Ramblings and messy analyses of books, with lots and lots of sidetracking, provided to you by a geek and book fanatic.

Hey everyone, my name is Silke and I host Just Another Bookish Podcast which is, as the title implies, a book podcast. It is a solo podcast, so you're just listening to a girl talking to her microphone. I discuss books I read. It was supposed to be biweekly, but I just don't usually read books fast enough to get the episodes ready in time (really, how do people read multiple books a week?). I believe the majority of podcast episodes are about fantasy books at the moment, because that is what I read most, but I try to branch out and tackle other genres as well. I've also covered a manga series in episode 4 and 5.

At the moment, most of my listeners are from Belgium, since they are either family or people I know through Bookstagram. However, about 21% of the audience is from the United States (I have no idea who you are, but thank you for listening. I hope you enjoy it). And then there are lots of countries where there's less-than-one-percent of the audience according to the statistics. They're probably all people that enjoy books.
 

Why do I podcast? Well, I kind of started this to be able to speak about books without boring everyone around me. I tend to go on and on about books, and people simply don't have the time or energy to listen to all of that. So, I created a podcast because I can't exactly start talking to myself and the microphone is an excuse. I did already listen to a lot of podcasts when I started my own, although I'd only listened for four years. I've used them as a way to practice listening comprehension in languages I'm learning. There is also my favourite one, a paranormal comedy podcast that discusses all kinds of paranormal phenomena and creatures (I love paranormal fantasy and horror, so that show is just perfect). Oh and I could go on, but this will get too long.
My motivations for this podcast? Well, speaking about books, improving my English, and it just seemed fun to try. I've had to do it in school on multiple occasions and liked it.

I started JABP back in 2023. Late October I decided I was going to do this, bought a really cheap microphone that I didn't know how to use until episode five, skimmed through a book (now I really read them cover to cover, but I wanted to get to recording fast on the first one and had already read it once), took notes, and recorded the first episode, as well as an introduction I should redo, because I'm sure things have changed. Introduction was released some days after recording, on October 29, and Episode One released on October 31. That last date was chosen on purpose. I've mentioned I love horror, and it was that time of year, so I looked for a horror book and vowed to discuss one every anniversary of the podcast. So, my first episodes were really just impulsive, and in hindsight I should probably have edited more and actually read the book to get the content right, but I believe that's good in the recent episodes.
 

I tried to release episodes every two weeks, but that keeps being more difficult than I think. Usually there's an episode every three weeks to a month. Producing an episode really only takes four hours, usually, but I have to read the book, which takes longer, and then get myself to record and edit the episode. I'm a really good procrastinator. For example, there's a recorded episode that I really only have to edit anymore, but it's been sitting in my file folder for weeks now. So, in practice, I have a monthly podcast, but I will keep producing episodes.

Finding time for podcasting is just reading and always making notes, either on my phone or on a stray piece of paper. Or in the notebook I keep losing, which has led to improvised topics with different notes. The recording is usually done on the weekends or on an evening when I find the time. Same for editing. Usually the episode is released less than an hour after editing is finished.

Yes, I fund the podcast myself. I use the hosting platform on Spotify, and didn't spend money on that. Editing is done in Audacity, the free version, which I find sufficient. The marketing team is me and my social media accounts. Most of those things don't cost anything except power for my laptop's battery. The real expenses are the books, my microphone and my headphones.
 

I don't gain anything from the podcast financially, because I don't think it's right to do so with my topic. I talk about other peoples' books, so it wouldn't sit right with me if I earned money from that. This is a hobby.

I did, however, manage to find a place in the Bookstagram community and discovered a lot of new authors through my account. I've met some wonderful local authors and got to participate in blog tours for books, which really is a nice experience!
 

I think I already answered this in a different question... oops. First I read books and take notes, this has become really structured since I know what I want to do in the podcast, and has made me more aware of what I'm reading. Then, I procrastinate, and get myself to record the episode, which I do with Audacity. The microphone I use is the Nor-Tec Streaming Microphone, which I recommend (but it is very sensitive to background noise, so be prepared to apply filters to fix the random footsteps you didn't hear while recording). More procrastination leads to editing, also on Audacity. I cringe at my own voice, get over it and then enhance my audio via three settings (background noise removal, loudness normalisation and sometimes compressor). The mp3 file then gets uploaded to the platform and I fill in all the details and click a few buttons. That's it.

I've only done one interview, with Eva Linden, a Belgian fantasy author, about an anthology she worked on. This was part of the blogtour and I proposed the interview. Other guests will probably just be found through the Bookstagram. I hope to get in touch with more (local) authors and get to talk to them. It's always very interesting to learn about the writers. That interview was done online, via Discord. It's just easier to find a moment where everyone is available when you don't need to drive around.
 

Listeners mostly find the show via Spotify, about 53%. 30% of people listen via web browser, a category which I believe contains multiple platforms. And the other 17% uses a bunch of different podcasting platforms. There are a lot of people that follow the Bookstagram account that is actually the podcast account, but with extra reviews or random bookish posts. Most of them don't listen, though. I personally know loads of people that just don't like listening to podcasts, so that actually doesn't surprise me that much.

I personally find Instagram to be the most useful marketing tool, since I'm just the most active there (yes, I'll admit it, I'm a little bit addicted to Reels). It's also just easy to stay in contact with other people in the bookish community. I have an email address, but so far there's no mailing list because I just know procrastination will make that difficult (and I honestly don't know what to put in it).
 

BE PREPARED TO CUT HALF OF YOUR RECORDING. I do this almost every time because I ramble too much, or since my notes are on paper, I can't read my handwriting. Don't feel discouraged, though. It's just part of the process, and you'll see it goes better the longer you podcast. Also, check your audio channels before hitting 'record' to make sure your microphone is the way you record (I was oblivious to this and am stuck with bad audio on my first episodes, not a good way to attract new listeners.)

Also, chill. Like, I know it's overwhelming, but don't take it too seriously. If you're starting out, it's not supposed to be perfect. You'll figure out what you want to do along the way. I've changed the format of my episodes over time because it suited me better. Don't feel like you need to stick to what you started with (but of course keep the subject relatively the same, or otherwise just start a new podcast).

Oh, and if you feel like talking to a microphone on your own is strange, don't take it too seriously. That's part of the process.
 

Sooo, the socials. Are Y'all prepared for the outro? You can find Just Another Bookish Podcast on Instagram, I'm @justanotherbookishpodcast all in lowercase letters. Facebook and YouTube are Just Another Bookish Podcast, in four words, each with a capital letter, the same as on all podcasting platforms. The email address is justanotherbookishpodcast@gmail.com all lowercase letters, all in one word. No website (yet) and no payment services. Thank you for reading this interview, and most important: keep reading! :)