I keep starting and stopping this post and then having to restart it again, mainly because the landscape changes under my feet rapidly enough that whatever I’m trying to report on shifts before I can finish this post.
So here goes, typing fast before it all changes again…
One of the big drawbacks I’ve found to the iTunes handling of podcasts is that it’s more or less impossible to find out how many times anyone has downloaded a specific track or subscribed or whatever. Near as I can tell, there’s no stats available to the people publishing their podcasts, which seems like a glaring oversight.
Needless to say, there is a podcast out there that visitors to this site might be interested in. If you’d like to hear my latest novel being read by me, chapter by chapter, then you can click on this link and subscribe to it at iTunes.
If you do, please drop me a line and let me know how you like it.
Two of the readers have finished the book and so far the response has been pretty positive overall. Neither of them are people who have any particularly good reason to lie to me, so I have to take them at their word.
Although I am intensely irritated that one of them found a legitimate continuity error in the diner chapter — something I should have caught on my own.
Some good comments and criticism coming in, though. More than a couple of things worth thinking about. Nothing that changes the manuscript in significant ways, just points of clarity or correction that ought to be addressed and should be easy to resolve.
Looking forward to hearing what other people have to say.
I recorded the podcast for the twelfth chapter tonight — actually, it was my third time through it. I had a very difficult time finding the right voice for one of the characters, a really nasty witch named Annie. I’m not entirely satisfied with what I came up with, but it’s much better than the previous takes earlier in the week.
Next couple of chapters are really going to tax my vocal skills. I’m no Mel Blanc and there’s probably ten to twelve new characters to find voices for. One of them is a three headed dragon, so he should probably have three voices of his own as well.
Pity the podcast crowd, eh?
Monday, I send out my first batch of agent queries — well, actually, I’m just sending out one to start with. Shooting for the bullseye first because, well, why the hell not? But there’s about twelve agents on my list. Here’s hoping one of them sees something promising in my query and knows what to do with it.
Other things on my mind…
At first I was pretty annoyed to find out that Wes Anderson’s new movie has ‘Darjeeling’ in the title. But it turns out that if you search for ‘Darjeeling’ in iTunes, my podcast of the novel shows up. So that’s okay. Hopefully there’ll be some crossover between Wes’ fan base and mine.
Had a perfectly lovely day today, just spending time with my wife — running errands and enjoying the pre-October air. Next week is our first year anniversary.
Paper is the traditional gift. Perfect for a couple of writers.
There’s a hint of Hallowe’en in the wind, but not enough for my tastes. It’s still too warm.
It’ll cool off soon enough.
And then, Winter.
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Even as I typed this, more changes . . . the podcast is being downloaded more than I realized. We’re not talking thousands of people, but still a few more tonight were kind enough to subscribe. Interested to hear any response that comes through.