95: Robots. Reading Audio Books. On Podcasts. Really. With Jim Kukral
Play • 32 min

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Jim Kukral is quick to say that his new service, Book2Pod is not a service that creates audio books.

So I’ll say it for him. ;) Because that’s EXACTLY what it is… except for a few differences…

  • It doesn’t have all the bells and whistles of traditional audio books
  • It’s distributed via an automatic feed - RSS - like a…. PODCAST!

Jim and his behind-the-scenes business partner have a pretty cool system in place that anyone who has a book, whitepaper, story, series of blog posts, etc. - can make it into a podcast.

It’s really interesting - and the possibilities are very intriguing. Take some time to hear what Jim has to say. You can even hear the robots doing their thing!

Main Points : Done For You Audio Books To Podcast


  • [1:16] Why you need to know who Jim Kukral
  • [3:10] Jim’s new endeavor: Book2Pod
  • [4:04] The future possibilities with computer generated voices and podcasts
  • [7:25] How are robots being used for reading books?
  • [10:51] What’s the benefit of putting your book out chapter by chapter as a podcast?
  • [17:05] Are there other options you can do besides books?
  • [21:06] Ways to tweak the robot voices to make your audio books better
  • [23:16] Actual examples of Book2Pod books - fiction and non-fiction
  • [27:19] Pricing for the Book2Pod service: two packages


Why would you want to turn your book into a podcast?


This was one of the very first questions I had for Jim because books are typically made into books in order to sell them as books. Putting them into podcast form and broadcasting them freely via an RSS feed doesn’t seem like a good way to promote book sales.

But it’s actually the exact opposite that happens.

One of the reasons I believe podcasts are so popular is because they are a low-friction introduction to a topic, resource, or expert. A person can listen and learn and get to know you without ever having to let you know they are interested.

No risk of being “sold to.” No email opt-in required. In other words, it’s entirely safe for you, the listener, to check out a content provider by listening to the content they provide (a podcast, in this case).

Authors haven’t made good use of this aspect of podcasting… at least most haven’t. That’s because they are focused on selling books - and podcasts OF their books seem a bit non-intuitive at first.

But there are ways to make the entire text of your book(s) - fiction or non-fiction - available as a audio book(s) and use them as a lead-in to your sales process.

And according to what Jim shares on this episode, it’s working for many authors already. Listen to learn more.

I’ve got a handful of books I’ve considered making into audio books


The problem thus far has been the cost of making it happen. If you check out the plans ACX has for putting any book in to audio book format, it’s pricey… no matter which way you slice and dice it.

But what Jim Kukral has going on here makes the process of putting a book into audio format a whole new ballgame. If I’m satisfied with a robot voice reading the text of my book (a very GOOD robot voice… listen to this episode to hear an example) then there could be a much more affordable option available, now..

And it’s got at least one added perk: the ability to set it up as a podcast

64% of people are now familiar with podcasts, a stat that continues to climb each year. Combine that with the fact that 44% of people are listening to audiobooks and the idea the Book2Pod folks have come up with promises to be an excellent merger of two growing technologies. (stats from Infinite Dial 2018).

So… do you have a book you’d like to get into audio book format? This may be the way you can finally do it..

Here’s how I think I can use an audio book podcast to sell more books


Here’s my brainstorm/theory/thing… I’ll use my 3 book Dragonslayer series as an example.

Book one is complete. Book two is complete. Book three will hopefully be finished by the beginning of May 2018.

As part of the launch strategy for book 3, I could put together book one (at least) in an audio book podcast format using Book2Pod or by doing it myself using the same Amazon Polly technology (lots of work, but possible).

As the call to action in the audio episodes of that podcast I could encourage listeners to get the print copies of book 2 and 3 from Amazon. It really feels to me like people who like the audio would be interested in knowing what happens in the other two installments.

Am I crazy, or could it work?

Naturally, I’d have to follow best-practices for launching a new podcast - including great looking cover art, optimizing the name and author fields of the podcast and its episodes, etc. in order to get organic exposure through Apple Podcasts and other directories. But I think it would work.

And who knows… I may even find it profitable to put all 3 of the books into audio book / podcast format because many people who buy audio books also buy the print copy.

I’ll likely get to this in the next 6 months. I’ll let you know how it goes.

So you don’t have books to make into podcast audio books? There are other opportunities here.


Not every podcaster has a book to turn into a Book2Pod project. That’s OK, Jim and I took a bit of time on this episode to brainstorm other options. Here are a few we came up with…

  • Whitepapers
  • Blog posts
  • “How to” manuals or opt-in resources


And likely others we weren’t able to come up with. And the same principles I’ve already mentioned apply. You are giving your potential clients/customers/fans a low-risk opportunity to get to know you, to hear your expertise through what you’ve created.

And in time, as they become convinced that you know what you’re talking about - they may step through the door even more - by joining your email list - or buying a product - or hiring you to do whatever it is you do.

I think Jim has an amazing idea and I’m eager to hear the kind of success that comes from it. Join Jim and I for this interesting conversation - and shoot me a message to let me know what other possibilities you see for this kind of technology.

Connect with Today’s guest: Jim Kukral of Book2Pod




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