One month from today — on Feb. 13 — my new book will be published.  As many blog members know, over the years I have written (in broad terms) three kinds of books: academic books for hard hitting scholars in my fields of interest; college-level textbooks for undergraduates; and trade books for a broader audience of interested (and interesting!) people.

This new book The Triumph of Christianity: How a Forbidden Religion Swept the World will be the thirty-first book I’ve published, my fifteenth trade book.   Among those fifteen books, by far the best selling one has been Misquoting Jesus.  In my personal opinion, the best (in terms of overall quality) was probably How Jesus Became God.  But (we all have our favorites), I think The Triumph of Christianity is even better, the most important, and the best conceived, researched, and written.   But, again, that’s just me.

It is very difficult for any book, no matter who wrote it or in what circumstances, to make a difference and to become a best-seller.   Every author (whether they admit it or not) wants their book to be a best-seller.  That’s not usually because they want to become rich and famous; it’s usually, instead, because they think they have something important to say and they want people to hear it.  The more people who hear it, and think about it, and talk about it – the more an author has accomplished her or his goal.

Things have changed in the book publishing industry since I started publishing trade books (my first one was Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium, in 1999).   Only the very famous superstars (think Hilary or Wolff…) do “book tours” any more.  Social media and other Internet venues have become the very most important avenue (not advertising in the NY Times; or getting a review in major magazines and newspapers; or even making an appearance on NPR shows).  In particular, in our historical moment, “podcasts” are now the name of the game.  It’s how millions of people are reached.

I have to admit, despite having a podcast connected with my blog, I simply am not connected to the podcasting world.  I’m a Neanderthal.   Most people – including most of you – on the contrary, live in the 21st century.   So I would like some help.

My publicist at my new publisher, Simon & Schuster, is getting in touch with all the big podcasts out there that might have an interest in me or my book.   The book is not only about a “religious” topic but also about a very important “historical” one: the spread of Christianity to become the dominant religion of the west.  The book is meant to be of interest not only to people invested in knowing about early Christianity (from Paul to Constantine to beyond), but also those intrigued by the history of our Western Civilization.

We would like to pitch the book to all sorts of podcasts.  Obviously we are most interested in ones that reach a broad audience.   My publisher has a list that they are contacting.  But we don’t want to leave any stones unturned.  Do you have any suggestions?  Podcasts that you are connected with or listen to or know about that reach a decent sized audience?   If so, please let me know, either by putting a comment here on the blog, or sending me an email at [email protected]

Many many thanks!