The Author's Edge: Issue 6
Your Table of Contents Is a List of Podcast Pitches. Use It.
Most authors treat podcast guesting like a vague marketing task. They know they should "get on podcasts," so they send generic pitches that mention their book and hope for the best. The problem is not a lack of podcasts. There are over four million of them. The problem is a lack of specificity. Hosts do not care about your book. They care about a topic their audience needs right now.
Your table of contents already solves this. Every chapter title is a potential episode topic, framed exactly the way a podcast host thinks: as a standalone idea that can fill 30 to 60 minutes of focused conversation. Instead of pitching "I wrote a book about leadership," you pitch "I can talk to your audience about why engagement surveys are lying to them, because I spent a chapter proving it with data." That is a fundamentally different email. It gets a fundamentally different response rate.
The key is matching the right chapter to the right show. Not every chapter fits every podcast. But when you pair a specific chapter with a show whose audience genuinely needs that topic, you stop being one of fifty pitches in an inbox. You become the obvious guest. And here is the part most authors miss: you do not need one perfect pitch. You need ten different pitches, one per chapter, each tailored to a different type of show. Your table of contents is not one marketing idea. It is ten or twelve of them.
Let's look at how two very different authors would run this exact play.
How a tech author would run it: Sunny Kaila
Sunny Kaila is the founder and CEO of IT By Design, one of the leading talent solutions providers for managed service providers worldwide. His journey from immigrant taxi driver to tech CEO is the kind of story podcast hosts love. But Sunny does not lead with that story when he pitches. He leads with the problem every business owner is quietly fighting: how to build a team that actually thrives.
His book, Talentpreneurship: How to Build and Grow a Healthy Business, Transform the People Around You, and Live the Life of Your Dreams, lays out his system for building and nurturing top-talent teams, the real engine behind a business that grows without the founder burning out. Each chapter targets a specific challenge: developing people instead of just managing them, tapping global talent markets, building culture across borders, and creating a company that runs on engagement rather than the owner's willpower. For Sunny, the table of contents is a menu of ready-made episode pitches for business and technology podcasts.
When Sunny identifies a podcast that serves MSP owners, entrepreneurs, or business leaders, he matches the host's recent episodes to a specific chapter. A show that recently covered hiring gets a pitch on building and retaining top-talent teams. A show about scaling gets pitched on tapping global talent markets. The pitch is never “let me come talk about my book.” It is always “I have a specific framework your audience can use next week.”
The result: targeted appearances on business and entrepreneurship podcasts where Sunny delivers focused, practical conversations that send listeners back to the book for the full system. Each episode builds authority in a specific niche, and the cumulative effect is a presence across dozens of shows, all generated from a single table of contents.
Website: https://sunnyspeaks.net
How a social-impact author would run it: Dr. Kim Nugent
Dr. Kim Nugent, Ed.D., takes the same approach in a completely different world. Kim is a leadership coach and bestselling author of nine books. Her latest, From Prison to Possibilities: Paving Your Path, is a structured six-month curriculum designed to help incarcerated individuals successfully transition back into society.
Her table of contents reads like a syllabus for social impact podcasts: chapters on finding housing, securing employment, managing finances, rebuilding relationships, and developing communication skills. Each one maps directly to a podcast audience. Shows about criminal justice reform get pitched on recidivism data. Education podcasts get pitched on her mentoring model. Faith-based shows get pitched on the spiritual transformation chapter. Leadership podcasts hear about the 28-week post-release curriculum she built from 25 years of hands-on work.
Kim has created mentoring programs inside Florida, Texas, and Mississippi prison systems. That is not a generic bio line. That is proof of concept, and it makes every pitch land harder. When a host sees that Kim is not theorizing about reentry but actually running programs that reduce recidivism, the booking becomes easy.
The contrast with Sunny is the point. A tech CEO pitching MSP podcasts and a prison reform advocate pitching social impact shows use the exact same strategy: scan the table of contents, match a chapter to a show's audience, and pitch the specific problem you solve. The industry does not matter. The audience specificity is what matters. And your table of contents already has it organized for you.
Website: https://drnugentspeaks.com
Your 15-Minute Action Step
Set a timer. This should take you no more than 15 minutes.
Open your book's table of contents and list every chapter title on a separate line.
Next to each chapter, write one sentence describing the specific problem that chapter solves for the reader.
Pick your three strongest chapters, the ones with the clearest, most specific problem statements.
For each of those three chapters, search Apple Podcasts or Spotify for five shows whose audiences face that exact problem. Write down the show name and host.
Draft one pitch email for each chapter using the template below. Customize the opening line for each host by referencing a recent episode.
You now have 15 targeted pitches ready to send. That is more than most authors send in a year. Block 30 minutes this week to send the first five.
Swipe File
Podcast Pitch Template:
Subject: Episode idea: [Specific Chapter Topic]
Hi [Host Name],
I caught your recent episode on [recent topic] and thought your audience would get a lot out of a conversation about [specific problem your chapter solves].
I am [Your Name], author of [Book Title]. In Chapter [X] of my book, I break down [one-sentence summary of the chapter's key insight or framework]. I think this would give your listeners something they can actually use right away.
A few quick details:
Topic: [Chapter topic framed as a listener benefit]
Format: I can do interview, solo breakdown, or Q&A with your audience
Bio and headshot: [link]
Would this be a fit for an upcoming episode?
Best,
[Your Name]
Bonus: Podcast Research Shortcut
Use ListenNotes.com or Rephonic.com to find podcasts by topic, audience size, and guest history. Filter for shows that have had authors as guests before. They are already receptive to book-based pitches.
Follow-Up Template (send one week after your first pitch if no response):
Subject: Re: Episode idea: [Specific Chapter Topic]
Hi [Host Name],
Just bumping this to the top of your inbox. I know you are busy, so here is the short version: I can do a focused [20/30/45]-minute conversation on [topic] that will give your listeners a framework they can use immediately. Happy to send a one-page outline if that helps you decide.
Best,
[Your Name]
This is Issue #6 of The Author's Edge, our weekly newsletter for authors who want their book to do real work instead of gathering dust. Every issue gives you one tactic and a 15-minute action step. Want each new issue, plus a community of published authors to trade launch support and cross-promotion with? Join the free Jetlaunch Author Network at jetlaunch.net/network.
