OLD POST ALERT! This is an older post and although you might find some useful tips, any technical or publishing information is likely to be out of date. Please click on Start Here on the menu bar above to find links to my most useful articles, videos and podcast. Thanks and happy writing! – Joanna Penn
What is podcasting anyway?
Podcasting is creating audio and distributing it via an RSS feed so people can subscribe. You can podcast your own book, or use an interview or talkshow format. Here is my podcast page so you can see how to subscribe.
5 reasons authors should podcast
- Get your work out there. Podcasting is a brilliant way for you to have your work out in the public. You will find listeners who love your work and can connect with a whole load of authors who also podcast.
- Meet your audience where they are. Audio is a fantastic medium for communication. How many people do you see listening to iPods on public transport? How many people drive to work and can't read? People like to consume information and stories in audio format. It is now even easier to do this thanks to iTunes and other podcast catchers. How many more people could you reach if you have your book/writing in podcast as well as print format?
- Build your platform for free. All authors want to sell books, regardless of whether they are traditionally or self-published. Publishers also want to sell books. Therefore, platform building is important to everyone! (that is, building your following of readers/fans). Podcasting is a free medium you can use to build your platform even further. People will connect with your voice and you may even end up getting a publishing deal off the back of the platform you build (as per the authors mentioned above!)
- Improve your work and your performance. When you read your book out loud, several things will happen. You will hate your own voice. You will see flaws in your writing. You will play around with character voices (for fiction). You will decide to change things to suit a vocal performance. You will improve! This is great practice for when you are speaking at some amazing book festival and asked to read a few paragraphs of your book!
- Fun! Podcasting is actually great fun. There are only some basic things you need to know and easy software to use. You can use it as a way to connect with people who you want to talk to. I love my podcast interviews because I get to talk to very cool people! People also want to talk to you because you are promoting them, so it helps everybody!
So definitely get podcasting! Or at least check out some authors who are already at the following places:
- Podiobooks – for free chapters and whole podcasted books from many different authors
- Podcast Pickle – lots of different podcasts
- BlogTalkRadio – radio style podcasts
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Podcasting is one of the modules in the Author 2.0 program: Using web 2.0 tools to write, publish, sell and promote, launching 1 June 2009. I will show you exactly how to create a podcast and syndicate it to the internet.
Dan Klass, co-author of “Podcast Solutions: The Complete Guide to Podcasting” is the featured expert interview for this module.
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1 2 Next »I really like the idea of podcasting.. A sure fire way to reach more audience up there... ppl want to hear, we just have to figure how we can make that more reachable. il dfntly incorporate this strategy after my cmplt launch
hv retweeted it :)
cme up with more informative posts
I've been mulling this over for quite some time. I've actually started audio versions of my book several times, but - as you say - HATED the sound of my voice...so I gave it up.
I really need to get serious about it, though. Thanks for the boost!
Hi!
I'm a novelist with a podcast that is a bit different from the ones Ive seen... probably because I have no idea what I'm doing! LOL
Please visit the podcast at:
http://lincolnpark.podbean.com/
I need at least ONE listener... LOLOL Thanks!
I've considered podcasting, but I can't make up my mind about it. Probably won't podcast this release, but may podcast the first novel-length work.
I am podcasting my new novel at http://www.robkaay.com(.) I am also a musician, and found it creatively satisfying to create music and sound effects behind my reading. In fact, I believe I have taken podcasting a step further, so I actually call my audible readings "Myric's".
Thanks for the great reasons for authors to do podcasting. I have done audio conferences and teleconferences as the featured speaker for different associations and some YouTube videos. So I thought doing my own podcast with a few tips from my book would be a new idea as a book promotion tool. I plan to listen to some of the podcasts you have done for more ideas and examples as well.
To start, I did a survey on Twitter to get an idea of how long my potential audience would be willing to listen. Then I made my podcast available from my website (http://www.shirleyfinelee.com) last week. It took a little time to figure out the recording application but the other prep was actually fun. As you said in your post, each podcast I do should better with practice - as I plan to do short weekly podcasts all of this month.
Great reasons to podcast...it is fun. Allows people to get to know you. Also, thanks for the comments and sharing your different podcasts - I've listened to Lincoln Park's podcast rants - LOL - I'm going to check all these others out also.
My podcast is Homemade Stories on iTunes or shannoncason dot com.
Joanna, I finally plucked the courage up and did it! Episode 1 of Get Talking, Rob Farquhar!, with one half of a short story is live on my website! I've had heaps of fun fiddling with PodPress settings and FeedBurner and the like. I'm planning to make it a monthly thing, but I'm hoping to get the conclusion to the story out this coming weekend!
Congrats Rob - that is fantastic. I think it's very rewarding to podcast although I haven't done my own fiction yet. It will be coming :) Check out Scott Sigler for an example of a hardcore deliverer when it comes to weekly podcast fiction.