’I am a paediatric dentist by profession.  I opened my practice about 11 years ago and although I only work there 3 days a week, they are long 12 hour days.  I have to be high energy and cheery with the children all the time, and being an introvert, it can be draining at times.  One day a week I also teach paediatric dentistry as a clinical faculty member at ATSU dental school here in St. Louis.  I feel it very necessary to protect “my” time when I get home.  For me, I like to unwind with silence and my own thoughts.  I love to read books and process the information in them.  Also, I read a lot of self-help/motivation books and they have helped me tremendously in helping me understand my time constraints in life and helped me with some tips on managing my personal and professional life.  It’s a matter of scheduling time for myself.  I know it sounds oxymoronic.  How does one schedule time for fun and their own interests, but in today’s world, I feel, if I don’t put what I want to do on my calendar, it doesn’t get done and my time gets filled with things I perhaps don’t want to do or worse yet, just gets wasted.  I try to adhere to my schedule so I can keep track of who to interview, when to edit that interview and when to upload it.  My weekends are spent with juggling all my podcasting and blogging tasks, not to mention laundry and housekeeping.  Of course, I have to find time in between all this to totally decompress with a book! Ha ha.’’

When you were growing up in Dubai did you have any idea that you would become successful podcaster?

‘’I would be giving my age away if I said podcasting or even the internet did not exist when I was in Dubai.  And I wish I could say, ya sure, but the truth is that I always dreamed about writing a book.  So, no.  I did not think I would go in this direction at all.  I had a very strict upbringing.  I was supposed to do two things:  study and play tennis.  For real!  That’s all my dad wanted me to focus on.  I wasn’t allowed to play video games or even watch TV when dad was around.  We managed to sneak some TV time when dad was at work, but it was pretty strict and regimented.  I always knew I would become a doctor and I did.  In those days, I really enjoyed my classes and biology and I thought that was very cool.  As I’m older now, the drive to do more than just be a dentist is quite significant.  I did not think I would enjoy the journey of podcasting as much as I do.  I thought, I would try it out and hoped it would help my listeners, and here I am, with the podcast helping me! :-)’’

Who influenced you the most with books?

‘’If you mean, an author, I grew up with Enid Blyton.  The Amelia Jane series and my favourite The Famous Five.  In Dubai, at school, I felt a sense of book peer pressure.  I was with girls who read a lot, and I felt the need to keep up.  So, I read the classics with them also and books just came naturally to me.  It became a part of me, like nothing else really can.  It’s funny.  I cannot recall anyone in my family reading books.  My older cousin read the Mills and Boon romances but really once I discovered Enid Blyton, I fell right into the proverbial rabbit hole of reading.’’

Do you remember your eureka moment when you thought about starting a podcast? And who you would like to book first. 

‘’Oh Goodness!  It’s funny because when I started my podcast, I didn’t even think that doing an interview was something that would happen.  I might have wished it secretly, but I just wanted to share my journey and I just started the podcast.  Somewhere after the first couple of months, I thought, I would like to get my feet wet with getting used to interviewing.  A good friend of my husband, Christopher Todd, visited from the Florida keys and he’s such a sweet heart, and very well read, so I thought I would ask him if he wanted to be on my podcast and that’s how the interviewing and the conversations started.  Of course, now I dream about getting JK Rowling on my podcast.  Whom are we kidding?  In all seriousness, I just want to give authors a voice through my podcast and in turn give my listeners something to learn from, and something to motivate them to read or even write that next book.’’

If you could who would you most like to have an interview with?  would it be an author...an actor .. or just someone that inspires you the most.

This may sound crazy, but I would love to interview former President Barack Obama.  I find his message very uplifting and inclusive.  I read Becoming by Michelle Obama and reading about Barack Obama in that, gives me an insight into a man who’s a dreamer.  We need more of them in our world.  More people who believe and who strive to make this world something better than it is.  Besides, he’s an avid reader and I would love to hear his take on reading and how it has helped his growth.  What are his all-time top 5 books?  Wouldn’t I love to know.

