March 17, 2007
Podcast novels: let your ears join the fun
Posted Mar. 17, ’07, 12:20 PM PT by Thomas Gagnon-van Leeuwen
Category | Music » Podcasting
There’s a niche in podcasting that, in my opinion, hasn’t gotten enough attention. I’m talking about podcast novels, or podiobooks. These are just like audiobooks, except authors record them in podcast format, meaning they usually produce a new chapter every week published in an RSS feed. What has amazed me in the four months I’ve been listening to podcast novels is just the incredible quality of the content, which is, like any podcast, free.
If you’re looking for some entertainment this weekend, go listen to a podcast novel. More often then not, authors record their own books, and they record them well. The voice talent on most podiobooks is remarkable, and with the occasional sound effect, it creates an immersive experience. Read on for an overview of the podiobook universe and my recommendations.
A good place to start is Podiobooks.com, a free service that lets you listen to a book from beginning to end at the pace you choose. You can subscribe to a book, and Podiobooks will create a personal custom RSS feed, where you can set how often you want a new episode released. Of course, be warned that some podcast novels are fairly violent and/or explicit, like some of those I talk about below, but there are plenty that are family-safe.
What’s great about this little podcasting niche is that it enables small, indie authors to share their work which would’ve not necessarily made its way into print. Even better, some authors get their books in print as a result of podcasting it. A good example of this is Scott Sigler, one of the most popular podcast novelists and my personal favorite: Scott has already got his first book, Earthcore, in print, and his second, Ancestor, is coming out April 1 at Amazon.
Personally, I can tell you that all of Scott Sigler’s books are top-notch horror thrillers, so if you’ve never heard his work, I highly encourage checking out his three finished books at Podiobooks.com: Earthcore, Ancestor, and Infection. You can also listen to “The Rookie”, currently in progress, at Scott’s website. And if you like Ancestor, I’d highly recommend buying the print version on April 1 to help Scott get some attention from major publishing: he’s trying to lift Ancestor at the top of Amazon’s charts for one day, to show big media how small authors can create quality work. Mark your calendars, people!
Of course, many more quality podcasted books exist. Another of my favorites is 7th Son, by J.C. Hutchins. Book two of the trilogy was just completed last week, and it’s an excellent suspenseful sci-fi story where seven clones fight the one they were cloned from. If you prefer something more conventional, I’ve recently discovered One Among The Sleepless, by Mike Bennett. It’s set in a simple British urban area, with noisy neighbors and tons of British humor. Mike’s voice talent is outstanding, so if you like that accent they have on the other side of the pond, this book is for you.
And there you have it, a small overview of the podcast novel world. Now, you may be wondering, “What in the world does this have to do with the Mac?”. I would answer, “Little”. But dear reader, look at the description of this blog: we cover…
…everything that is relevant to Mac users — and, okay, some stuff that’s not quite relevant, but is still a lot of fun.
Let me tell you this: if you like podcasts and you like books, like a lot of Mac users do, you’ll like podiobooks. So there. Enjoy listening, and if you too have discovered this world of free entertainment, post your favorite podiobooks in the comments.
Update: as an effort to further promote Ancestor’s launch, Scott Sigler has released a full-length PDF of the novel. So if you’d like to read the book to see if you like it, instead of listening to it, you can grab the PDF here.
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Wow! Thanks for that emphatic endorsement. It means a lot to the movement (yeah, we're that uppity, the podiobook authors consider this a "movement") to see stuff like this.
Fascinating. I'd actually just considered doing the same for my novels recently. I love reading aloud, and I find it helps me catch things that I don't on another editing pass. I didn't know there was such a vibrant community though. Very exciting.
Scott, you're very welcome. I feel like everyone should know about podcast novels, especially yours.
Dan, it would be pretty cool to hear your novels. I'd love to listen to them :)
By the way, if anybody wants to digg the article, you can do so here: http://digg.com/apple/Podcast_novels_let_your_ears_join_the_fun
As one of the founders of Podiobooks.com, I am thrilled Podiobooks has caught your attention. Thank you so much for your blogpost, and I sincerely hope you continue to find hours of entertainment from our site.
7th son rules. I have never listen to a podiobook before, and I was hooked by the intro! It is fast paced and never lets you down. J. C. Hutchins rock!
If you havnt read scott siglers work you should, its very creative and a fun read. thanks scott.
