Start a podcast, they said. It’ll sell more books, they said. Try it. You’ll see! So I did. The results are in.
Once upon a time…
I bought a microphone for podcasting. There it is, on the side of my writing desk, making me look as though I’m some kind of recording star. All I have to do is press record, and the track will be recorded.
Margo asks, “What are you gonna do with that?”
“I really don’t know,” I reply. I turn towards the gadget on the stand and ask, “What do I do next?”
I’m not new to microphones. Singing is my favourite pastime and I have a mike in my hand most weeks. Karaoke is great, but a podcast is speech and it’s written by me. It’s longer than a song and I have to decide what to say. What does one speak about that lasts longer than three and a half minutes?
Times have changed, and so too have microphones. USB plug-n-play microphones allow studio-quality sound straight into a computer without extra hardware. All you need is some software to utilize the microphone’s sound, record, and mix the things you’ve said into one.
- Bass boost activated – check
- Compression engaged – check
- Noise removal switched on – check
- Sound effects at the ready – check
- What to say – ummm…
By the time this post this, I’ll have something sorted out, I’m sure of it. The idea is to talk about the fiction I’m writing, photography, intimacy, relationships and all the things my novels include.
I tested out Soundcloud a long time ago with an old noise-cancelling Skype headset. It sounded pathetic! It made awful pops when I spoke and had too much mid-tone. It made me sound like I was talking through an old telephone system. This is what lead me to doing research on podcast mikes. I needed something with top-end and bass. And I wanted something that stopped the pop!
Soundcloud’s online player looked great, but as I saw things then, Spotify was becoming far more popular for podcasting content. Soundcloud was more about hosting songwriter’s music.
I bought the new mike, recorded what I needed and started uploading to Spotify. (see one below)
I’ve discovered I need a soundproof environment… and a better voice! These things I can work on. All I have to do is slow my speech, speak clearer and shoot the neighbour who uses his leaf blower every other day of the week. Easy.
That’s it. I hope you enjoyed this post.
UPDATE 11 Jan 2025: This post went out in 2020. After a few false starts, the first podcast episode finally landed online in August of that year. It found its groove, and I can attribute several hundred copies of my books to being downloaded and enjoyed because of it.
Special note: Book marketing doesn’t happen by podcasting alone. As most will say, it’s the combined efforts of podcasting, blogging, and the outcomes of social sharing and organic searches that make up the whole effort.
I’m still waiting for the best-seller tag to come through. Ha ha. Oh yes, the podcast is recorded in stereo for a more authentic sound.
– Michael Forman (Author of Dark Fiction – SEETHINGS)
“Forman’s writing style is artful, with the protagonist Mitchell’s warped thought processes masterfully exposed. The author has a powerful and vivid command of language and his word pictures are stark and disturbingly real.”
– Linda J Bettenay, author of ‘Secrets Mothers Keep’ and ‘Wishes For Starlight’.
Discover more from Michael Forman – Author of Dark Fiction & Drama
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