If you like add some more...I see you like writing a travel blog...You ever considered writing a travel book...? 

A travel book?  Me?  Should I have considered it?  For now, I think I’ll stick with writing about my past travels.  I’m so behind on writing about those.  I feel I need to know much more than I do about travel, before I can or should ever consider a travel book.  What I know is from the internet and doing searches and just finding my way through to my destinations.  Isn’t have something everyone can do?  Or does that journey need a travel book?  I think a travel blog is a good enough mid point for now. 

If you did write a travel book where would you most like to go and your dream trip be?

I have been quite fortunate in regards to travel.  Since I was 18, I’ve had one dream place to travel - The Galapagos Islands and my dream came true a few years back.  It was beyond anything I have ever imagined.  I wrote a blog about it called “Finding God” in an old blog that I’m still working out the details on.  As far as future dream trips for a travel book - oh!  I think I would like to do an African Safari.  Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa.  I would love to go to Puerto Rico and experience the bioluminescence of their beaches.  I so want to hit Bora Bora, Tahiti someday.  Sounds and looks (based on the pictures I’ve seen) like heaven.  I cannot make up my mind on this.  When it comes to trips, I just figure out my schedule and my finances and go where I can.  The list goes on and on.  Banff national park comes to mind quite a bit.  And of course, the Azures.  Need I go on? 

You can listen to the audio of this interview by clicking

>>HERE<<

Where to find Dr Shahnaz Ahmed's Podcasts :

Apple Podcasts:   https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/living-a-life-through-books/id1435731689? mt=2

Anchor:   https://anchor.fm/living-a-life-through-books

Breaker:   https://www.breaker.audio/living-a-life-through-books

Come and share with us Andrew's new Crime detective fiction

PreLaunch 

The Lyme Regis Murders

by author

Andrew Segal  

Three little piggies going to market each,

Changed their minds, went down to the beach.

A great big rock then cracked each head,
And, left the three of them, all stone dead.   R.A.

Three found dead, throwing a quiet seaside town into turmoil.

. 

The shoreline was deserted apart from the four individuals cavorting close to the water’s edge.   A single gull wheeled overhead screaming out what might have been a warning, had anyone understood, or been prepared to listen. Offshore the swell rose and fell ominously, a restless movement like the bulk of a heaving whale, as it too whispered a plea for mercy.

 "Last week I took a short break and I packed your book. I had plenty of reading time, but frankly I did not need it, as once I had an uninterrupted session
I quickly got into this riveting story. 
What a good read."

Brendan Roodt 

Get your early bird offer:

>>>Pre-Order Here<<

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More Inspiring Podcasters

Jaime Tardy

Tardy is the host of Eventual Millionaire podcast which started as her own dream of eventually becoming a wealthy person. Before she started her podcast, she was deep in debt with up to £56,000 to pay off. 

Tardy quit her job because she knew she would never be able to pay off the amount with a 9 to 5 and started to interview entrepreneurs. Within the first month, her podcast was downloaded by 30,000 listeners and she’s a successful podcast host herself today.

Daniel H. Pink

The Office Hours is hosted by the brilliant author Daniel H. Pink who writes mainly about work and management. His books have been widely read to an extent that they are now translated in 34 languages. Office Hours focuses on discussing work life of his guests in a ‘Car Talk’ where the focus is on the personal life and business of the interviewee.

Mark Dawson 

Mark Dawson is the co-host of The Self-Publishing Show which he creates along with James Blatch. Dawson always wanted to be a writer and he began his journey by self-publishing his book. It soon became a critically acclaimed book. He now interviews authors and business experts to share their wisdom about publishing through the platform. 

Podcasters are an alternative to the radio station and many have unique interests that would otherwise not get aired. Their passions with the freedoms to choose who they like to meet or subject they find most fascinating provides us with a rich seam of entertainment we wouldn't have otherwise.

We hope you enjoyed this week's top - and look forward to seeing you next week

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