A Podcast About Australian Women Writers

My name is Rosemary Puddy and I am the presenter of a weekly podcast called The Book Podcast, talking with Australian Women Writers of fiction and non-fiction. My listeners are predominately women (F80%/M20%) who live in Australia. I also have listeners in Ireland, Canada, USA, New Zealand and South Africa. 

My podcast started 16 months ago. After a short time presenting a book club program on community radio, I realised that podcasting would enable me to reach a larger audience. I read an article about The Stella Prize, which is an organisation that encourages and promotes Australian Women Writers, and decided that this was my focus. Australian women writers were poorly represented in the media at that time so my goal was to recognise and promote these talented women.

It took about 6 weeks of planning, reading and interviewing before I released my first episode.

I listen to other podcasts, mainly interview-style shows, Australian true crime, Science and the TED radio hour.

I release a new episode every week. I have released 72 episodes so far. Producing the podcast takes about 2 - 3 hours just for the editing process. Contacting publishers and authors, reading the books, and interviewing takes a lot more time. I probably spend 3 - 4 full days on the podcast, which includes social media and marketing. I am retired and the podcast is self funded.

I do not make any money from the podcast, so no sponsorship, it is a labour of love!

I enjoy talking to these talented women and have met up with a number of them at writers festivals and bookshop events. I learn so much about resilience, facts, science, and life experiences from their books and their personal stories. Books are just a magic space to fall into.

My set up is simple, just me, an Audio Technica microphone and headphones and a iMac computer. I use Skype as it allows me to record the interview and then I edit with Audacity.

Publishers send me their new book releases and the author's publicist contact me to set up interviews. For each episode I read the book, research any information about it on the internet including other interviews, to enable me to ask different or more detailed questions, I then compile a list of questions. The interview usually takes 20 - 40 minutes.

I have Facebook, Instagram, & Twitter accounts and the podcast is available on iTunes, Stitcher, TuneIn and a number of other directories. Most of my listeners come from iTunes (70%) and the rest from my website.

I get the best feedback and listener uptake from my Instagram account.

When starting a podcast, treat it like a start-up business. It takes far more time and effort than you initially think it will and learn as much as you can about getting your audio as good as it can be, it makes a world of difference.

I regularly search blogs and podcasts for ways to improve my podcast.

Information about me and the podcast are on my website thebookpodcast.com. I'm on social media Facebook, Instagram & Twitter as thebookpodcast