Self Published Authors

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Podcasting for Authors - Part 1: What is podcasting?
By Dan Shaurette

I recently wrote an article explaining why authors today should have a blog, or journal website. The next step is to consider whether or not, as an author, you want to share more than text with your readers -- and record your voice for an audio blog or a podcast.

In this new series of articles, I'm hoping to help authors understand what a podcast is and how to make one.

What is podcasting? Podcasting became a big craze in 2005, but most people believe this is more than a passing fad.

A "podcast" as it is today did not exist until about September of 2004. This is when various technologies came together for the first time to allow automatic delivery of syndicated audio content on the internet.

Instead of streamed audio that can be found on many internet radio stations, like SecondShifters.com, podcasting allows for the automatic download of whole MP3 audio files via a sub- scription.

It started as web journalers (aka bloggers) found ways to distribute their journals and put audio in them. This is known as audioblogging.

The internet is not just a text based place. Audio and video are as key to information as text is. So it did not take long before people were placing graphics, speech, music, and video on their blogs. Thus audioblogging and videoblogging (aka vlogging) were born.

When "real simple syndication" (RSS) was added to the programs that made blogging possible, it meant anyone could subscribe to a blog that caught their fancy. A news reader or aggregator program is all that is needed to subscribe to these syndicated feeds.

Dave Winer added the idea of "enclosures" to RSS. This added the ability to know exactly where an audio or video file could be found and downloaded from. As soon as news aggregators were programmed to automatically download the enclosed files and save them on the reader's computer, or perhaps to a portable media player, podcasting was born.

Adam Curry is credited with being one of the first to marry all of the technologies together. He had an audio blog and wanted a way to get the sound files directly onto his iPod player. He wrote a script to do this from his RSS feed and started a revolution. He's also credited with coining the term "podcast" as a hybrid of iPod and broadcast.

However, though iPods are the hip trend in media players, you do not need to have an iPod to listen to a podcast. Most podcasts are MP3 audio files, so as long as your computer can play MP3, or if you have any type of portable MP3 player, you can listen to a podcast. In fact, you don't even need a news aggregator, nor do you need iTunes. These programs, often called "podcatchers", just make getting podcasts easier.

Today, a podcast can be created many different ways. From the deepest magicks of low level XML file creation to the highest level of upload-and-go. This series won't cover them all, but I will touch on some popular methods in the next issue.

Moreover, people are making podcasts about anything. There are podcasts covering news, talk, music, technology, comedy, audio books, storytelling, and every type of hobby. There are many reasons for this, just as there are many types of blogs. As more people learn about podcasting, it will become more diverse and even easier to subscribe.

As an auuthor, should you have a podcast? Well, the answer to this is not as resounding as it is for having a website or blog. However, if you've found the benefits of having a blog to be rewarding, I think you may indeed find the same with podcasting.

What about the shy writers many of us consider ourselves to be? I'd love to know C. Hope Clark's take on this, but as I myself am a shy writer who has a podcast, I think a balance can still be struck. Why? It's still a passive sharing experience, like writing. I don't know if I could do a live radio show. Yet, sharing my words with a microphone which is recording has the same control as does wrting an article. I can edit both media before I release them.

On my podcast, I talk about everything and anything. I do talk about my writing and web projects, but it's more about sharing my interests than promotion. Yet, it is promotion, and that cannot be denied. Therein lies the reason an author should consider podcasting.

If you can share your interests and work in a plug, like you might with a blog, then a podcast has even more potential. That's one more medium where you have a chance to connect to a reader.

In addition, authors may find that recording short stories or novels in an effort to promote new ones can be a very effective marketing tool. That is in addition to just being plain fun. Podiobooks.com is a place where listeners can find a large number of audio books that can be subscribed to as podcasts so that you can listen to a chapter at a time on your schedule.

What do you need in order to listen to a podcast?
- A computer, either a PC or a Mac. - Windows XP preferred on PCs, OS X for a Mac. - A program for listening to MP3 audio files. - A portable player (like an iPod) is not necessary, but handy. - An internet connection. Cable or DSL preferred. - Podcatching or news reader software.

There are many different programs for podcatching, for both computers. Personally, I use NewsGator, which is a free website (http://www.newsgator.com) that also requires a program called FeedDemon which downloads your queued audio files. Newsgator lets you subscribe to RSS feeds, whether straight text or podcasts, and organizes them all for you.

If any podcasts have new episodes, Newsgator and FeedDemon do not automatically download the files for you. You have to mark the audio files you want. FeedDemon will then automatically download the ones you marked. I prefer this intermediate step because I subscribe to so many feeds; news, blogs, and podcasts of many kinds. If it downloaded every new audio file without me selecting, I would drown in digital discourse.

There are many other web-based readers out there, most of them are setup for podcasts, like Odeo.com. Even AOL and Yahoo have podcast channel sites. These also let you listen online.

However, if you want a program that will download all audio from all feeds you subscribe to, there are a lot to choose from. None however are as flexible and easy to use as iTunes. No, you don't have to have an iPod or even a Mac to use iTunes. There is a Windows version for download. It will also update playlists for any music player you prefer to use. For set-it-and-forget-it ease of use, iTunes is the best and it's free.

The Future of Podcasting
Podcasting really is very much the next generation of audio broadcasting. It will never replace radio stations. I don't think that's it's goal. However, it is fair to say it is intended for a different audience than radio. Radio does not appear to be getting loose from the tight grip of the FCC. Satellite radio providers took the concept of radio as far as they could in order to break away from the FCC rules. They are often compared to what cable TV has done versus tradional broadcast television.

Podcasting is in turn often compared to PVRs, like TiVo, which allow what is known as "time-shifting" what you are watching. TiVo allows you to pick TV shows you like, set it to record, and then watch anytime you want after it has recorded the episodes. VCRs gave this ability but not with the level of flexibility and ease of use of PVRs.

In the same way, podcasts allow time-shifting of audio. After you subscribe to a podcast, the podcatchers download new episodes for you to listen whenever you want. Thanks to portable players, that now also means wherever you want. Most people can listen while they exercise, while they drive, and even at work.

Just as blogs were a great way of writing about what you love and getting some attention for your other projects, podcasting has taken this to the audible level.

In my next article, I will talk about the technical side of podcasts and explain how you can create a podcast of your own. If you want some references right now, I highly recommend PODCASTING FOR DUMMIES by Tee Morris and Evo Terra. It covers everything in depth, but you won't drown in tech manuals to learn it all.
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Copyright © 2006 Dan Shaurette.
Besides being the editor of the newsletter for http://SelfPublishedAuthors.com/, Dan is the author of LILITH'S LOVE, a modern vampire romance novel, which you can learn more about at http://Liliths-Love.com/. He also hosts The Out Of The Coffin Podcast featuring reviews, interviews, and independent music amidst discussions of vampires at http://OutOfTheCoffin.com/. You can find out more on his blog at http://DanShaurette.com/.