How to Turn Your Podcast Into a Book

There are a couple of methods you can use to determine how to turn your podcast into a book. The one I’ll discuss today is how to turn one of your own podcast guest episodes into an interview-style book.

The place I recommend your publish both the print and ebook versions of your book in on Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing platform.  Generally, I find Amazon easy to use and work with, and as a print-on-demand publisher, you can order as many print copies of your book as you need without having to stockpile them in your garage.

To publish an ebook on Kindle, you need at least 3500 words, although I would recommend at least 5000 words. A 20-30 minute interview will typically yield enough content for a Kindle book. An ebook doesn’t have traditional pages, as the layout of the book for reading depends greatly on the device on which the book is read.

To publish a print book on Amazon, the minimum page count is 24 pages, a 60-minute interview will typically fulfill the minimum page requirement for a print book.

Here are a couple of examples of books that have been printed from podcast interviews:

• Setema Gali – Real Radical Results For Life, Business, Relationships & Spirituality 
• Chad Hamzeh – Fast Track New Customers and Sales with Paid Online Advertising 
• Darren Casey – Body Transformation For Elite Entrepreneurs

Here are the steps you need to follow to turn your podcast into a book:

1. Podcast episode: Review your guest episodes and find one that will fulfill the minimum word or page requirements to print on the Amazon platform.

2. Transcript: The first step in converting the audio to text is to have it transcribed.  You can use an artificial intelligence platform like Temi.com, which charges 10 cents per audio minute as of this writing. However, I prefer to go with a human transcriptionist, as I have to make fewer corrections to the transcript. I recommend ZoomScribe, which charges 97 cents per audio minute as of this writing. If you want to do almost no editing at all, try MagicScript.com, which charges $2.50 for an audio minute for immediate turnaround. Their price-per-minute decreases if you can wait longer for your transcription.

3. Add-on Pages: You will need to create a copyright page, a dedication page (optional), an About the Author page, and a call to action page(s) to include in your book. 

4. Formatting: Amazon provides Word templates for both print and ebook formatting. For a print book, you will need to determine the trim size. The most popular trim size for this type of book is 5”x 8”.  The easiest way to format this book is as an interview so that it reads in the same way it was recorded.

Example:

Interviewer: Tell us about your business.

Guest Name: Well, I have been in business for 20 years and have two degrees in my field. 

6. Back Matter: If you are creating a print book, you will need to write the back matter for the book. This is the description of the book that a reader will see when turning your book to view the back cover. Typically this will be a 200-300 word description of your book, along with a short author bio and photo.

7.  Book Title: Book titles are key selling points for your books. Do some keyword research on your topic and see the phrases that rank on page one of Google. You may want to name your book similarly to one of those phrases, as in many cases, a Google search for a term will return a book on Amazon with a similar name.

8. Book Cover: If you are publishing only an ebook, you can take a look at other covers in your genre and see what appeals to you. You may choose to have your headshot be on the cover of the book. Your cover designer will want some ideas of images you want to use on the front cover as well as covers. If you are publishing a print book as well, the designer will need to know the trim size as well as the final number of pages in the book in order to design a cover that is the correct size.

9. Book submission: Once you have the completed book and cover(s) in hand, you can begin the submission process at Amazon. With the KDP platform, it’s pretty seamless to turn the print formatting of your book into the Kindle format once you have completed the print book process. It’s not essential to have an ISBN number for your ebook, as Amazon does not require that. Amazon will also give you a free ISBN for your print book, but you can use that only to print on Amazon. For this process, you’ll also need a book description and have in mind the price you want to charge for your book.

10. Proof copy: Once you have entered all of the information on Amazon, you’ll be asked to purchase a proof copy of your print book. 

11. Approval: If you’re just printing to Kindle, your submission will go through an approval process that takes 24-72 hours. You’ll get an email notification when your book is available for sale or if they require you to make any changes.

For a print book, you’ll need to update any issues you found in your proof copy and then submit the book for approval on Amazon. You’ll get an email notification when your book is available for sale or if they require you to make any changes. With print books, their instructions are often not as detailed as needed, so you may need to chat with a KDP representative for additional clarification.

Once your book has been approved, you can purchase a copy on the Kindle marketplace or purchase and send digital copies to family, colleagues, clients, etc. For print books, you’ll be able to order print copies at Amazon’s wholesale pricing, usually priced at $2-$3 per printed book.

Let your podcast guest episodes work double-duty for you by turning them into your own book!

If the learning curve seems too steep for you, I’ll be happy to help you format your podcast interview into a book.

The first step is to visit my online calendar and set up your customized and complimentary Book Profit Sparker Plan call. After completing some necessary information on this form, you will be sent to my online calendar to schedule your session.

Or, if you’d like to be interviewed for my podcast show, Main Street Mavericks, apply here.