A "podcast"
is just an online audio (and, less commonly, video) file. It
could be of a deeply probing interview; of a bunch of kids singing
"Kumbaya"; or of say, you reading your epic poem about
belly dancing in the grocery store. It could be a single fileyour
reading at your local bookstore on March 17, 2015, or, say, a
radio show-style series of interviews with fellow horror novelists,
one posted each Saturday upon the toll of midnight.
There may be an eye-crossing
number of ways to categorize these things, but if you're writer
thinking about getting started with podcasting, I would suggest
that you first clearly identify the level of commitment you are
willing to make to your listeners who lets hopeare
going to be eager for your next podcast.
1. No Commitment
This would be a single, stand-alone podcast. Such is my first,
which is simply a recording I made of my lecture I gave at the
Library of Congress back in 2009 about the research behind my
novel, The
Last Prince of the Mexican Empire.
Listen in to
my lecture for the Library of Congress.
2. Intentionally
Vague Commitment
I call my podcast
series "Conversations with Other Writers" an "occasional
series" because, as I state on the
webpage, I post these "whenever the literary spirits
move me and the planets align." Right now, that's about
once a year... maybe. By the way, I just posted the eighth podcast
in this series, a conversation with historian M.M. McAllen about
a mind-blogglingly transnational period in Mexican history.
Listen in to this Conversation
with M.M. McAllen.
3. Meaningful but
Capped Commitment
This would
be my "Marfa Mondays Podcasting
Project," 24 podcasts to run from January 2012
December 2013, apropos of my book in-progress on Far West Texas.
Not all but most of these are of interviews, and although I have
posted 20 so far, my self-imposed deadline of December 2013 did
not hold, alas. For reasons too complex to go into here, in the
middle of this project, I went and wrote a
biography. And that's OK. I may be slow, but with only four
more podcasts to go, I'll get there soon enough!
Listen in to the "Marfa Mondays"
podcasts.
4. High Commitment
This would
involve high production values, a regular, strictly respected,
and ongoing schedule, and surely necessitate and perhaps even
command fees from listeners by way of "memberships."
Into this last straight jacket of a category I quake to venture,
for I really do love writing more than I love podcasting.