Podcasts: A New Medium of Literature

Apr 25, 2011
Amanda Blake

Podcast Icon (2011) - The logo of Podcasts and Podcasting, used for visual identification. - Apple

With a society of ever increasing 'life-on-the-go', literature can find its saving grace in podcasts.

What was the last book you read? Can you picture it? Was it a thick, leather bound tome that carried the faint smell of age, or was it a paperback fantasy you read on the bus on your way to work? Now what if you could enjoy those literary favorites without carrying around the book? As technology gains a more central position in our everyday lives, past mediums will have to learn to adapt or be left behind. Literature is one of current targets, and podcasts may just be the saving grace.

What is a Podcast?

A Podcast is an audio/video file produced for the mass distribution to an audience. The origin of its name is a combination of the famed iPod and Publishing On Demand Broadcasting. Broadcasters make use of podcasts as a way to reach a large and diverse audience, published in a commonly used file format type, such as mp3. This entertainment can be enjoyed through a paid subscription or even for free listening. Podcasts are made for convenience, with a relatively small file size – of course depending on file type and length – making it simple to listen to on computers and all mp3 players.

What might be the largest selling point for podcasts is the hefty selection of variety. There are thousands of podcasts available, and with as much variety as there are channels on the television: comedy, film & television, music, news, politics and, of course, literature. On the Internet, a person can find almost anything to suit their taste. And with the growth of podcasts still in its adolescence, the variety can only continue to grow and flourish.

Pre-production of Podcasting

Podcasting is a fledgling form of entertainment, having only found its start in the last decade. Podcasting for Dummies documents the first podcast to August 2004 when Adam Curry and Dave Winer created the code in RSS feeds, allowing automatic updates of information with subscription. But even this momentous beginning is debated; Apple describes the start of podcasting with the creation of iTunes. Nevertheless, there were podcasts available since 2004, including: The Dragon Page, Slacker Astronomy, Geek Fu Action Grip, Useful Sounds, Coverville, Escape Pod, and The Radio Adventures of Doctor Floyd to name a few.

The list of trailblazers or ‘early adopters’ of podcasting includes many big names still in the podcast universe today. Mur Lafferty, creator of Geek Fu Action Grip, has an award-winning novella series Heaven, which spanned five seasons, finally wrapping in 2009. Michael R. Mennenga founded FarPoint Media, and then along with Mur Lafferty and Tracy Hickman created the Parsec Awards, celebrating excellence in speculative fiction podcasting.

Finally, mention must be given to a New York Times Bestselling Author, Scott Sigler. Before being published, Sigler gave away self-recorded audiobooks as free, serialized podcasts. He reinvented book publishing with the world’s first “podcast only” novel EARTHCORE. His loyal fans, “Junkies” have downloaded more than eight million individual episodes of his stories, lending Sigler, and his innovative use of technology, brand-name exposure on a grand scale.

Audiobook vs. Podcast

Podcasts are not the only digital format books are being produced in, but they are the one of the most convenient. E-readers are an amazing advancement with books, allowing you to now take your entire library everywhere with you. But there is a glaring hurtle; e-readers are not hands-free. In an audio format, books can be enjoyed while driving to work, working out, or doing the laundry. But that still leaves the choice between audiobooks and podcasts.

When comparing audiobooks directly with podcasts, it can come down to individual preference as to which is better. In the production of most audiobooks, the recording happens collectively with a single reader, but can include more. With podcasts, the recording is broken into sections, allowing broadcasters to put a more in depth experience into the audio; use of multiple voices for characters, sound effects and music. The overall affect is reminiscent to a radio drama than a simple book reading. Maybe you prefer your story in one shot, or acquiring them in smaller, chapter installments. In the end, it’s always down to personal opinion.

The Grand Digital Equalizer

Podcasts are not only a growing source of entertainment, it is also creates a more level playing field for people with a love of literature. We can all remember at one time or another reading about a celebrity author and thinking, ‘I could do that if I had their resources.” Now you can and probably at a lower cost. We’re living in the time of a technological boom. "It's an experiment, really," explains Christopher Lydon, the ex-New York Times and National Public Radio journalist. "Everything is inexpensive. The tools are available. Everyone has been saying anyone can be a publisher, anyone can be a broadcaster," he says, "Let's see if that works."

The tools are out there for aspiring writers, so all that’s left it to gain a little know-how. If you want to learn podcasting for yourself, check out the article on Podcast How-to’s or How to Create a Professional Podcast.