SAGA: How I Started a Podcast
Sometimes I get asked how to start a podcast, so here’s the saga of how Celebrity Book Club with Chelsea Devantez came to be.
I was on a girl’s trip that took two years to plan because all of the women on that trip all worked in TV. The only date that we all had free was Valentine's Day, 2020. The getaway included a ton of lounging and sleeping, because, for all of us, it would be our only day off in a long time. So mid vacation I was drinking vodka spindrifts in a hot tub and reading a book, three great hobbies combined. I had pre-ordered Jessica Simpson’s memoir and was devouring the book, stunned that it was such a great read. I felt like everyone in the world had to know how good Jessica’s memoir was!
With the power of vodka, I began posting excerpts and highlights from the book on my Instagram. DMs came pouring in. That evening, which was Valentine’s Day, I sent my manager an email from the hot tub:
Ah, so romantic.
When I came home I decided to tell people about all my other favorite celebrity memoirs, and the #CelebrityBookClub Instagramming continued.
Celebrity Memoirs have always been my favorite book genre, which is I guess what happens when your nearest bookstore growing up is a Walmart. But in all sincerity, they are hidden gems, even the trashy ones. At the heart of these memoirs are iconic, powerful women sharing their truth, and the good memoirs are truly life changing. Delta Burke, Jane Fonda, and Gabrielle Union’s memoirs have hugely shaped my life. I used to keep my love of these books to myself because people often don’t respect this genre and I wanted to be A Very Respected Lady Comedian. I might not have ever been loud about my love for memoirs except for two things: those vodka spindrifts and Instagram. Through Instagram, I found out how many other people already loved these books. And on top of that, many people realized through my Instagram posts that they should love them.
Within a week I made a podcast deck to pitch the show.
I sent the deck to my acting agents and asked them to send it to a podcast agent. While I was waiting to hear back, I made an episode all by myself recapping and discussing Jessica Simpson’s memoir and playing voice memos from my friends who had also read the book. I used GarageBand and my computer mic, and I was connected with a great agent who sent my pitch out. It turns out the podcast producers who received my pitch had already been following my Instagram. The podcast sold immediately even though national podcast listenership had just dropped 40 percent in quarantine. Somehow the popularity of my gram pushed the pitch through despite the moment in time we were in. Plus, since we were all in the pandemic we all had more time to be reading and interacting.
I LOVED the producers I ended up working with, but if I could go back and do it again I never would have pitched to networks. I would have just recorded the episodes and edited it on my own — it’s all extremely doable, and going to a podcast network meant there was deal-paperwork that took months to sign. And after that, they had to negotiate a launch date for me, which took even longer because they had a ton of other shows to manage. On top of that, the best press for the podcast has always been my Instagram and that’s what brings listeners in.
So while I was waiting for my paperwork to finalize, I started doing episodes on IG live.
After my friends Casey Wilson and Danielle Schnieder saw my Instagram lives, they invited me on their podcast on July 3rd to announce the launch of Celebrity Book Club
This was an incredibly kind helping hand. Casey told me how going on other podcasts had helped them launch theirs, and the fact that she and Danielle opened the door for mine was so impactful. I returned to their podcast in August and did a mini Celebrity Book Club segment, too.
We finally dropped the teaser on September 28th and the podcast took off!
It’s now been over two years since I was in that hot tub, I’ve covered over 50 books, and the podcast has been downloaded almost a million times. A MILLION. I’m shook even typing it.
Here’s the episode process: I make sure each episode has a tight structure, and really try to stick to the book - we edit out any long tangents. I always read with a pen and take notes, and then make an elaborate beat sheet from those notes. Since we started this in the pandemic, every podcast I’ve ever done has happened over zoom, I’ve never even been in the same room as a producer. I record my track with a Shure Microphone and a Rodecaster, and my guests usually record themselves using the voice memo app on their iphone. Then the producer has the tracks married together and a transcript is created. I go through the transcript and do a paper cut and re-record any pick ups I think I need, and add an outro. Then the producer and the sound engineer do an edit and send it back. I listen to it again, and then the episode drops. In addition to all of that, I do a ton of stuff on my social media because 1. I love it and 2. That’s how the podcast began. Running the book club on my Instagram informs a lot of the episodes because people weigh in in the DMs and I repost great insights or gentle tea that people share.
I have also been sent a ton of really juicy gossip because of this, but I rarely, if ever, post it. I genuinely love these books, even the ones that suck. Plus, I’m over the Perez Hilton era. Beyond the ethics of it or wanting more kindness and happiness in life, I also just find it boring as fuck. There’s so much better stuff to discuss than tearing a celebrity woman down for kicks. I will be very critical of a book and honest when something is bad or when I don’t agree with someone’s values, and I do make a lot of jokes, but I hope the podcast is a way for us to hear about these powerful women in their own words: to use their famous celebrity stories as a way to gain introspection into our own shit and our own stories since we are the people whose culture was shaped by them. And yes of course, learn that Ashton Kutcher wore a white wedding fedora and cheated on him and Demi’s anniversary. Juice is juice!
Sharing the vulnerable details in these books and processing it with so many smart and insightful listeners actually changed the inner workings of my damn soul. It also inspired me to share my own life story, which I did during my birthday episode, and that was something I had struggled with my whole life, and learning to heal and open up is one of the greatest accomplishments in my adulthood.
The podcast got some incredible attention -- it was named as Apple Podcasts’ first ever spotlight pick, and we were featured on the Apple Podcasts app (and still are sometimes.)
This past month in NYC, our first ever live show sold out and I got to meet so many incredible cookies. Cookies is the name for anyone in the book club because it’s the C in celebrity plus bookie, but it’s mostly because there’s a cookie emoji and that is less typing on IG for me. A true community formed around this podcast of like minded souls and it has made doing the podcast beyond worth it. So much so, that every time I think I don’t have time for it anymore or my job takes up most of my life, I just can’t give it up yet - it means a lot to me on a very deep level. Yes, I’m embarrassed to be talking about a podcast like this!!!
Months after my podcast was announced, a few other podcasts with the exact same premise popped up. And unfortunately, they used the exact same name of my podcast. I wish I could go back in time and just change what my podcast is called, and maybe I will! I haven’t listened to the others but I’ve been told they all have very different vibes, which is great because now these books are being talked about widely. The more book podcasts, the better.
If you’re thinking of starting a podcast, absolutely do it. For me, it’s the one creative area in my life where I have the most control and I can immediately create something and put it out into the world. TV takes months, or even years. Films take forever. Social media is instant, but can feel fleeting. All of the technical stuff about how to create a podcast is online and easy to learn. While I eventually got really nice equipment to record with, it can all be done with an iphone and GarageBand.
Here are some podcasts I absolutely love if you want a good recc or just some inspiration!
Fixing Famous People
The Stacks
The Problem with Jon Stewart (I’m obviously biased, I worked on this show)
The Popcast
Bitch Sesh
Pretty Smart
Pantsuit Politics
2 Black Girls 1 Rose
Corporate Gossip
My Brother’s Sneaker