I am in awe of 7th Son and similar successful podiobooks. I came across them while doing research for my "audio drama", Second Shift.
Something we have talked about during our first season (cheap plug -- which you can hear for free at secondshiftpodcast.com - /cheap plug) is why that form of storytelling has taken off audio dramas have not. You'd think that stories in the style of radio in the 1930s would translate very well to the iPod generation... I'm not talking about rereleasing old content.
For instance, could Ancestor work as an audio drama (instead of a podiobook)?
As a non mac user I also find this a great article. Never heard of this before.
And Scott, I'll be buying your book in April.
SCOTT SIGLER RULES!!!!!!
Great information on - I am already hooked on 7th Son and now am going to have to check out more podiobooks to tide me over til part 3 begins.
another cool radioplay is www.afternow.com
a post-apocalyptic brave-new world.
reports coming back through time to the un-oppressed and financially marginalised.
may server protect you
I tripped across podiobooks.com a couple years ago. Scott was my first (Earthcore) and I haven't stopped listening since (Ancestor, Infection, Bloodcast short stories and now The Rookie). JC's 7th Son triology is awesome! You can't go wrong - just give it a listen. No matter what your taste, so many greats to choose from - Mur Lafferty (Heaven), Mark Jeffrey (Pocket and Pendant), Tracy Hickman (The Immortals)and on and on I could list. All these talented podcasters get so little in return for what they give us. Thanks for posting this article, it's time these authors were heard by millions, not just thousands.
Just to mention another author who is participating in this movement is Cory Doctorow. Cory Doctorow, blogger for boingboing.net and author, has been reading his short stories and more recently his novels. Currently, he is in the middle of reading his novel Eastern Standard tribe on his podcast.
Cory Doctor Podcast Archive (HTML)
http://craphound.com/index.php?cat=6
And another: Terry Fallis is up to chapter nine of the podcast of his self-published Canadian political novel, The Best Laid Plans. It's available at the Podiobooks site, or directly through iTunes.
One thing also to mention are the cross over elements that both Scott and JC have managed to include in their novels. Listen to Infection, and 7th Son Book 1 together. There are several places where they have intertwined the plots in their respective novels. Love it!!
Kilroy 2.0 is everywhere!
check out brave me run on the Podiobooks site.
Where do you think they got the idea for the TV Show Heroes???
Cory Doctorow was the first to give fiction away with the PDF of Eastern Standard Tribe. He helped show that giving your book away in a digital format can increase, not decrease, sales. C-Doc rules.
Thanks for such fine coverage of the podiobook space, on behalf of all us author types ... for whatever reason, your article got Dugg up the charts where other Digg attempts to spotlight podiobooks have failed ... rock on, dude! - Mark Jeffrey, author of "The Pocket and the Pendant" (available on podiobooks.com, of course! :) )
Thanks for mentioning 'One Among the Sleepless', Thomas. I'm really glad you're enjoying it.
All the best
Mike
Great to see a review for "One Among the Sleepless" here, I'm gripped on this contemporary black comedy thriller performed by Mike Bennett every week. (By the way, I found Mike Bennett's poetry page on Myspace last weekend, its worth checking out. Monster is Epic, man!)
Hey, why not check out Jack Wakes Up for more podcast fiction, in the noir-crime style...
http://sethharwood.com
I stumbled upon Scott Sigler's Earthcore while searching for archaeology-related audio for a class I was taking. Working two jobs didn't give me much time to read but I quickly became addicted to the aural drug known only as Earthcore.
Subsequently, 7th Son, Escape Pod, Pseudopod, A Different Point of View, Shadow Falls, Shire Network News, The Schiffer Report, and many others have given me superior alternatives to "all repeat radio" and have stirred the writer in me again as well.
Thanks Scott, JC, Steve, Mur, Ben, TD, Mark, Brian of London, Paul and others for being the voices in my head.
Sounds like everybody here would appreciate a visit to http://librivox.org/
My favorite phrase is "...record them well..." because this is the truly awesome part of these podcasts. Podiobooks has a very nice presentation and I was able to use it with very little knowledge, fuss or bother. Check out librivox.com and Dramapod.com when you are ready for more.
My second favorite phrase would have to be "...fairly violent and/or explicit..." because I am familiar with all three works! "Extreme" is the word I would use!