How to get on podcasts and in the media as an author

Which shows to pitch

Start from your reader, not from the charts. The question is: what does the person your book is for already listen to on their commute?

• Ask your clients and readers. "What podcasts do you listen to for work?" is a great question for your email list and your advance readers.
• Look at your peers. Where have authors of comparable books been interviewed? Their websites and media pages usually list it.
• Go narrow. A show for dental practice owners, independent financial advisers or school board members may have a fraction of a big show's audience, and almost all of it is your reader.
• Check that the show is alive and takes guests. Recent episodes, guest interviews, and ideally a guest application page or a named producer.

Build a list of about 30 shows in a spreadsheet: show, host, how they book guests, a recent episode you listened to, date pitched, response. Thirty is enough to learn what works without turning the launch into a full-time job.

Scribe authors' published results show what a steady tour can add up to: Hadley Ott, author of Drug-Free Crohn's, has done 15+ podcast interviews; Janet Newman's Living in the Chemical Age has been featured on 9 podcasts; and Dr. Michael D. Lewis, author of When Brains Collide, has done 3/week radio and podcast interviews since launch. Each is one author's result, not a typical one.

When to pitch

Many podcasts record weeks or months before an episode airs. If you want interviews that air around launch, you have to pitch well before it. On Dorie Clark's blog, podcast guest Jeffrey Shaw advises pitching five to six months in advance and aiming for interviews to air four to six weeks before release, while the book is on preorder. That is one experienced guest's advice rather than a rule, but it reflects how far ahead shows book.

A workable rhythm for most authors:

• 12 weeks out: build your list of 30 shows.
• 10 weeks out onward: send three to five personal pitches a week.
• Launch week: share every episode that has aired, and mention upcoming ones in your launch email.
• 6 weeks after launch: a second round, now pointing to reviews and episodes already out.

Interviews that air after launch are not wasted. They reach new readers when the book is easy to buy, and a steady flow over months often does more than a burst in one week.

A pitch hosts answer

Hosts receive many pitches that are clearly sent to everyone. Yours should be clearly written to one show. Keep it under 200 words:

1. The host's name and a specific episode. "Your conversation with X about Y made me rethink Z."
2. One episode idea for their listeners. Not "I'd love to talk about my book" but "Why most first-time managers delegate the wrong work, and the three-question test that fixes it."
3. Why you. Two or three lines of real experience.
4. The book, briefly. Title, launch date, link to your book page. Offer to send a copy.
5. An easy yes. "If it fits, I'm glad to work around your recording schedule."

Follow up once, about a week later, then move on. A no or no reply is about their calendar as often as your pitch.

Doing the interview well

• Sound matters. A decent USB microphone, headphones and a quiet room make you easier to listen to and more likely to be invited back.
• Bring stories, not a summary. Two or three concrete stories from the book, each with a point the listener can use.
• Give one clear next step. Your book page, with a free resource from the book, is better than "find me everywhere."
• Share it. When the episode airs, send it to your list, post it, and thank the host publicly. Hosts remember guests who promote their show.

Journalists, newspapers and trade press

Podcasts are the most accessible route, but not the only one.

• Journalist request services. Cision permanently discontinued the Connectively (HARO) platform on December 9, 2024. Similar services now connect journalists with expert sources, several with free tiers: Qwoted's basic tier includes a small number of pitches a month, Featured has a free plan, and SourceBottle lets experts create a profile for free. Answer only the requests where you are genuinely the right source.
• Local press. Local papers, business journals, alumni magazines and industry associations like a local author story. Pitch a news angle, not the existence of a book.
• Your trade press. The publications your clients read. Offer an article built from a chapter rather than asking for coverage.
• Trade book reviews. Publishers Weekly and Library Journal want galleys months ahead; see advance readers and reviews.

What most authors get wrong

• Starting in launch week. By then the shows that record ahead are booked.
• Pitching the book instead of an episode. Hosts care about their listeners, not your launch.
• Chasing the biggest shows. A small show your exact reader listens to is worth more than a big one they do not.
• Stopping after launch. Interviews keep selling for as long as you keep doing them.

The launch planner adds podcast and media steps when your goals include speaking, credibility or leads, or you already have an audience, and dates them for your launch.

Scribe Media, which makes this site, sells a podcast PR service to authors it has published. For anyone, the next step can be a free consult.