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Posts Tagged ‘Emerian Rich’

Interview with Author/Podcaster Emerian Rich – Part 2

Posted on: January 15th, 2012 by Camille 2 Comments

This is the last installment of a series of guest posts from author/podcaster Emerian Rich.

Thanks, Emerian, for sharing all your podcasting knowledge with us!

4. How long is each pod cast?

Depends. Usually people are listening to you on a commute, or through their entire work day. 25-35 minutes is good to shoot for, that way they can take as little or as much as they like. Most professional, quality assurance run podcast sites (like Podiobooks.com) insist that you stay within a set time. If you choose 25 minutes, then stick to that every cast. For the authors out there, this might mean combining chapters or splitting them up. Podcast listeners don’t care. They want content. They aren’t going to check your paperback against the audio. Also, don’t confuse listeners with… “Episode 3, Chapter 3 &4” nonsense. These people are usually in cars, walking, riding the subway, or doing their jobs. Throwing a whole bunch of numbers at them is going to confuse them the next time they listen to you. Did they already listen to 3 or was it 4? A simple “Chapter 3” or “Episode 3” is fine. You are the one that will have to keep track of which chapters are in which episodes. For those of you looking to do a free form podcast that is more like a radio show, you will be more free to explore the time limits and push the limits on what type of show you do. The book listening public may not be your audience then. That is ok. Just know your audience and go for it 100%, and you will get a fan base. Underwater basket weaving is a common joke, but if you make a cast for it… they will come. Listeners are hungry for new, exciting, non-traditional, entertainment that pushes the boundaries or fits what they are interested in. So choose something you obsess about, and make it a show. (more…)

Interview with Author/Podcaster Emerian Rich – Part 1

Posted on: December 27th, 2011 by Camille 2 Comments

Over the past few weeks, author and podcaster Emerian Rich has been kind enough to share her tips on podcasting with us. Next up is an interview with Emerian Rich, where she provides us with even more insight into podcasting. I’ll be posting the interview in two parts.

Q: What software do you recommend for creating podcasts?

A: Audacity, Levelator, and iTunes. These are all free online.

Audacity is the best recording software for those of you starting out. It’s free and has a lot of features that will be fun to play with. If you are a Mac user, they have Garage Band.
Levelator which will bring your audio levels, level. Sounds pretty basic, but very important. If you have ever been watching a television show and a commercial comes on that is super loud, this means they have different audio levels. You don’t want that to happen on your cast. Especially since most of your listeners are wearing earbuds. If they get a loud blast a couple times in the ear, that’s the last you’ll be seeing them.
iTunes: The easiest way to tag audio files.

Q: What equipment do you recommend for podcasting?

(more…)

Guest post by Emerian Rich: 5 Tips on Podcasting, Part 2

Posted on: December 16th, 2011 by Camille No Comments

Last week I posted writer Emerian Rich’s first two tips on podcasting. Click here to check them out. Next week I will be posting an interview from Emerian, which will have a more in-depth look at podcasting.

Here are Emerian’s next tips on podcasting:

3. Join the Podiobooks.com Community: at http://community.podiobooks.com/ They have a mentoring group there that you can post a audio file and get feedback and critique on the audio performance before you put it out for listeners. This is only for novel podcasts, but it is a great learning tool just to go there and read the posts. You can even listen to the audios posted and then read the notes to learn what the common mistakes are. You also make friends there who may be your podcasting buddies of the future. Several of my very good podcasting buddies now are people I helped a few years ago.

4. Buy minimal equipment before you commit to your career as a podcaster: I’ve had several friends all gung-ho to make their own podcasts, go out and buy hundreds of dollars worth of equipment, only to find out they can’t stand all the hours of sound editing you have to do.

For beginning podcasters, you should not go out and buy an expensive mic. Work with what you have until you find that you’ve surpassed its usefulness. You don’t need mixers, expensive sound software, or voice changers unless you have money to throw away. They are nice, but not necessary.

5. Test out the waters with a mini-show: Having a tester, free form show, will help you work out the kinks and cause you to become comfortable behind the mic. Read old poems you wrote, talking about fly fishing… whatever you want, but produce the show and post it out on a site like Mevio.com. It’s free to upload shows there and they have a read-made audience to pull from. Also, they have the added bonus of being so big… that if you don’t promote the show, you won’t have many listeners, so you can test it out without feeling like you have to be perfect.

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Emerian Rich is an author, artist, and Horror Host. She has been podcasting since 2007, has made hundreds of guest appearances and hosts HorrorAddicts.net, which will begin its 7^th Season in 2012. Her vampire series, Night’s Knights, has amassed a million downloads. Writing under Emmy Z. Madrigal, she also has Sweet Dreams Musical Romance Series, which was the first romance novel series to be podcasted. There are now three novels up for listening pleasure, with a fourth on the way. To find out more about Emerian, go to: emzbox.com

Guest post by Emerian Rich: 5 Tips on Podcasting, Part 1

Posted on: December 10th, 2011 by Camille 1 Comment

Podcasting is something that has always fascinated me. I had the pleasure of meeting author and podcaster Emerian Rich at this year’s Santa Rosa book festival. She was kind enough to write a guest post AND complete an interview – both about podcasting! I’ll be posting them over the next few weeks. Please enjoy!

Here are Emerian’s first two tips on podcasting:

1. Have your text or idea script already done: Don’t start a podcast novel if the novel isn’t complete and as perfect as you can get it. Don’t start a free form podcast show before you have subjects to cover and an outline of what you will talk about. It’s actually better to have a script and elaborate where need be when on air as the mood strikes you.

2. Listen to other podcasts and see what type you want to do:

Free form podcast show: Like a show you might hear on talk radio or during a morning commute.
Podnovel podcast: A novel, normally read by the author. There are many different ways to approach these. It’s up to you how comfortable you are with the different sorts of styles and it also says something about how you like to listen to your books. Produce something that you would listen to, and there are people out there that like the same thing.
- You can read it yourself in what we call a “straight read” which is most like an audio book.
- You can have a full cast of your friends pitch in for different voices.
- You can do all the voices and sound effects yourself.
Audio drama: A show produced much like the old time radio shows with a full cast and sound effects. These are generally short stories or stories by multiple writers.
And everything else: The idea is to get something new and exciting, so with that you get the half audio drama / half talk show, the shows that play mostly music, the variety shows (like mine at http://www.horroraddicts.net) where we have news, talk, music, comedy sketches, and a short story at the end. Not even the sky is the limit when you are trying to think of something innovative to attract listeners.

To date, I have done every one of these types of podcasts. They are all exciting and challenging in their own right, but I always come back to my favorite, the author full read with voices and sound effects.

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Broads at Sonoma County Book Festival

Posted on: September 26th, 2011 by Camille No Comments

Broad Universe had a table at this year’s Sonoma County Book Fesitval. I had the pleasure of participating in the Broad Rapid-Fire-Reading. It was my first time participating in an “RFR.” There was a neat camraderie that came with the whole thing that I really liked.

I wasn’t able to get photos of all the readers, but here are the ones I did get:

Camille Picott at the Sonoma County Book Festival with her newly released book, Nint-Tail Fox

Emerian Rich with her novel, Night's Knight

Ann Wilkes, author of Awesome Lavratt and organizer of the Broad RFR