Category: Audio Drama

by Bob Tinsley

Why should you as a visitor to TVWriter™ be interested in making audio fiction? Why should you be interested in making podcasts? Discoverability, that’s why.

The meaning of the word podcast is evolving to include any episodic, audio-only production whether nonfiction or fiction. Agents and major studios have started trawling through podcasts and their creators for new content and talent. 

So here’s the latest news to help you and your podcast get discovered: 

Music from https://filmmusic.io
“The Builder” by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)
License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

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• OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS.

Seeking: Audio Drama Scripts.

If you would like to dip your toe into the audio fiction scene without taking on the whole magilla of recording and production, this might be the ticket for you. Hawk and Cleaver is looking for audio fiction scripts in the horror, thriller, and/or sci-fi genre in the 10- to 15-minute range for a new project. Deadline is February 25th.

https://bit.ly/37YcVKm

• RESOURCES, PART 1.

Podcast Revolution: The Rise And Rise Of Audio Storytelling.

This article by Richard Brooks gives a brief overview of the history of audio fiction shows. Every show he mentions is worth a listen to hear how to do audio right. The best takeaway from this is his list of the most influential audio dramas over the past 50 years, as voted on by radio and podcast drama producers. There is real gold here.

http://theconversation.com/podcast-revolution-the-rise-and-rise-of-audio-storytelling-128356

• RESOURCES, PART 2.

The Road to Quitting Our Day Jobs with Patreon.

Sean Howard of Fable and Folly Productions has made just about every mistake it’s possible to make on Patreon. As a result, you really need to follow him (@passitalong on Twitter) and listen to what he has to say. The first link is to a PDF slideshow about his journey as a Patreon user. Whatever you can’t find there you can find on the second link to Fable and Folly’s resource page. Particularly fascinating are the links to his ELEVEN PART Medium series about his Patreon growth experiment.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1f6VR4EylqkcFFleuwaHDnCpzr3PsXusC/view

https://fableandfolly.productions/resources/

• WE NEED MORE LISTENERS.

5-Step Social Media Blueprint To Grow Your Audience.

This article by Traci Long DeForge lays out five ways to increase your effectiveness on social media. One of the things she recommends is the use of Audiograms, something that is turning up increasingly often in advice posts. An audiogram is a “video” that shows a static graphic while your show plays. In addition to the method for production she mentions, you can also create one using Windows Photos.

https://podcastbusinessjournal.com/5-step-social-media-blueprint-to-grow-your-audience/

• IF YA WANNA WRITE, YA GOTTA LISTEN, PART 1.

Jarnsaxa Rising.

Lindsay Harris Friel wrote and produced this show about what might happen when Norse gods manifest in the present. Sound engineering and music were done by Vincent Friel. Just above the 60th parallel in the Baltic Ocean, a team of researchers arrives at an abandoned wind farm, to investigate some unexplained energy surges. They discover that the wind farm has become sentient. And hungry. Filled with cliffhangers and action, the two seasons of this show are imminently bingeable.

https://jarnsaxarising.com/

• IF YA WANNA WRITE, YA GOTTA LISTEN, PART 2.

2019 Audio Verse Award Winners.

The annual Audio Verse Awards are the Academy Awards of the audio world. Shows are nominated and voted on by the audio fiction community. There are three main divisions: improvised production, basically live game-play; spoken word production, one narrator; and audio play production. From the website: “2019 marked a change in how Fiction has been recognized in Apple Podcasts, though early iPod adopters know Audio Fiction to have been there since the early days. The titans of modern audio drama have shown themselves capable of not only using audio to create new stories that have emotional impact, but even inspire their listeners to tell their own stories. Not only are more people listening to stories in audio, today’s listeners are becoming tomorrow’s creators.”

https://audioverseawards.net/2019-winners/

Until next week, same Pod-time, same Pod-channel, keep listening and keep creating.

by Bob Tinsley

Why should you as a visitor to TVWriter™ be interested in making audio fiction? Why should you be interested in making podcasts? Discoverability, that’s why.

