Podcasting for Authors By Yvonne Perry

Today is Tuesday and that means it's time to invite a guest to share her expertise with authors. I am thrilled to introduce you to Yvonne Perry, Owner of Writers in the Sky Creative Writing Services, who will speak to us on Podcasting for Authors.

Before we get to her post, I have a couple of quick house announcement.

1. Subscribers of my free Video Tips For Authors Newsletter just got the new video video called, "Creating A Book Excerpt With BookBuzzr." The tips are free to anyone who signs up for my newsletter.

2. I want to let you know that Tuesday (tonight) at midnight my 50% off sale for my new training, Conducting Effective Twitter Contests ends. This training has the full e-book text with over 4 hours of embedded instructional videos (in 20 short clips). The BookBuzzr official review of this training says:

"Phew! I've just gone through Tony Eldridge's Conducting Twitter Contests and first reaction; Wow!... Saying his course is about Twitter Contests would be limiting it! The course has nuggets of information that will benefit your outcome of twitter even without conducting a contest."

Now, on to Yvonne Perry's post...


Podcasting for Authors
By Yvonne Perry

When I started Writers in the Sky Podcast in October 2006, many people had never heard the word "podcast." So, whenever I told someone that I was doing a podcast I got a blank stare or total silence and had to explain. A podcast is a series of recorded shows (interviews, demonstrations, workshops) that are uploaded as digital files to an online site and released episodically. Podcasts can be video- or audio-based shows offered as links or in a player on a blog, YouTube, iTunes, or other online podcast directories where people go to find music, movies, videos, or audio books. Podcasts can be downloaded and played on an MP3 player, iPod, or computer; but unlike music files, most podcasts are free to download and listen to.

I remember when authors were practically considered celebrities and getting in touch with them directly was nearly impossible. You had to go through the publisher. Today, we have publishing companies that will publish anyone's manuscript regardless of its condition. Nowadays, authors are plenteous and accessible. The drawback is that authors are now expected to do their own promotion regardless of how their book is published, but some do not know how to promote a book. After all, they are writers, not marketers.

I started my podcast as a way for authors to promote their books that I had edited. During our 30-minute show, we ask the authors to talk about the content or story of their book and then share his or her publishing experience and a few marketing tips. People started emailing me to say how much they appreciated the book promotion aspect of the podcast. Within the first month of going live with our podcast, I had so many authors booked to be on the show that our podcast was filled for nearly six months in advance.

Taking our promotion effort a step further, I wanted to fill the need authors have for someone to guide them with online promotion. So, I started offering book marketing as an added-value service and expanded my team to include an author's assistant and podcast coordinator. Being a guest on our show requires the purchase of a marketing package. Even though we are listed on multiple podcast directories and have a lot of listeners, a one-time guest appearance is not going to give the author enough online exposure to make a splash. The podcast interview comes as a perk when the author purchases a media release, article, press kit, book review, or virtual book tour (http://writersinthesky.com/author-publicity.html). In addition, all podcast guest information is posted on our blog and mentioned in our monthly newsletter. We also write a media release that features all the guests lined up for that month's appearance.

Conventional publishers offer expert editing for the manuscripts they publish. However, most publish-on-demand companies that have cropped up in huge numbers do not seem to even read the books they publish—much less edit them. Wise authors always have their books edited and proofread before publishing and that's where my company comes in handy. As a free-lance editor, I work with authors to get their books ready for the publisher or printer. If an author has us edit his or her book, we automatically throw in a podcast interview.

Listening to Writers in the Sky Podcast on a computer is easy. Just click this link: www.writersintheskyblog.com and go to our blog. On the right sidebar there is a list of archived shows. Click on the interview you would like to hear and it will open a post that has a link to the audio file.

Hosting or being a guest on a radio show or podcast is quite popular now, and many authors are using this talk show format to promote their books. It gives authors a chance to talk about their books and let the audience get to know them. If you are interested in being a guest on our podcast, see http://writersinthesky.com/writing-podcast.html.

If you are interested in hosting your own podcast with an easy-to-use cost-effective service, see http://nashvillewriter.audioacrobat.com.


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Free-lance ghostwriter, editor, and author Yvonne Perry is the owner of Writers in the Sky Creative Writing Services. This highly-experienced team offers writing and editing services for articles, books, Web copy, book reviews, media releases, press kits, biographical sketches, newsletters, and business documents. Follow her on Twitter: http://twitter.com/writersinthesky.