Request feedback?

[Todd Newton]

Hi folks, quick request for advice regarding my intro/outro. I was thinking of modifying my script to say something like "if you like what you hear, leave me a comment or rating" but I have 2 problems with this. 1) I don't like soliciting feedback. 2) I hate it when intros/outros get bloated with a bunch of nonsense; I'd rather just keep mine as short as possible to allow as much focus as I can on the actual work.

Are people just prone to give feedback ONLY when the "book" is complete? Any opinions here?

Thanks in advance.
Todd Newton

[Philippa Ballantine]

Hey Todd
Yes you will have to get over the soliciting for feedback if you want it. The proportion of people that listen and never say anything is huge. Most people are shy about reaching out to someone they don't know, even if their voice has been in their head for months and months. I would say it is about at the most 5% that will respond with feedback- even if you ask for it. If you don't ask, you will never get. But a cheery reminder at the end of your podiobook is fine- they can always stop the episode at that point. In my indie feed I run a feedback episode for Weather Child, probably 1 for every 5 episodes and I find this is a great way to get an actual conversation going with those who want that connection with an author. It's also a place to run competitions and tell people a bit more about the 'behind the scenes' stuff.

[Philippa Ballantine]

actually scrub that.. it is probably more like 1% reply (Thought about it harder on the walk to work)

[Dave Hitt]

Even 1% is pretty good. On my regular podcast I get about one e-mail per 300 downloads.

Make it as easy as possible for people to leave feedback. You need a blog for the book (or at least an author blog) where people can leave comments easily. (If you require registration you'll reduce comments by at least 75%.)