I. Love. Podcasts.

I listen to them while I'm cleaning, while I'm driving, while I'm walking, while I'm working on DIY projects. There's a podcast for EVERY topic out there, and the ones I love the most are ones all about self-improvement, writing, and publishing.

My obsession with podcasts has even leaked over to my husband, Steven, who enjoys political podcasts (ew...but there's something for everyone!).

What is a podcast and why do I love it so much?

A podcast is much like an instructional YouTube video, just without the video. Each channel is typically focused around one objective, and allows you to listen to its content without feeling obligated to watch a video.

Although it’s like comparing apples to oranges, I would say that podcasts offer even better content than YouTube does.

*gasp* Treasonous I know, because it sounds like I’m collectively putting down all the instructional YouTube videos. But I’m not.

The great thing about podcasts is that there’s a saturated market for this content that YouTube hasn’t quite caught up to -- at least in terms of self-improvement, self-publishing, and business tips. And that’s just my opinion, I’m sure it’s a debatable topic.

I have learned so much since I started listening to podcasts, and I wanted to give you all my top recommendations to get you started.

Shameless plug here: I now have my own podcast! Since writing this post, I've fallen so far in love with podcasts that I decided to make my own - The Happy Writing Podcast. Go give it a listen!

So here are my current favorite podcasts for improving your author business!

I know I just talked all about instructional podcasts, but I wanted to start with something a lot of us can benefit from, even those that don’t think they need it (myself included until a few weeks ago).

I’m motivated by hearing of other people’s successes, and then inspired by them detailing exactly what they did to get where they are.

Two that I really enjoy listening to are Chalene Johnson’s Build Your Tribe, and Lewis Howe’s The School of Greatness.

Both cast a wide net into the entrepreneur pool, with guests that made it big in anything from etsy to dog walking, or those that went on to become celebrities. Not only do they have business tips from these guests, but they also remind you how important mental and emotional self-care is while reaching for the crazy entrepreneurial stars.

Before you think someone who made it big by selling online courses can’t teach you anything, they also had to market what they were selling. Not only are their stories inspiring, but you can learn a thing or two about marketing while listening!

Sometimes I can fall into a negative mindset, so podcasts like these help me refocus my intentions and remind me to be a more gracious person.

Now to the nitty-gritty. I’m going to cover three different podcasts in this category, and tell you why I think they’ll help you with the business side of writing books.

First up is Amy Porterfield’s Online Marketing Made Easy. As her podcast title suggests, Amy covers any and all information related to marketing and building your business. Seriously, one of my absolute faves!

She has about 170 shows, so there’s plenty of information to keep you busy! Every time I scroll through her shows, I had another chunk to my playlist.

Jenna Kutcher’s The Goal Digger Podcast. Jenna has a great show on Pinterest that blew me away! I never thought of Pinterest as a search engine, and really only saw it as a social media platform.

I have some work to do now on my Pinterest page! She has tons of great shows on marketing and social media, so I highly recommend giving her a listen!

The Marie Forleo Podcast. If you’re looking for shorter, but effective episodes, look no further.

...I felt like a car salesman saying it like that.

While she does have longer episodes with guests, her original content is typically about 5-9 minutes long. Each one packs a punch, and I love spacing these out between the longer episodes from some of the other shows for a bit of a break. Marie’s podcast is business-centered, but looks at it from a mindset perspective.

At this point, I’m realizing I have a lot of female podcasters on this list…

I might need some recommendations from you guys to fix this!

I have two favorites in this category and they’re honestly what got me into podcasts in the first place (thanks Kristen Martin for your suggestions!).

Carrie Green’s She Means Business. This girl! Although her show seems relatively new, she’s had some amazing guests on her show and just gets you pumped about taking over the world. I always think it’s so inspiring to see other females *making* the lives they want to live, and being so positive about it!

Cara Alwill Leyba’s Style Your Mind. You may have heard of her books The Champagne Diet and Girl Code. If you want life-advice with a minor in business, then subscribe to her show! Her favorite quote of mine, “I always say listen to your gut, that b*tch knows what’s up!”

Shout-out here to Kristen Martin, as she now has her own podcasting show That Smart Hustle, and is also so inspiring, and so awesome because we’re all friends with her (and if you’re not then...what the hell), and she has tons of useful advice. She is so productive and listening to her podcasts is like an espresso shot of get-your-life-together-so-you-can-achieve-your goals.

Give her a listen!

I’m all about any self-publishing podcast I can get my hands on (some also simultaneously post to YouTube, so you can watch most of their content there as well).

Joanna Penn’s The Creative Penn. She is the Queen of Self-publishing in my mind. She’s the first resource that I found online that really opened my eyes up to self-publishing as a viable option. Without her, I think it would have taken me many more years to find my way, and be confident enough to pursue self-publishing. She’s also great at interviewing people and has a wonderful voice and accent you could listen to all day!

Mark Dawson’s Self-Publishing Formula (recently rebranded as The Self-Publishing Show Podcast). I only started listening to this show a couple months ago, so I’m relatively new. I love that we hear from someone experienced in the business and someone brand new--together it seems they’re able to come up with awesome questions for their guests and Mark Dawson is just a beast when it comes to marketing!

Science Fiction & Fantasy Marketing Podcast. There are three hosts to this show: Lindsay Buroker, Joe Lallo, and Jeff M. Poole.

When I first started watching their YT shows, I had an introverted-fear of their interviews being awkward since there’s three of them (you know, the awkward pauses or interruptions that can happen on conference calls...someone tell me you know what I’m talking about). But they all make an excellent team with helpful information that applies to more genres than just sci-fi and fantasy.

Those are my podcasting favorites at the moment! Let me know what you’re listening to and shoot me some suggestions while you’re at it. Like I said, I’m addicted to podcasts now.

Happy Writing (and listening)!