by Alexandra Amor  on The Creative Penn:

As an independent author, you’re probably always looking for opportunities to increase visibility for your books. One way to do this is by approaching podcast hosts who are looking for guests to have on their shows.

The number and quality of podcasts grows each month, and as we increasingly become a culture that has audio available to us all the time via all the devices at our fingertips, the demand for shows – and therefore guests – also grows.

As a podcast host myself, and someone who’s always on the lookout for new guests for my show, I’ve seen that authors sometimes struggle with the idea of being on a podcast. They are either intimidated by the technology, or aren’t familiar with how podcasts work, or are nervous about speaking ‘on the air’.

However, when you’re a skilled and confident podcast guest, it’s a win for everyone: for your host, who wants to have a good show; for readers looking for new books like yours; and for you, the author, who is getting the word out about your books.

My intention with this article is to empower you to be an effective podcast guest.

Before we talk about how to be an effective guest on a podcast, let’s quickly cover why you might want to embrace this marketing strategy:

Advantages to being a podcast guest