Podcasting: The Novel

Posted by: Heather Green on November 18

Who knew? Well certainly not me. I just got an email from Scott Sigler, who says that he had done a podcast over the summer to serialize a book called EarthCore that he had written. Now he’s serializing another book called Ancestor and it’s attracting 16,000 listeners.

Sigler wrote to me because he says he hasn’t been able to get any coverage in the mainstream media and he wonders why, since he think that “in two years, every major fiction book release will have a few chapters podcast for free, to expose the work and draw in buyers for the print version.”

“The publishing industry is only now starting to figure out this medium, with Penguin Books putting out the first publisher podcast to promote new books. Penguin just released their podcast–-I released EarthCore in March 2005.”

He’s right. It’s a no brainer to adopt this different technologies to market your book. But as to his lack of coverage, I can only say that because he’s right, Penguin’s move into podcasting makes more ripples, since the company is bigger. But we’re always happy to get emails from people about these kinds of things. Everything is moving so fast it’s hard to keep track of it all.

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Reader Comments

C.C.

November 21, 2005 08:10 AM

Great to see Scott and his work mentioned on this site. I am not a fan of audio books, but for some reason both of these podiobooks grabbed my interest and I can't shake it. They have Hollywood written all over them. Thanks for giving him some exposure.

Greg

November 21, 2005 12:32 PM

Other Podcasting Publishers:
Simon & Schuster
http://www.simonsays.com/content/index.cfm?sid=45
(scroll down to the podcast)
Holtzbrinck
http://www.holtzbrinckpodcasts.com

Juan Varela

November 23, 2005 12:04 PM

I don´t know if Scott Singler wrote the first podcast novel, perhaps was Paul Story with Tom Corven
http://www.dreamwords.com/TomCorven.htm
In spanish you can find another audionovels in podcast
http://periodistas21.blogspot.com/2005/07/la-radionovela-revive-con-el-podcast.html
Best,

Bobby

December 27, 2005 11:48 PM

Sigler is due much credit for giving something to the people that we've been waiting for. With his putting an entire novel up as a podcast he's really breaking new ground. Giving someone the opportunity to hear the book from the authors mouth is a real treat. This is something that is going to change the way that books are marketed in the future. Way to go Scott.

P.L.Hayes

January 14, 2006 04:16 AM

Neither "Earthcore" nor "Ancestor" are the sort of book I'd normally read but I was gripped by the "Earthcore" podiobook. Sigler's done everything right in creating his podiobooks and generating interest in them: The introduction of each episode and his reading of the body of his work is excellent. He's used appropriate music and sound effects, he's made a website for each podiobook and he's interacted engagingly and effectively with the audience as the episodes have come out. By contrast, Penguin's recent effort with "A Christmas Carol" was - apart perhaps from Geoffrey Palmer's reading of it - an example of how not to do it.

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In Blogspotting Senior Writer Stephen Baker and Associate Editor Heather Green take a look at how cutting-edge technologies are changing business and society. Whether its blogs or wikis, data crunching or data targeting, technology’s advances are reshaping the world that we live in.

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