So You Want to Start a Podcast: Finding Your Voice, Telling Your Story, and Building a Community That Will Listen

An inspiring, comprehensive, step-by-step guide to creating a hit show, So You Want to Start a Podcast covers everything from hosting and guest booking to podcast editing and marketing - while offering plenty of encouragement and insider stories along the way.

Though they are the fastest-growing form of media, podcasts can actually be tricky to create—and even harder to sustain. Few know the secrets of successfully creating a knockout podcast better than Kristen Meinzer. An award-winning commentator, producer, and former director of nonfiction programming for Slate’s sister company, Panoply, Meinzer has also hosted three successful podcasts, reaching more than ten million listeners. Now, she shares her expertise, providing aspiring podcasters with crucial information and guidance for their content creation journey to work smarter, not harder as they start their own audio forum.

Meinzer believes that we each have a unique voice that deserves to be heard. But many of us may need some help transforming our ideas into reality. So You Want to Start a Podcast asks the tough but important questions to help budding podcasters define and achieve their goals, including:

Why do you want to start a podcast?
Think about specifically why you want to start a podcast versus a blog, zine, YouTube channel, Instagram feed, or other media outlet. Find out if a podcast is really the best way to tell your story—and what you really need (and don’t need!) in order to get started.

What is your show about?
For any advertiser, corporate partner, or press outlet, you need a snappy pitch. How would you describe what you want to do in two to three sentences?

Who is your podcast for?
Who are you trying to reach? How will your content and tone appeal to those listeners?

How is your show going to be structured?
Create a step-by-step map planning the show out. Think about length, segments, interviews, advice, news reads, and other aspects of successful podcasts you can adapt for your own.

With this motivational how-to guide—the only one on the subject available—you’ll find the smart, bottom-line advice and inspiration you need to produce an entertaining and informative podcast and build community with an audience that will love it. So You Want to Start a Podcast gives you the tools you need to find your voice, start a podcast—and the insight to keep it thriving!

Kristen Meinzer is a podcast host, producer, and former director of nonfiction programming for Slate’s sister company, Panoply. Her hosting credits include Stitcher/Panoply’s By the Book, Stitcher’s We Love You (And So Can You), CNN’s Decades of Movies podcast, Panoply’s When Meghan Met Harry, and WNYC/PRI’s Movie Date. Her producing credits include Happier with Gretchen Rubin, The Sporkful, Food 52’s Burnt Toast, Girlboss Radio, and other award-winning shows. Kristen’s work has been celebrated in Time, the Washington Post, Bust, Buzzfeed, the Evening Standard, Real Simple, Indiewire, and dozens of other publications. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.