by Lorie Lewis Ham
After a long break, we are finally back to our series featuring mystery podcasts! This week we are interviewing host and mystery author Leah Bailey about Cozy Ink Podcast.
KRL: Name of your podcast and how did you come up with it?
Leah: Cozy Ink Podcast. I knew I wanted to include Cozy in the name. I thought Cozy Ink was a fun play on writing cozy mysteries.
KRL: What is your connection to the mystery world?
Leah: My connection to the mystery world is as a writer and as a podcast host. I’ve always loved mysteries. I even did my graduate thesis on Nancy Drew! I have written short stories, and one of my stories is scheduled to be included in the Malice Domestic 16: Mystery Most Diabolical Anthology. I also have a completed a cozy mystery manuscript I’m very excited about!
KRL: Why did you decide to make a podcast?
Leah: I love to talk! I also love to make connections with people and help people to achieve their dreams and goals. It made sense to me to interview authors and give them a platform on which to share their stories. I have also recorded a short story for the podcast, and I look forward to doing more of those in the future.
KRL: Why a mystery podcast and how did you decide what content you would have in it?
Leah: Because I love mysteries and I write them myself, so it was never a question for me to base my podcast on mysteries. I’m a big dreamer. By the time I decided to launch a podcast, it had been floating around in my mind for quite a while. I already knew what I wanted to include. Initially, I decided to focus on author interviews because I did want to connect with both readers and writers. I always do a reader-focused interview and a writer-focused interview.
The writer-focused interviews are typically released together in a type of mini-conference. I have quite a stockpile of the writer-focused interviews built up, so I’m looking forward to offering another virtual mini-conference soon. I love to share my own writing as well, so I knew I wanted to include some fun short stories of my own along the way.
KRL: Are there certain types of mysteries you prefer?
Leah: I love cozy mysteries, and mysteries that have a really good puzzle to them. I’ve always been a huge fan of Agatha Christie.
KRL: You have interesting interviews, so how do you decide who you will talk to?
Leah: I have an application process. When I’m going through applications, I’m looking for books with themes and settings I think will appeal to my listeners. I like to include seasonal books when possible. I also look at ratings, cover, editing, etc.
KRL: You mentioned doing short stories on your podcast, can you tell us more about that?
Leah: I have written and recorded a short story with audience participation. I released a section each week with a choice for the protagonist at the end of the segment. I would write and record the next section of the story based on the results of the audience poll. It was a lot of fun and I had a great response, but I’m going to try something a little different with my next short story for the podcast.
KRL: How long have you had a podcast and what do you like best about producing it?
Leah: I started in the spring of 2020 so just over a year now. Meeting so many amazing authors! Also, I love hearing from my listeners.
KRL: What has been the hardest?
Leah: The hardest is turning an author down. It’s usually because of scheduling (I’m very booked out right now). Sometimes it’s because the book looks great but isn’t a fit for my listeners. Whatever the reason, I hate not being able to include every author on the show.
KRL: How did you decide what platform you would use as a host for your podcast?
Leah: I did a lot of research. I had heard great things about Buzzsprout. They distribute to numerous platforms, so I decided to go with them.
KRL: Future goals?
Leah: I’d love to include even more short stories on the show. I’ve also grown to the point that I’m considering advertising and sponsorship opportunities.
KRL: What makes your podcast different?
Leah: Just as with writing, I think every podcast host comes with a unique perspective and voice. To me, voice consists of approach, style, atmosphere, etc. So I would say my “voice” sets me apart. I also tend to do shorter segments of interviews between 15-20 minutes, and I edit all the episodes. Finally, the short stories I feature on my show are of my own creation so they’re very specific to my podcast.
KRL: Any extra special episodes coming up?
Leah: Besides the amazing authors I will be featuring every Tuesday? In addition to my author interviews, I will be releasing a new series of episodes featuring a new short story soon. I also hope to have a mini conference this summer.
KRL: Where can we find your podcast?
Leah: It’s on several different platforms, but you can find all the links at www.cozyinkpodcast.com.
KRL: Do you have a newsletter for your podcast? If so, what goes in the newsletter and how often does it go out?
Leah: I send out my newsletter weekly. It’s very short, but it links to the guest that week as well as the upcoming guest. It also includes a section about what’s been going on in my life, and I love to include cozy mystery deals. If anyone would like to include an upcoming cozy mystery deal, let me know by filling out the form on my website at cozyinkpodcast.com/advertise. At the moment, I’m including upcoming cozy mystery deals for free in my newsletter.
KRL: Anything else you would like to add?
Leah: Here is a promo snippet (40 seconds)!
Check out other mystery articles, reviews, book giveaways & mystery short stories in our mystery section. And join our mystery Facebook group to keep up with everything mystery we post, and have a chance at some extra giveaways.
And be sure listen to our mystery podcast Mysteryrat’s Maze, where mystery short stories and first chapters are read by actors! They are also available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify. A new episode goes up next week!
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