Tricks of the Podcasting Masters

aceydacey writes "Tricks of the Podcasting Masters is a good read if you want to find out the who, what, when, why and where of the podcasting phenomenon. It is not a technical re-hash of the hardware and software tools of podcasting, but rather a discussion of the creative side of podcasting, its history, personalities, techniques, tricks and motivations. It is a good read for anyone interested in creating and promoting a podcast, and also for anyone who is interested in the inside scoop on what makes podcasters do what they do." Read on for the rest of Ron's review. Tricks of the Podcasting Masters author Rob Walch and Mur Lafferty pages 362 publisher Que rating 8 reviewer Ron Stephens ISBN 0-7897-3574-1 summary An inside look at the world of podcasting.

The authors are both well known pioneers of the podcasting genre. Rob Walch is the host of the popular Podcast411 show, and during the year a half this show has run, he has interviewed over 150 podcasters, including Adam Curry and almost every other luminary in and around podcasting. Mur Lafferty is the host of the Geek Fu Action Grip podcast, famous in Science Fiction circles, and the I Should be Writing Podcast, for aspiring authors.

The book excels in offering detailed advice to podcasters on how to improve and market their shows. Many of the big names in podcasting are quoted at length giving their advice, and the authors give candid, sober counsel that is not sugar coated with what the aspiring podcaster wants to hear. The theme is that doing a great podcast is hard work, and if one is willing to invest the time and effort, the book has plenty of helpful hints. This advice is of a practical nature including time management, how to stay motivated, and how to talk in front of a microphone and not sound like a robot. Podcasters will appreciate the pragmatic advice on how to script and edit a show, and how to relate to an audience effectively.

There is a lot of material on how to market and promote a podcast, and some of this advice is surprising, including innovative ideas on how to reach out beyond the podcasting community to the wider society, local media and unrelated internet activities. For some podcasters, this will be the most valuable part of the book.

The authors have both succeeded in turning their podcasting into at least part time careers, but their advice on monetizing podcasts is among the most sober and straight shooting I have ever seen or heard. They very carefully share all the revenue generating methods and ideas they have come across, and how to best exploit them; but they nevertheless give the grim statistics about how few podcasts will ever actually turn a profit, much less allow a podcaster to quit his or her day job.

There is a large section of the book devoted to detailing sixteen different genres of podcasting, such as audioblogs, comedy casts, educational, gaming, religious and spiritual, interview casts, music, news, politics, radio dramas, Q-Podders (alternative lifestyles), science fiction, sex, tech, sports and the written word. Four to six podcasts of each genre are highlighted including quotes from the shows' hosts. There is also coverage of the legal and ethical issues involved in podcasting , such as music licensing and laws concerning wire tapping that might come into play when conducting interviews by phone.

Utilizing the authors actual experience as consultants, the book is also a good resource for corporate podcasters who are using podcasting to market, promote or enhance existing businesses or information media. This is material not found in any other podcasting book I have read.

Much of the allure of the book is in the feeling of being on the inside, seeing what it is really like to be a pioneer in a hot new internet phenomenon. As such, this book will not age as quickly as other podcasting books that focus mostly on how to pick and use specific software and hardware podcasting tools. On the other hand, if you need detailed help on using such tools, this book is not the one for you.

On balance, I really enjoyed this book. If you have an interest in podcasting, either as a listener or a podcaster, you probably will enjoy it also. If you are not already interested in podcasting, this book might or might not stimulate you to look into it further, but at least you will find out what all the fuss is about.

As an exercise in full disclosure, I should confess to hosting two podcast series of my own, the AwareTek philosophical podcast, and the Python411 podcast about the Python programming language."

You can purchase Tricks of the Podcasting Masters from bn.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.

Comments

Oblig.

[Red Flayer]

1. Read lots of 'blogging' references.
2. Find & replace 'blog' with 'podcast'.
3. Find a publisher.
4. Profit

Yes, I understand that there are differences between blogging and podcasting -- but not that many in the long run. One could easily recycle so much 'blogging' material for 'podcasting' that I frankly see little need to discuss podcasting.

And pardon the apostrophes for 'blog' and 'podcast' -- it's just that I hate both terms and resist allowing them into my personal dictionary. Now get off my lawn.

Re:Yawn...

[PFI_Optix]

What irks me more is that all of a sudden "streaming audio" is "podcasting", as if the iPod had anything to do with its inception.

Besides, let's face it...the majority of it is people talking about stuff they know nothing about.

