Recommended Podcasts for Writers

The following recommendations are from readers of my Electric Speed newsletter, collected in May 2022.

  • CreateIf Writing is a fantastic writing podcast for indie writers. —Libby Broadbent
  • Lately, I’ve been listening to The Shit No One Tells You About Writing, The Secret Library Podcast, Write About Now, The Writer Files. My favorite is Let’s Talk Memoir —Lindsa Castronovo
  • I have so MANY podcasts downloaded, but two I’ll mention are the Words and Nerds podcast with its focus on Australian books, and especially its many live author interviews at writers festivals, and the How Travel Writers Self-Publish podcast which has heaps of great advice for travel writers, whether indie or traditionally published. —Sally Jane Smith
  • Bestsellers: It’s two English entertainment journalists interviewing the bestselling fiction writers of our time, and they talk about process in a very detailed, nerdy way, so you learn which film adaptations Jodi Picoult is still pissed about, and how Taylor Jenkins Reid went from teaching school to moving a gazillion copies a week. Great stuff. —Cat Baab-Muguira
  • My favorite writing-related podcast is The Storyteller’s Mission by Zena Dell Lowe. She hails from Hollywood and has a lot of fantastic insight into storytelling from a screenplay perspective that’s incredibly helpful for any story writer. —Brandy Brow
  • My favourite writing related podcast is One More Page. Informative, entertaining, addictive. It’s all about writing for children. Three wonderful hosts, amazing author interviews and segments with the kids themselves taking over. —Lynelle Kendall
  • I’m a big fan of Writing Excuses because it’s all about craft. I’ve also been listening to The Creative Penn for many years—probably the longest of any podcast in my list. I also host a podcast, My Imaginary Friends, about the writing life. —Leslye Penelope
  • Create Out Loud with Jennifer Louden (she has great guests with lots of inspiration on creativity and writing), and Write Minded with Brooke Warner and Grant Faulkner (short episodes packed full of great stuff for writers). —Deborah Svec-Carstens
  • For readers, I highly recommend the Currently Reading podcast. It isn’t about writing, but the way the ladies discuss books is very helpful to an author curious to understand what makes readers turn the pages. —Libby Broadbent
  • I’m probably not the only one but my favourite writing/writer related podcasts are David Naimon’s Between the Covers (Tin House podcast), Rachel Zucker’s Commonplace, Joanna Penn’s podcast and Becca Syme’s Quitcast. —Martine van Bijlert
  • Hands-down winner is Longform. Though the interviewees are predominantly journalists, the interviews are valuable for all kinds of writing. Interviews are content-focused (not book-sale focused) and the three rotating interviewers are superbly prepared. —Marsha
  • My favourite writing related podcast is The Bestseller Experiment. I like the (very British) sense of humour and they’ve built a lovely and supportive community around it. I also like The Creative Penn podcast for solid, practical marketing advice. —Jeevani Charika
  • The Story Makers Show, run by Elizabeth Stark and Angie Powers. —Aline Soules
  • I write picture books and I love Picture Book Look with Kim Chaffee and Kirsti Call and Picturebooking with Nick Patton. There’s also a brand new one called Slush: A Publishing Podcast that I’m enjoying as well. —Rebecca Gardyn Levington
  • Writing Excuses: for beginner writers, I recommend binging Season 10. The Creative Penn: great interviews and a passive way of picking up publishing vocabulary. Six Figure Authors: RIP it’s over now, but I recommend listening to past episodes. Geared toward indie fiction authors. Sell More Books Show: weekly news from indie publishing. Manuscript Academy: geared towards querying authors, lots of great interviews with agents. Blurbs Sell Books: each episode critiques a blurb. It’s a great way to learn copy-writing for authors. SPA Girls (Self-Publishing Authors) Podcast: Four indie authors from New Zealand do interviews and talk about writing and publishing. I’ve just discovered it but they have a great backlist. —Dori
  • I love listening to First Draft. Sarah Enni has regular guest authors on Thursdays and it’s the only podcast that I tune into weekly. In addition, she has a sub-podcast, if you’d call it that, called Track Changes that offers an insightful crash course into traditional publishing by following one author through the process. —Jennifer Angel
  • Marion Roach-Smith’s QWERTY. I also like #amwriting, And I’m finding lots of writing advice buried inside non-writing shows, particularly Debbie Millman’s Design Matters and Alicia Kennedy’s podcast that’s linked to her Substack newsletter. Also Thresholds. —Amy Halloran
  • My favourite podcast is Writing Excuses. It’s packed with good advice and specific examples. It’s funny. And it’s short, so it’s easy to listen to. It has taught me ten hundred things. —Kim Woolcock
  • Writing Excuses. The tagline alone gets me: “Just 15 minutes long, because you’re in a hurry, and we’re not that smart.” Great tips and creative encouragement especially for sci-fi and fantasy writers. —Kathy Giles
  • Hands down my favorite writing podcast is Writing Excuses. But I also enjoy The Creative Penn —Gwen Tolios
  • My favorite writing-related podcast is The Shit No One Tells You About Writing. I discovered it recently and have been binge-listening every chance I get. It has even made my commute more enjoyable! I love the Books with Hooks section and hope to be sharing my own memoir query with them when the time is right! —Lena Lee