Thread: The Podcast/Audio Books SubForum

Podcasts have been radically increasing in market impact and innovation, involving everything from audio "magazines" and serial subscriptions...as well as podcasters like Seth Harwood and JC Hutchins parlaying mega-downloads of their serialized novels into big publisher contracts and becoming media darlings for New Media.

The AudioBook, also growing in popularity for "reading" while driving or jogging whatever, is a logical extension of the PodCast--like the eBook for web serials--as a compilation of a serial or series to sell as a freestanding work.

There are lots of sales venues and periodical hookups for audio lit, but they involve production and distribution techniques quite different from what writers and publishers are used to: vocal talent, sound quality, equalization, compression, etc.

This is an area in which those who have produced or published audio format literature can share with those who are interested, but not as adept at the how-to.

Here are a few good examples of Podcasts:
Shadowcast
Unfilmable
Zombie Beach

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/ has heaps of different podcasts. Many are more like radio clips and live radio, though, as people can call in during a show and/or chat in the chat room available during shows.

Thanks Duane for the mention. My name is Jason warden and I am the Co-editor, administrator, and host of the ShadowCast Audio Anthology Podcast. I treat Shadowcast like any other publication. First and foremost and I'm looking for great Dark fiction, Once it is found i have several experienced voices that are at the ready to turn the story into an experience. I'm also constantly on the lookout for Artwork to display on the website in conjunction with the stories and theme music to run in the background of the reading. If you haven't already, give us a listen, I don't think you'll be dissapointed.

We can be found at http://shadowpress.wordpress.com

You're welcome, Jason. By all means keep us informed of projects that are running. I'd be, and I'm sure the members here that are unfamiliar with the medium would be, interested in how you put together your podcasts. Would you be so kind at some time to add a few words on that subject?

Well I guess I went into the whole thing a little naive as to how much work it was going to be. I'd been listening to a few different podcasts, mostly fiction, for a while, and it sounded pretty simple. Read an intro, read a story then put it out there and millions of people will listen. That illusion lasted about ten minutes into my first episode. Taht first one I read and read and read tryhing to get it perfect, you see at the time i didn't know aobut software that would let me edit the voice recording and so it took me 6 hours to record that 18minute story without messing up.
Now, I use a program called Goldwave, and i just record it all at once, screwups and all, I don't stop, If I mess up I jsut re-read the section. Later when it is complete i edit out all the parts i need to. It still takes alot of time, but mostly due to the fact that I'm a bit of a perfectionist.

Once I get a suitable recording i use a program called Levelator to bring up the vocals and hush background noise. Then I mix in the intro music, and background music if I think the story calls for it.
Now this is just the recording process, as much if not more work goes into reading and either editing with the author to make the story more readable aloud, or reading and then writing the author to inform them their piece will not be used. This part is alot harder than I thought it would. It's never easy to tell someone no when you know they've put alot of work into something. I'm also a writer so I know what that feels like, and it is also why i always give a personal response and try to point out things I like about it and things i think need to be ironed out.

Besides all of that I personally spend alot of time promoting the site without making it seem like i'm a spam bot. It's a fine line, we all get messages all the time say "please check this or that out" and i personally have gotten to a point where i ignore most of them unless I have a personal connection. So instead of just trying to garner followers I spend alot of time on twitter, in writing forums like this one, and other places, just talking with people. I find once people know you are a real person with a passion for what you do they are much more likley to have a look. I thin that goes for just about anything you are doing, whether it be podcasting, writing, music, whatever. A good example is the book that just featured a short story of mine, I bought twenty copies so I could sell signed copies. I only have four left, and the response has been great. If anyone is interested you can see a little of it here. The Masters Of Horror. if you want ot know anything specific about podcasting, feel free to ask. If there is one thing I've realized in doing this it's that one cannot do it alone. I have a great group of people who help me from time to time. The experience has just been great so far.

Indeed. I wasn't aware of Levelator. I use Audacity for almost all of my recording purposes, and they are both freeware, which is nice. Am going to download and install the new application.
It's great that you've chosen to stop in, and I hope many people have questions about podcasting. I've done some small efforts along those lines, and I agree that it is far more difficult than you would think at first.

Here's a good podcasting tutorial, using free software:podcast