Do you ever listen to podcasts (or audio books)? I normally prefer to read, but I find podcasts are great for popping on while doing the dishes!
There are a few different writing-related ones I've listened to over the past couple of years, but these are my three long-term
favourites ... and I thought you might enjoy them too.
#1: Michael Hyatt's "This is Your Life" (weekly, with breaks between seasons)
Michael's podcast, hosted by Michelle Cushatt, is always encouraging and practical. Michael covers a broad range of topics, related to leadership and platform-building, in a structured, semi-scripted format where Michelle asks questions that Michael answers.
At first glance,
his podcast might not seem to have much to do with writing -- but if you're aiming to build an audience, or if you're running a writing business, you'll find there's a huge amount of value here.
Episodes normally run to 30 minutes (which is about perfect for my attention span!) and are flawlessly produced, with excellent audio. Each episode has a complete transcript that you can download, too.
Some of my recent favourite episodes
are:
- 8 Secrets to Escape the Overwhelm (Season 8, Episode 10)
- How to Conquer Your Email Inbox (Season 8, Episode 5)
- My Top 10 Productivity Hacks (Season 7, Episode 9)
If you're a new-ish or would-be blogger, you'll also want to check out:
- My Advice to New Bloggers (Season 7, Episode
12)
- How to Quickly Create Killer Blog Posts (Season 8, Episode 11)
#2: The Creative Penn Podcast (weekly)
Joanna Penn is a prolific and successful author, with well over a dozen self-published books to her name. Her podcast is both inspiring and informative, and normally involves an interview with an author. She normally starts each episode with an update about her own writing life and about the
world of publishing (particularly self-publishing) in general.
It's a great podcast for writers, particularly self-publishing fiction writers ... but do dig back in the archives as there are lots of non-fiction interviews too.
Episodes can be fairly long, often up to an hour, so I normally end up splitting them across several listening sessions. There are also transcripts of the interviews (though not Joanna's intro sections) if you prefer to
read.
Some of my recent favourite episodes are:
- How to Sell 2 Million Self-Published Books with Rachel Abbott (Episode #284)
- How to Write Memorable Characters With Jen Blood (Episode #281)
- Self Care and Productivity for Authors With Ellen Bard (Episode #280)
#3: The ProBlogger Podcast (twice weekly)
Darren Rowse's ProBlogger podcast covers anything blogging-related,
often with lots of practicable and actionable tips. Sometimes, the podcast includes an interview with a blogger / online entrepreneur, or a pre-recorded segment from someone else.
It's aimed at new to intermediate bloggers, but even if (like me) you've been around the blogging world a while, you'll pick up some handy tips. Darren is always positive, and even though he's now a hugely successful figure in the world of blogging, he is very
down-to-earth.
Episodes are generally concise, around 15 - 25 minutes: they tend to be packed with information and have very little "fluff".
Some of my recent favourite episodes are:
- 3 Things Most Bloggers Don't Pay Enough Attention To (Episode #161)
- Feeling Stuck? Here's How to Get Moving again (Episode #158)
- Juggling Family Life and Blogging? Here's Some Tips on Getting The Balance Right (Episode
#148)
If you enjoy one of these podcasts, do let me know -- or tell me what your current favourite is!
