Help You Find Your Next Favorite Book

My name is Jason A. Meuschke. I'm a thriller author and the host of the Sample Chapter Podcast. It is a weekly show where authors from all genres, and all around the world have a short, casual conversation about their work before reading a "sample chapter" from one of their books.

I'd become a fan of podcasts about three years prior to beginning my own show in 2018. It was a great way for me to learn about topics I was interested in like writing or even bass fishing!

After meeting with a podcaster, my wife encouraged me to give it a try believing I'd be good at it. But what topic?

As it happened, my first book was, at last, coming closer to being published. I'd been considering my options for promoting it when I had the realization that I'm not alone in that. All authors have that same dilemma which is; how do I tell the world about my book? That's when the show format came to me along with the belief that if I put the focus on others, we'll grow together! As the saying goes, "A rising tide raises all ships."

The Sample Chapter Podcast is a weekly show with new episodes airing each Tuesday. I do have a full-time job but fortunately, they are very supportive. They even purchased my first microphone thus becoming a show sponsor!

When I first began, it would take me several hours per episode to prep, record the interview and pre/post-show segments, and edit. Luckily, I had weekends and evenings available to me then to work on it. Over time you improve, learn tricks to better prepare, and perhaps not need to edit as much. Such was the case with me and within my first year, I even moved from a free hosting service to Libsyn. That move was huge for me. Not only did it allow me to produce the show on a more professional level, but it also opened the door for my next sponsor which covers the monthly hosting costs. Of course, none of that would be possible without both my incredible guest authors and the listeners returning each week.

I have both sponsors and affiliates. These are nice in that they cover the hosting costs and a few other minor expenses. I do keep my eye out for other sponsors so long as it is both something that makes sense for the show, and that I believe in.

My process is fairly simple. I used to search out guest authors to join the show but now maybe 70% of them have requested to be a guest, which is nice.

Preparing for each guest author consists of two stages. One is to confirm they actually are an author with a book available to order. Two is to make some basic notes about them, and their book(s) so I have something to fall back on during the interview.

I record through either Zoom or Skype. I edit in Audacity, where I also record my pre/post-show bits. Then it's all uploaded and distributed through Libsyn.

My marketing for the show consists mostly of sharing through social media and by making the show available on all platforms. I use Buffer to pre-load several posts throughout the week. These posts include the current and past episode(s), my sponsors, and reminders of all the places the show is available.

Podcasts are so easy to start that there's one for nearly every subject you can imagine. But doing one about something you're passionate for and staying consistent is what will make you stand out.

Learn more about the show and see the backlist of incredible guest authors at samplechapterpodcast.com. Social media links are listed there as well to follow the show.

Learn more about Jason and his books at jasonameuschke.com.