Separate Feeds

[R.E. Chambliss]

Hi everyone!

I have a new question: What is the benefit to having a separate feed for one's podiobook? I'm starting to think about my author website, and my plan was to include a link to podiobooks.com for those interested in listening to Dreaming of Deliverance. But I know some authors also allow people to listen directly from their website. What is the reason for doing both? Am I missing something? (Probably! ;o) But what?)

Thanks so much for any info you all can provide!

-Renee

[Mike Sharpe]

Most of those who have Books on their own site have their own hosting, as they have a "Chat" section on each episode. Quite probably you're missing this.

Take one of Scott Silger's books and get the same one from here, there are big differences. His Chat section is HUGE. I use him as example as most other people mention him when talking about the similar thing.

I can't really comment too much about this, as I'm actually behind you in production of my Podiobook! (The text is not Locked, yet.)

I think PG who has both site and feed with Chat, and Evo are the best to provide info.

[R.E. Chambliss]

Thanks, MIke. I haven't listened to a book from an author's site, they've all been via podiobooks.com, so I'm not sure what you mean by "Chat". I'll go take a listen and compare and see if it's something I'd like to do too.

As for where I am in production, I move at a snail's pace with all of this so you could definitely pass me up! :o)

Thanks, again!

-Renee

[P.G. Holyfield]

The main benefits of doing your own feed separate from podiobooks.com are:

1. You can enhance the relationship between yourself and your listeners, by having intro and outro chatter for each episode. Listeners hear timely news items and come to understand who you are as a person and as a writer. The future of publishing is tied to this sort of relationship building.
2. While many Podiobooks consumers only want completed podcast novels, subscribers to your feed are doing it because they enjoy the serialized aspects of this medium. Most even enjoy being 'cliffhangered' and having to wait a week or two for the next episode.

The negatives:

1. The intro and outro chatter is time-sensitive, and people that start the novel late (through your own feed) are getting a lot of info that wastes their time.
2. You have to do all the work involved in creating your own website (although you should have one anyways), maintaining it, paying for it, etc.
3. There are people that do this VERY well, and if you don't meet listener/subscriber expectations, they might not stick around to listen to your story, even if it is good.

[Mike Sharpe]

You've got to be good at it, if you've had people listening for TWO years!

[R.E. Chambliss]

Wow! Thanks! I listened to the first episode of Murder at Avedon Hill from your web site and it was really well done. I'm amazed at how much buzz and interest you had before releasing the first episode. That's fabulous! I'd thought most of my initial listeners would come from people who'd listened to other podiobooks, but now I see that isn't necessarily the case.

Lots to think about!

Thanks again for your advice!

-Renee

[P.G. Holyfield]

Thanks! It makes me cringe a bit to listen to that first episode now, but it still works for most poeple. :-)

I spent a good amount of time before starting the podcast becoming a contributing force on other podcasts (not necessarily fiction related podcasts) and on RPG and writing forums. It definitely paid off when I started the podcast novel.

[Evo Terra]

Mike did a great job of summing it up.

We live in a world of infinite possibilities. Spread it everywhere.

[Philippa Ballantine]

I think an indie feed allows for those 'extras' that some people love and some people hate. When I did Chasing the Bard I had Bard Talk at the end that allowed me to communicate with people, building that all important community element. I played feedback and gave insight into why I wrote the book etc. A peek behind the curtain can be a lot of fun for listeners.
Another advantage of an indie feed is that you can drop other things into it, such as competitions, syndicate interviews you may have done on other shows, and put in announcements (Such as your podcast having won awards)
I ran a competition where 'the dark goddess' Sive, got people to complete tasks to evangelise the podiobook. That was only in my indie feed, and appeared to work quite well.
Making two versions of one podcast is not much extra effort and I recommend it. It's all about giving people choice.

[R.E. Chambliss]

I'm so excited to hear from you! I LOVE Chasing the Bard and thought your reading was wonderful!

I downloaded the first episode from your web site and can really see the advantage of that extra material included in the author feed.

Thanks so much!

-Renee

[Dave Hitt]

If you were running a retail store and only had one way to buy an item, say, MasterCard, you'd fail. You need to let them pay with every major credit card, most minor cards, checks, and of course, cash. You want to make it easy as possible for them to do business with you, using whatever method they choose.

Your listeners are your customers. Give them as many options as possible to make it easy for them. Some people hate iTunes, so if that's your only option you've lost them as a potential listener. Some like using Podcatchers, but others find that too confusing, so of you only offer an RSS feed you've lost listeners. And a surprising number like to listen directly from a web site. Personally, I can't stand listening to a book that way, but since some of my listeners like to, I'm make that available for them. (If you use a player that references your RSS feed you'll only have to set it up once. I've used the PuPu player for years and like it.) Some people like commentary, others don't, so having two versions takes care of everyone.

Personally, I don’t think there should be any intro chatter. It's annoying – your listener wants to get to the story NOW, dammit. "You're listening Yadda Yadda by Mr. Author, available at domainname.com." is sufficient. I don't even like "the story so far" stuff, but if you do it, keep it brief. You can chatter as much as you want on the outro, because people can skip it easily if they want to.

Putting comments on the end also greatly simplifies having two versions, because the timing of everything remains the same for the whole episode. For Blood Witness I created two intros – one for podiobooks and one for the live feed – the only difference was one referred listeners to Podiobooks, the other to Blood Witness.com. They were both the exact same length. I also had a Podiobooks outro on the same channel as the PB intro. The chatter for the live feed went on a different track. I created a template pre-loaded with the intros and outros and tracks for bumpers and narration. I'd plug in the narration, put the bumpers in the right places, then add the closing comments on their own track. When it was all done creating the two versions was simple. For the Podiobooks version I turned on the PB intro/outro track, turned off the live feed tracks and did a mixdown. Then I'd do another mixdown with the podiobooks intro/outro channel muted and the live channels turned on. Because the intros were identical in length I didn't have to mess around with the bumpers for each version.