Oh...no wonder you get modded down :D

(/obligatory poke at slashdot posters)

Podcasts are not profitable, but podcasting can be

[Colgate2003]

I'm a podcaster, both personally and professionally.

At the recent Podcast Academy at Boston University, one of the big messages that I heard over and over was this: You won't be able to quit your day job and podcast full time. What you may be able to do though, is quit your day job and tell others how to podcast.

For better or worse, there are many individuals, organizations, companies, and even governments getting involved in podcasting. Many of them feel that they need consultants to guide them along the way. If you can put a moderately popular show together, the money may come from helping others to do the same.

Here is the Value of Podcasts and Podcasting!

[Ursus Maximus]

Podcasts allow good audio material on very specific subjects to reach its audience, even when the prospective audience is very small, and not in one geographic area. If the number of people in the world that is interested in your specialty or passion is only 1000, then a for-pay radio station, magazine or book is not economically feasible.

Podcasts are basically Radio Shows on the Internet (Like Howard Stern or Rush Limbaugh or Dr. Ruth), but what makes them special is how the Shows are delivered to the user.

Podcasts are like Magazine Subscriptions. With a magazine subscription you register for a magazine (podcast) and then every so often the publisher (podcaster) will send one to your house (Granted with podcasts the aggregator goes out and fetches it. Now after the Magazine is delivered, it sits in your Mailbox (aggregator) until someone removes the Mail and puts it on the Kitchen Table (iTunes). You then decide when you want to read that magazine (Daily Source Code) or some other magazine or you can just throw it away because it no longer interests you. You can also cancel any subscription at any time.

Now there are a couple of key differences between Podcasts and Magazines.

With Podcasts, you only receive those you have subscribed to. There are no unwanted L.L. Bean or Victoria (XXX) Secrets Magazines cluttering up your mailbox. Actually that is one of the great points of Podcasting (so Far) it is Spam Free - oops I mean Junk Mail free. And Talking about Free - Podcasts are Free - Yup they don't cost a dime or even any Frequent Flyer Miles.

Many people find particular podcasts very valuable. Podcasts empower individuals to reach a global audience, no matter how specialized or small.

Podcasts give complete control to the audience, the individual listener, who can choose exactly which content to listen to, with no spam or irrelevant material included.

Millions of people enjoy podcasts, especially the time-shifting aspects of podcasting. One can listen while driving, jogging, exercising or whenever.

Sure, audio streaming on the net is old news. Before blogs, written journals on the web existed. Before the printing press, books existed. It's a matter of scale and an issue of technology empowering millions of people to do what only a few did before.

Ursus Maximus

One key element...

[Lumilux]

Most podcasts that I've listened to all sound "amateurish" because of one thing that's missing: background music. Yes, it may seem cheesy, and yes, it may be difficult to find properly-licensed material, but soft background music could really improve some of the bland 'casts out there.

Re:Oblig - not even close

[MythoBeast]

This post was obviously written by someone who hasn't spent a lot of time parusing podcasts. Although there is a great profusion of podcasts which are analogous to blogging, the majority of the types of podcasts out there are much more diverse. Some of them compare better to your typical radio music program, published over the internet. Some are more like articles for New Scientist, or take their direction from shows like Cosmos. Others are purely informational, like the ones that provide the morning news, weather, or Slashdot headlines. Suggesting that podcasts are just audio blogs is like suggesting that newspaper articles are all there is to writing.

More importantly, your audience is EXTREMELY different. Podcasting is more of a unidirectional format, whereas those who read blogs get off on being able to comment back at the people. Podcast listeners listen throughout the day, using it as background noise, or as a way to make their car trips more palatable. Most of them use Podcasts to make themselves more productive. Blog readers, on the other hand, use blogs as a way to release tension between things their doing, more as a leisure activity. These two are of a significantly different mindset, and they are attracted to a significantly different presentation of content.

The differences are quite profuse when you get down to it. Even the methods of monetization are very, very different.

Also, this post suggests that most of the material in this book is recycled, which also conveys a complete lack of insight into the creators of the book. Rob Walch has been studying the finer points of podcasting pretty much since its inception, and has provided as much of the information as possible in his podcast. If you want to call it recycled, then it's a compilation of the author's own materials from the Podcast medium into a book. I can't speak for Mur Lafferty, because he was previously unknown to me. I suspect that he was largely responsible for the composition and phrasology in the book, while adding what he knows about podcasting to Rob's already voluminous knowledge.