5 Podcasts I Recommend to Writers
Regardless of where you are in your publishing career, here are 5 podcasts that will teach you, inspire you, and uplift you.
Happy New Year! For our first week back in the office, I’m keeping it light and simple. This week’s blog post is all about listening for a change! Here are five podcasts I recommend to writers. Whether you’ve published 5 books or you’re editing your first draft. these podcasts will be worth the listen:
1: Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses is a fantastic toolkit with a wealth of information! AND they title their episodes SO clearly that you can easily search for something like “writing tension” or “conflict” when you need to. I also love the length of these episodes. I’m a huge fan of episodes that are less than an hour. These are usually around 20 minutes. Are you kidding me?!?! I love that! Sometimes I want to listen in one go and I don’t have that much time or focus to spare. It’s currently hosted by writers Dan Wells, Erin Roberts, Howard Tayler, Mary Robinette Kowal, and literary agent DongWon Song. Brandon Sanderson was previously one of the hosts up until Season 18.
2: On Being with krista tippett
This podcast is so inspirational and meditative. I love thinking about art and literature as an almost spiritual experience and this podcast gets at that feeling. I cannot recommend it enough. My favorite episode is the one with John O’Donohue, which you can listen to here. I revisit this episode about once a year. It’s THAT good. I also love the episode with Ocean Vuong. Krista Tippett is a master interviewer and conversationalist. I’d listen to her talk to anyone!
3: Publishing Rodeo
This is a great podcast for conversations on the publishing industry. It’s hosted by authors Sunyi Dean and Scott Drakeford and they bring on some publishing guests too. I’ve linked to episodes of their podcast in my newsletter before! It’s got great episodes on the state of the publishing industry, the business of being an author, and the literary market.
4: The Shit No One Tells You About Writing
A lot of what I’ve learned about agenting, I’ve learned from my colleagues Carly Watters and CeCe Lyra. Lucky for all of us, Carly and CeCe love sharing their knowledge! They co-host this podcast with author Bianca Maira, who is also a fantastic storyteller and skilled interviewer. TSNOTYAW has a segment called Books with Hooks which is especially useful for querying authors. They also interview authors about various aspects of storytelling and their publishing journey. If you somehow haven’t heard of this podcast, you’ve either been living under a rock or you’re about to get the sweetest treat. This podcast will make you a better writer!
5: Creative Pep Talk
Creative industries are hard and emotionally laborious, and also very rewarding and wonderful. This podcast is for all of those feelings. And who doesn’t need a pep talk? I also love that it’s not just focused on publishing or literature! It’s hosted by author-illustrator Andy J. Pizza, and he brings so much light and warmth to each episode.
I can’t claim to have listened to every single episode of these podcasts, but I can tell you this: I’ve listened to many hours of each of these, and some of these were on my Spotify wrapped for 2024. Happy listening!
