If, like me, you are a book lover, then you’ll know that there are books that are more than mere books. There are books that shift us, transform us, awaken us. Did you know that you can use your podcast to create valuable content for a book? In this blog, I draw on my own experience, having published two bestselling books, to help deconstruct the ways in which you can turn your podcast into a bestselling book.
So how can use your podcast to create your bestselling book? Over the years, we have had many clients come to us, at The Podcast Agency, to discuss launching their podcast. They are normally on that precipice of do I write my book first, or do I do my podcast first? What do I always say to them? Build your podcast audience first! You are then creating an audience for your book. The added benefit of this is that if you’re super savvy about the episodes that you create for your podcast, it is easy and straightforward to turn your episodes into content for your book.
Why should you turn your podcast into a book?
1. Reach new audiences. Writing a book could be just the marketing strategy your podcast needs to catapult you towards new heights.
2. Strengthen your credibility. Alongside your podcast, a book would position yourself as even more of an expert authority within your field.
3. Already half way there. Your podcast is your content, simple!
4. Offer more to your current audience. Building your listenership is vital to driving sales, so why not give them a head start in reading your new book.
5. Why not? Publishing is more accessible than ever before. As you will read below, it is super easy. You already have the content there with your podcast, it’s all about maximising it.
3 steps to turn your podcast into your bestselling book:
1. Transcribe your podcast episodes
I would highly recommend using Otter which converts your speech into a written or electronic text document. It is super fast and very accurate. I am by no means saying that you create a podcast episode and just transcribe it. That isn’t the level and depth of how content is delivered in a written book. The format is much more sophisticated than the way we naturally speak. Things that we are very forgiving and understanding of in spoken word, we are often most unforgiving of in the written format. Once you have transcribed the episodes, print them off and go through them, thinking about the message that you want for your particular book. This will allow you to whittle it down to sentences that makes sense.
2. Send it over to a good ghost writer or copywriter
Once you have transcribed your episodes you can then send over the first draft to a ghost writer or copywriter. Using their skill set, they can turn your transcription into a valuable, well-written book. You can stay focused on delivering your content, whilst allowing somebody else to transform the transcribed content into a powerful medium. The whole point of using your podcast first is that it’s very much your style and manner of speaking. This is what I have done for both my books ‘Get Visible’ and ‘Podcast With Impact’.
3. Notice what is missing from your first draft
When reading the first draft of my books, I realised I had no case studies or exercises included. For these case studies, I would then bring guests or previous clients on the show and again, we went through the same process. However, we were really aware where those testimonials or case studies might fit within the book. Case studies are a great way to build trust, credibility, humanise your brand and ultimately bring in more sales.
The podcast and the book become a cohesive message that is incredibly powerful for bringing people into your world. You can speed up both processes by speaking your book out loud and thinking about each episode that you deliver as a chapter in its own right.
Are you looking for full support with publishing a book?
We can help you to write a book without any fuss, using your podcast as the foundation of your bestseller, to turn it into a quality book in your own words. Let me introduce you to our Podcast Book Package.
This process streamlines the entire book creation, meaning that you get to focus on the income generating parts of your business, whilst we focus on transforming your words into a quality book. We work with an experienced team of formatters and designers to bring your book to a quality product you can be proud of, and submit to all the major book retailers for distribution.
Discover more about our essential Podcast Book Package here