Podcasting 101 : Part 4 - What to Podcast
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If you’ve gotten this far, you’re probably ready to get started podcasting. But what should you talk about?
A lot of fiction authors read their own work, either a short story or poem per episode, or a chapter of a longer work. There’s even a website, PodioBooks, devoted solely to author readings of their novels in serialized form. This might be a problem if you plan to later sell your work, as some publishers may balk at paying for work that’s already available for free online, but a few authors have managed it very well. Or you might choose to podcast work that you don’t intend for publication — and later collect that work for publication when you’re better established.
If you don’t write fiction, or just don’t feel like reading your work aloud, you can talk about topics related to your niche. Review books in your genre, or interview other authors, or talk about the writing process. Talk about news in your area of interest. Describe the places you traveled, or the people you’ve met, while researching your latest feature article.
You can think of a podcast as an audio (or video) blog — whatever you might blog about, you can podcast about. It’s probably not a good idea to simply read your latest blog posts; try to add something in your podcast your audience can’t get in your blog. But if you can add something to what you’ve blogged, it’s not a bad idea to use the podcast to expand the stories.
One thing to keep in mind is that podcasting is a very intimate medium, and just like talk radio, people value the interactivity of it. Make sure you give out an email address and tell your listeners that you value their feedback. You could also get a toll-free number and ask your listeners to leave you voicemail; Kall8 offers a personal toll-free number with lots of features for only $2 a month. Make sure you read your emails and play your voicemails on the show. And for the ultimate interactivity, use a service like BlogTalkRadio and take callers live on the air!
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May 28th, 2008 at 6:30 pm
Rather than podcasting being a deterrent to future publishing deals, it’s been a boon. Time and time again I’ve heard from authors who’ve find themselves in an “underpublished” situation, where they can’t get traction for their work.
That’s been the case for many authors on Podiobooks.com, who found doors to publishing houses opening a bit more freely once they gathered an audience for their self-produced audiobook. Of course, it’s not a panacea for poorly written work that plagues many authors who complain of not getting respect from publishing houses. Write and edit the best book you can, then take your next steps.
E.
May 29th, 2008 at 7:51 am
Evo: Thanks for commenting. I really appreciate what you and the PodioBooks authors are doing, and I know several have managed to get a podcasted book published or use the success of their podcasts to show publishers a platform for their next book(s). I hesitate to suggest it as a “best practice” across the board, though — the PodioBooks audience seems to me largely a SF fan community, and what works for them might not work for someone writing romance, literary fiction, current events non-fiction, histocial fiction, etc. My advice is to check it out, definitely, but in the end — as with all things — “Know thy market”.
Oh, and like you say, write the best you can, and then edit and revise until it’s great. That’s always good advice!