The nuts and bolts<\/h2>\n

Once I had my goals articulated, it was time to go into creation mode\u2014my favorite part! Here\u2019s what that involved.<\/p>\n

1. Deciding the format.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Now that the podcast market has exploded\u2014there are more interview and richly produced investigative podcasts than you can shake a stick at\u2014I wanted to differentiate myself somehow.<\/p>\n

My book\u2019s format leant itself nicely to a short (five minutes or less), daily format. I started offering seven episodes per week. After getting feedback from listeners, examining my listening rates, and doing a reality check with my own busy schedule, I dialed that back to five episodes a week.<\/p>\n

2. Writing.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

This has been harder than I anticipated because I didn\u2019t understand how different it is to write for a podcast. The writing in my book is really spare. A podcast is much more conversational.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t yet feel comfortable just making some notes and riffing\u2014when I have tried it, it has necessitated more audio editing which is either time-consuming if you\u2019re doing it yourself or more expensive if you\u2019re hiring someone to do it for you.<\/p>\n

So, while I am getting faster and less fussy at writing the scripts, it still takes me about 30 minutes to write and record each episode.<\/p>\n

3. Recording.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

This piece has been much easier than I expected: A co-working space where I live opened a fully outfitted podcast recording studio that is affordable to rent.<\/p>\n

That meant I didn\u2019t have to spend any time figuring out which microphone to buy; I didn\u2019t have to struggle to find a (nonexistent) sound-proof place in my house.<\/p>\n

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