The meaning of the word podcast is evolving to include any episodic, audio-only production whether nonfiction or fiction. Agents and major studios have started trawling through podcasts and their creators for new content and talent. 

So here’s the latest news to help you and your podcast get discovered: 

Music from https://filmmusic.io
“The Builder” by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)
License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

---

• I TOLD YOU SO.

Hunted Writer Jeffrey Baker On How He Crafted The Dick Wolf Audio Drama.

This is an excellent article on the differences and similarities between writing for TV and writing for audio. Jeffrey Baker, one of the writers on Law & Order: SVU, knows whereof he speaks. It turns out there are more similarities than differences. On how he liked writing for audio Baker said: “I would just say I’m super excited that this kind of storytelling’s come back and audiences are into audio fiction.”

https://onechicagocenter.com/2019/12/27/hunted-podcast-jeffrey-baker-interview/

• I TOLD YOU SO, PART 2.

Podcaster Kenneth Vigue On Chad: A Fallout 76 Story.

If Forbes Magazine isn’t the Big Time, I don’t know what is. Forbes has been following podcasts and audio fiction for a while now, even publishing a regular column by the wonderful Sarah Rhea Werner, podcaster and creator/showrunner of the Girl in Space audio fiction show. Alex Kane interviews Vigue about how he turned fanfic for the video game, Fallout 76, into a full-blown audio fiction show with up to 18 voice actors and pro quality sound design. If he can, you can.

https://bit.ly/2QA9ORt

https://fallout76podcast.com/

• RESOURCES.

All of 2019’s Audio Drama/Fiction Podcast Debut Releases.

A list fromThe Cambridge Geek detailing all 660+ audio fiction, RPG, audio fiction shows that released a debut episode in 2019, separated by genre. One hell of a list. Thanks to The Cambridge Geek for this epic work.

https://bit.ly/2QqeBpX

• RESOURCES, PART 2.

How To Podcast For Free (Or As Little Money As Possible).

You can spend a lot of money producing and hosting an audio fiction show. Or you can do it for nothing out of pocket. Matthew McClean, one of the creators of A Scottish Podcast, gives you the skinny on how to do it in this short but informative article. Read it.

https://www.thepodcasthost.com/planning/how-to-podcast-for-free/

• WE NEED MORE LISTENERS.

How To Grow Your Podcast With Facebook Ads.

This article from Gavin Bell at The Podcast Host tells you why and how to make Facebook ads that will increase your audience. The best thing about Facebook ads is that you can target your specific audience. Some people aren’t thrilled with the performance of FB ads, but this article tells you how to do it economically.

https://bit.ly/3510vzh

• WE NEED MORE LISTENERS, PART 2.

Extra, Extra: The Power Of Supplementary Material For Podcasts.

Wil Williams strikes again! If you want to attract, maintain, and even increase your listening audience, providing supplemental material relating to your show is one proven way to do it. In spite of the fact that your main content is audio, the more text and images you have on your website the better your Google-fu will be. Think about posting your scripts, production logs, even fan art and fan fic from your listeners. As Jean-Luc Pickard would say: Engage!

https://bit.ly/2FoAI9K

• IF YA WANNA WRITE, YA GOTTA LISTEN.

Moonbase Theta, Out.

Created by D. J. Sylvis this show follows the skeleton crew of five people tasked with shutting down the last moonbase. The first season follows the crew through the reports of Communications Officer Roger Bragado-Fischer to the management team on Earth. Season 1 consists of 20 episodes that average about 5 minutes each, so it’s easy, and fun, to binge the whole thing in a couple of sessions. Season 2, which just concluded, consists of the personal logs of the five crew members as they experience the events covered in Season 1. 

