Today we’d like to introduce you to Zoë Wernick.
So, before we jump into specific questions, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I absolutely love podcasts. I listen to podcasts when I’m walking the dog, or working out, or cleaning the house, or gardening, when I’m driving in my car, when I’m cooking, when I’m getting ready for work when I’m in the shower… so basically any time that I’m doing a physical task, I’ve got some friends in my ears.
So naturally, starting a podcast of my own felt inevitable! But it did take years for me to finally come up with an idea that I loved. Of course, I wanted to combine something that I was passionate about with podcasting. Podcasting is already a passion project – you put in a lot of time and effort and money shouting into a giant abyss – so you really need to love what you’re putting out there! And after mulling for quite some time, I came up with the idea to start a podcast about the books I absolutely love – Regency Romance Novels.
Romance as a genre, doesn’t get the respect it deserves. It is belittled and mocked, looked-down-upon and misunderstood. It’s one of the only industries in the world where money does not equate to a good reputation. The romance industry rakes in well over a billion dollars a year – and it is the second most popular genre in fiction. And what romance readers know is that the genre is so much more than a moneymaker – it’s an empowering, feminist, freeing, space, with a guaranteed happily ever after.
After securing the interest of my desired cohost (the friend who had introduced me to these novels in the first place), we started our podcast like so many do – with absolutely pitiful research. I did a quick search of Apple Podcasts and discovered, to my disbelief and absolute delight, that there were NO other romance podcasts out there. Huzzah! I had found the unicorn of podcasting – an unsaturated market! (Oh, boy. Of course, I was wrong!) But we forged ahead with a couple of months of brainstorming, acquiring the equipment we needed, and creating graphics for our brand. We had a start.
These few months of planning gave us more knowledge of an industry that we had been outsiders to as mere readers. And we quickly learned that the Romance community is as wonderful as the genre, but we had so much to catch up with. Of course, there WERE many other romance podcasts out there – doing EXCELLENT work. This was both intimidating and inspiring. We had entered a community of likeminded people who were also working to spread the empowering word of romance, and there was still space for us.
And so we launched our podcast in August 2019 and have been releasing since. We’ve learned so many things along the way and learn more each episode. We love talking about romance, and we love sharing it with a growing community of fans.
Has it been a smooth road?
Starting a podcast from scratch is a huge challenge! While the barrier for entry is low, the barrier for success is growing higher and higher, as many more of the bigger players are entering and changing the game. Spotify, for example, is making huge strides to become the biggest podcast player and is now starting to have exclusive Spotify-only podcasts. The Apple podcast charts are also near-impossible for an indy podcast to get on nowadays, and are dominated with celebrity-hosted podcasts and miniseries, or serials produced by the biggest podcasting studios.
However daunting the task, we decided to set goals for ourselves and work to reach them. These goals included download numbers by certain dates, follower counts on our social platforms, securing an author for an interview, and other long term goals as well, like one day joining a network. But we caught a lucky break, and our timing was just right because soon after we launched, LA-based Media Company Frolic announced that they were starting a podcast network for romance-focused podcasts, and we were lucky enough to be invited into the network. This has given us a great leg up, including the fact that now we’re in a community of podcasters that work to share knowledge and help each other out, as we all invest in growing the network together.
And while we’re still a very small fish in a big pond, we’ve had so many successes for our short time too. We have devoted listeners who send us brilliant feedback. We have had the opportunity to speak with some of our favorite authors in the genre. We’ve made friends in the publishing and podcasting industries, and in the future, our projects will benefit from these friendships. And so while we can’t compete with the behemoths of the industry, we can set goals for ourselves, strive to meet them, and keep putting a product that we are proud of and our listeners love.
We’d love to hear more about your work.
Tea & Strumpets is a lively and engaging podcast dedicated entirely to Historical Romance! Join hosts and friends Zoë and Kelsey each episode as they discuss all the steamy (and sometimes tepid) details of the Regency Romance genre. Each week, we take a trip across the pond and into the past in search of swoon-worthy Happily Ever After’s.
We talk about all your regency favorites like Julia Quinn’s Bridgertons (currently being made into a Netflix Original Series by Shonda Rhimes!) or Lisa Kleypas’ Ravenels, plus we dive deep into exciting new releases from rising stars like Scarlett Peckham, Cat Sebastian, or Evie Dunmore. We’ve got book reviews AND fabulous interviews with bestselling authors in the genre like Kerrigan Byrne and Maya Rodale.
Whether you’re a reader in the genre already, or you’re looking for a little slice of happiness for your day, our podcast gives you a bite-sized and ready-made happily ever after, interspersed with discussions of the inherent feminism in the genre and its overall empowering effect. We love talking about love – and it shows in each and every episode. Join us on Thursdays, available wherever you get podcasts.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
San Diego is a great place for me to be located! Many of the bookstores in our city have and continue to host Romance events and signings with some of the biggest and best authors in the genre! Plus, Mysterious Galaxy is home to a monthly Romance Book Club, which is just so much fun and has helped me make many new connections. And of course, San Diego hosts ComicCon, which hosted a Romance panel last year, and hopefully will include some Romance shows (like Netflix’s Bridgerton or Virgin River) this year!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.romancepod.com
- Email: romancepod@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tnstrumpets/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tnstrumpets
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/tnstrumpets
- Other: www.linktr.ee/tnstrumpets
Image Credit:
Cate Batchelor Photography https://www.catebatchelorphotography.com/
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