Podcast novel
Encyclopedia
The Podcast Novel is a literary
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...

 format that combines the concepts of a podcast
Podcast
A podcast is a series of digital media files that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication...

 and an audiobook. Like a traditional novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....

, a podcast novel is a work of long literary fiction, however this form of novel is recorded into episodes that are delivered over the Internet, usually on a regular basis. Often the episodes are delivered automatically via RSS
RSS
-Mathematics:* Root-sum-square, the square root of the sum of the squares of the elements of a data set* Residual sum of squares in statistics-Technology:* RSS , "Really Simple Syndication" or "Rich Site Summary", a family of web feed formats...

 or other syndication protocols. These files are either listened to directly on a user's computer or loaded onto a portable media device to be listened to later.

Content

The types of novels that are podcasted vary from new works from new authors that have never been printed
Printing
Printing is a process for reproducing text and image, typically with ink on paper using a printing press. It is often carried out as a large-scale industrial process, and is an essential part of publishing and transaction printing....

, to well established authors that have been around for years, to classic works of literature that have been in print for over a century. Some podcast novels are elaborately narrated with separate voice actors for each character and sound effects, similar to a radio play. Other podcast novels simply have a narrator reading the text of the story by themselves with little or no sound effects whatsoever.

Distribution

Podcast novels are distributed over the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...

, commonly on a weblog. Most podcast novels release their episodes on a regular schedule(e.g. once a week) until the work is complete. These podcast novels can either be downloaded manually from the website, or they can be delivered automatically via RSS
RSS
-Mathematics:* Root-sum-square, the square root of the sum of the squares of the elements of a data set* Residual sum of squares in statistics-Technology:* RSS , "Really Simple Syndication" or "Rich Site Summary", a family of web feed formats...

 or other syndication protocols.

Promotion

Many podcast novelists use giving away a free podcast version of their book as a form of promotion. Some novelists have even secured publishing contracts to have their novels printed. Scott Sigler
Scott Sigler
Scott Carl Sigler is a contemporary American author of science fiction and horror as well as an avid podcaster. Originally from Michigan he now resides in San Francisco, California with his wife and their dog, Emma.-Biography:...

's novel Contagious appeared on the New York Times Hardcover
Hardcover
A hardcover, hardback or hardbound is a book bound with rigid protective covers...

 Fiction Bestseller list, and was also released as a free podcast novel. Podcast novelists have commented that podcasting their novels lets them build audiences even if they cannot get a publisher to buy their books. These audiences then make it easier to secure a printing deal with a publisher at a later date. These podcast novelists also claim the exposure that releasing a free podcast gains them makes up for the fact that they are giving away their work for free.

Podiobooks.com

Since 2004 podiobooks.com has been operating, providing free Podcast novels via their own website and other outlets such as iTunes. Founded by Evo Terra
Evo Terra
Evo Terra is an American podcaster, writer and businessman based in Arizona.Evo Terra founded Podiobooks.com in 2004, an audiobook service that uses podcasting technology to distribute serialized versions of novels, non-fiction books, anthologies and short story collections.In 2005, Terra was a...

, Tee Morris
Tee Morris
Thomas Earl "Tee" Morris is a contemporary American author of Epic Fantasy, Detective Fiction, and Steampunk as well as a classical actor and avid podcaster. He is a graduate of James Madison University with a degree in theater and mass communications, and resides in Manassas,...

and Chris Miller, podiobooks.com provides a platform and community for aspiring podcasters to be able to distribute their work worldwide.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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