From the website: “Join the crew of Moonbase Theta, as well as Roger’s husband Alex from back on Earth, as they reach out to share the beauty, the isolation and frustration, the love and enmity, the humour, and the tragedy, as they all count down to the operation’s end.” Listen and enjoy!.

https://monkeymanproductions.com/moonbase-theta-out/

Until next week, same Pod-time, same Pod-channel, keep listening and keep creating.

by Bob Tinsley

Why should you as a visitor to TVWriter™ be interested in making audio fiction? Why should you be interested in making podcasts? Discoverability, that’s why.

The meaning of the word podcast is evolving to include any episodic, audio-only production whether nonfiction or fiction. Agents and major studios have started trawling through podcasts and their creators for new content and talent. 

So here’s the latest news to help you and your podcast get discovered: 

Music from https://filmmusic.io
“The Builder” by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)
License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

---

• I TOLD YOU SO.

Tessa Thompson To Star In & Produce QCode Sci-Fi-Thriller Podcast The Left Right Game.

Tessa Thompson of Westworld and Avengers: Endgame not only stars in but also produces The Left Right Game, an audio fiction podcast created by Jack Anderson. Thompson plays Alice, an idealistic young journalist who tries to make a name for herself at a new job by following a group of paranormal explorers, obsessed with a seemingly harmless pastime known as the Left/Right Game. The journey takes her into a supernatural otherworld that she and the other members of the expedition cannot handle or survive. The podcast is in post-production and will debut in February of 2020.

https://deadline.com/2019/12/tessa-thompson-podcast-left-right-game-qcode-1202810238/

• I TOLD YOU SO, PART 2.

Gillian Jacobs & Josh Gad’s Podcast ‘Blood Ties’ Is Like True Crime, But Fake.

Gillian Jacobs of Community, Love, and Don’t Think Twice stars in this six episode first season audio fiction story from the Wondery podcast network. Wondery is known for its strong stable of true crime podcasts. Blood Ties follows in their footsteps, but in a fictional form. Blood Ties tells the story of siblings Eleonore (Gillian) and Michael (Gad), who lose their parents unexpectedly in a plane crash. Dark secrets come to light leading the siblings to come to terms with their parents’ unknown lives.

http://elitedai.ly/2ZhvWEf

• RESOURCES.

A (Written) Oral History of “ars PARADOXICA”.

A LONG article written by Wil Williams, someone you should make a point of following, about the classic (first went live in 2015, so classic works) fiction podcast “ars PARADOXICA” from initial concepts to the grand finale 36+ episodes later. This was probably the first and only audio production to employ a fight choreographer to “make action you can see with your ears.” They also employed a writer’s room. This was the first podcast any of them had ever made. 

https://wilwilliams.reviews/2019/12/13/a-written-oral-history-of-ars-paradoxica/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

• WE NEED MORE LISTENERS.

Podcast Promotion: The Ultimate Guide To Growing Your Audience.

This article by Matthew McLean gives you tips and techniques for promoting your show, some of which are different from what you most often find. For instance, most podcasts put a call to action in the outro to review the show. Instead ask your listeners to recommend your show to one of their friends. All of the suggestions are clear and practical. He also recommends other articles for further background.

https://www.thepodcasthost.com/promotion/podcast-promotion/

• IF YA WANNA WRITE, YA GOTTA LISTEN.

Girl In Space, Created, Written, Produced, And Everything Else By Sarah Rhea Werner.

One of my favorite podcasts by one of my favorite podcasters. Girl In Space is a sci-fi mystery podcast following a young botanist on board an abandoned and disintegrating space station fighting for survival. Who is she? No one knows. But a lot of dangerous entities really want to find out. Season One begins with the main character’s audio journal with additional characters being added as the season progresses. The main character, played by Sarah Rhea Werner her own self, is a snarky, exuberant, endlessly curious young woman with a fiercely independent mind. Bonus: scripts are available. Great fun.

https://www.girlinspacepodcast.com/

Until next week, same Pod-time, same Pod-channel, keep listening and keep creating.