What better way to stay close to your craft than by listening to a podcast about writing and publishing while you’re on the move. Here are the best podcasts for writers, listed in alphabetical order, as vetted by the Written Word Media Team. Yes, this means we listened to them all to make sure they were deserving of your valuable time 😉
The Author Hangout
Hosted by Shawn Manaher
Description
A podcast designed to help authors, especially self-published and indie authors, with marketing their books and improving their author platform.
Why Authors Will Love It
Perfect for the author who is learning how to market, the interview style of The Author Hangout shares useful, actionable advice in the form of personal stories.
Length
20-25 minutes
Authorpreneur
Hosted by Jim Kukral
Description
Become both an author and an entrepreneur, and navigate the world of self publishing.
Why Authors Will Love It
Being an indie author today, isn’t just about writing and Jim Kukral gets it. Jim explores the different ways authors can make a living through their craft and has great guest speakers to learn from.
Length
35-40 minutes
iTunes
Feed
Website
Bleeding Ink
Hosted by J.S. Leonard
Description
A podcast to take you from writer to published author, from 100 to 1000 daily words, from a nervous wreck to a cool, calm pen-wielding virtuoso who bleeds ink and smiles.
Why Authors Will Love It
Great information from an experienced indie author. Good, sharp questions are given to interesting guests, which provides an entertaining and informative podcast.
Length
45 -60 minutes
The Creative Penn
Hosted by Joanna Penn
Description
Interviews, inspiration, information on writing and creativity, publishing options, book marketing, creative entrepreneurship
Why Authors Will Love It
Joanna is a successful author herself. She is smart, super interested in technology and innovation around publishing and provides an insightful and helpful perspective on self-publishing. Her guests are heavy-hitters in the industry: Russell Blake, Mark Coker, Jane Friedman, to name a few. A must-listen for writers on all ends of the spectrum.
Length
60 minutes
The Dead Robots’ Society
Hosted by Paul Elard Cooley and Terry Mixon
Description
A podcast by aspiring writers, for aspiring writers, offering useful advice and intriguing stories.
Why Authors Will Love It
Listening to The Dead Robots’ Society is kind of like going to the bar with your writing buddies and chatting for an hour. It very low key, very accessible, but makes sure to talk about the important trends and stories in the independent author world, and offering helpful advice for every step of the writing journey.
Length
45-60 minutes
Helping Writers Become Authors
Hosted by K.M. Weiland
Description
K.M. Weiland is an award winning and internationally published author who also spends her time mentoring perspective authors. Helping Writers Become Authors is where she shares her story outlining and structuring advice.
Why Authors Will Love It
Helping Writers Become Authors is pleasantly bite sized writing advice. With over 300 episodes, K.M. offers a easy to understand, well researched advice on story outlining, writing, and structure that is useful for the beginner, and the professional looking to hone their craft.
Length
10-15 minutes
Kobo Writer’s Life Podcast
Hosted by Mark Lefebvre and Christine Munro
Description
A podcast about the craft of writing, the business of writing, digital publishing, self-publishing and traditional publishing
Why Authors Will Love It
With over 50 episodes to choose from, Kobo Writing Life’s podcasts are timeless in their appeal and information. Christine and Mark interview bestselling indie authors (Barbara Freethy, Michael Connelly, Marie Force) and industry professionals that help you understand the services and communities that exist for indie authors (Wattpad, IBPA, NaNoWrim0).
Length
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/kobo-writing-life-podcast/id672421253?mt=2
http://kobowritinglife.com/category/kwl-podcast/
The Self Publishing Podcast
Hosted by Sean Platt, David Wright, Johnny B. Truant
Description
3 guys giving advice on how to navigate self-publishing, speaking from their own experience, as well as interviewing relevant guests from the industry.
Why Authors Will Love It
Informative with great guests, but overall personable and fun. Listeners will come away from this podcast energized and with tangible takeaways.
Length
About an hour
Self Publishing Roundtable
Hosted by Erica Conroy, Wade Finnegan, Liam Kingman, Xavier Granville
Description
A weekly podcast by indie writers, for indie writers. Interviewing biggest names in self publishing to help you sell more books.
Why Authors Will Love It
Self Publishing Round Table is wonderfully conversational, and wicked smart. It isn’t a structured interview, instead conversation flows through a plethora of helpful topics, from marketing to writing tips.
Length
60 minutes
https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/self-publishing-roundtable/id834767711?mt=2
http://selfpublishingroundtable.com/feed/podcast/
Writing Excuses
Hosted by Brandon Sanderson, Mary Robinette Kowal, Howard Tayler, and Dan Wells
Description
While the podcast began with a few random episodes in its first season, in the last few seasons they’ve structured their content around a theme.
Why Authors Will Love It
These are big industry names with a thorough understanding of storytelling and the ability to share it. While they do have guests from time to time, the hosts have enough know how to share insights on a regular basis. Accompanying each episode is a writing prompt and an audiobook to listen to. Really, what’s not to love?
Length
About 20 minutes
View Comments (4)
Oh no! You missed two of my favorites: Grammar Girl and the Classic Tales Podcast. The first is about the nuts and bolts of writing well. The second is an enjoyable way to listen to literary classics and learn from the.best of the past.
For those writing in English, I'd also add Kevin Stroud's, five-star-rated The History of English podcast. The emotional feel of words is shaped, even today, by their historical roots. This will teach you those roots and make you a better writer.
Thanks Michael - We plan to update the list every few months and we'll make sure to give your suggestions a listen on the next go-around.
Awesome list. There are a couple I didn't know about and I'm excited to add them to my list. I also enjoy Smart Bitches Trashy Books. There's also First Draught Writing, but both those podcasts focus mostly on the genre of romance. I think First Draught is an awesome podcast, but I may be biased since I'm one of the hosts!
Things change quickly these days and Self Publishing Round Table has folded. One of the new kids on the block is Mark Dawson's Self Publishing Formula, which manages to be entertaining and useful.