1. Before you begin writing, do you script out the general outline of plot and characters, or do you let these situations evolve as you write?
It really depends on how the inspiration strikes me.  I don’t have any hard and fast rule as to how I plot out the story.  For instance, Codename: Starkeeper was one of those where I wrote it in script format from start to finish.  It was a true explorative writing experience.  With The Last Guardians, it developed over a decade of trying different things and developing my craft, and the final version is nothing like that first version, but ultimately, it follows a similar plot outline as the beginning, as far as the big picture.  I have another novel series that I plotted out as I wrote the character sketches.

2. I’ve heard repetitively that writers should deal with writing as any other job. Do you have a scheduled or structured writing routine? Please detail.
I wish I did.  It really varies depending on the day, and of course I am easily distracted.  It’s certainly sound advice, though.  I will get more done if I set aside a specific time to do it.  I’ve also discovered that now, as I’ve been writing for a while, I’m so full of different ideas that if I sit down, something will get on paper (or screen).  I have also learned that it’s not so frightening to sit down and force yourself to work on a project.  There really is no such thing as writer’s block if you’re serious about the writing.  For me, it’s simply letting stuff get in my way: my brain, my emotions, my preconceptions, my self-doubts–all of that crap–once you’re serious about the writing, all that stuff will fade away because you know you have to get it done.  It’s become a priority in your life.

3. What is your writing environment like? (cats, music, computer etc.) How has this evolved/changed?
Depends on my mood.  I used to, occasionally, get off the computer and write on a yellow legal pad, especially on lunches and breaks in a work environment.  As far as music is concerened, sometimes I want it, sometimes I want silence.  My cat’s always around, but she just lays on the bed.  I don’t take any great measures to “get in the mood” to write or anything like that.  Focus too much on music or lighting, or “finding the right environment,” and you’ll become dependent.  The less you do, the more capable you will be of writing in any environment, and I think once you’ve made writing a priority, you need to be prepared to write no matter where you are, or what’s going on around you.

4. Do you write anything, or have you, that is solely for yourself? (no intention of sharing with a large audience)
Not any more.  When I first really got the writing bug in college, a lot of it was just putting ideas on paper because they were there.  I got started online in the role play chatrooms, and it was usually all fantasy-oriented, so I put myself into the whole Aragorn persona, and plot ideas just developed out of that.  Eventually I started working on stories, and different things would inspire novel ideas, for example, the track listing of Michael Flatley’s Lord of the Dance, believe it or not, inspired the plot of The Last Guardians way back when.  Now, when I conceive an idea, I immediately begin thinking about how it will be received, and how to make it worthy of public consumption.

5. How has social media played a role in your writing?
Not so much the writing, but certainly the promotion of it.  I’ve just simply tried to make a network of friends, rather than “contacts.”  Because a friend will invest themselves in what you do, if you invest yourself in the things they do.  Someone who only wants you as a “contact” that they can take advantage of, really has little concern with your own projects, but simply how they can leverage their support in your return of that support.  It sounds like the same thing, but if you support people without expecting something in return, people can see whether you’re sincere, or just out to get reciprocation.

I’ve made a lot of friends using Twitter, simply finding like-minded people in the podcasting community, and then having gone to Balticon just once, made so many more friends.  Once you’ve met people face to face, the friendship becomes that much stronger.  I’ve developed relationships with Tee Morris, Chris Lester, P.G. Holyfield and Christiana Ellis, just as an example, and at times we can bounce ideas off of each other, and just learn from what each other is doing.

Podcasting Questions

1. What type of OS do you prefer? Linux? Mac? Win? What are your machine’s specs?
I would *prefer* a Mac and ProTools, but that’s only in my dreams.  Finances necessitate a PC with as much free software as possible.  It’s just a Dell 3Ghz processor with 1GB of Ram and a 250GB Free Agent HDD for all my project files.

2. Would you please describe your current studio? How has this changed? (What did you start with?)
I have a cheap desk in my bedroom.  I have a down blanket hung on the wall behind the monitor, with a little bit of eggshell foam on a dresser beside the desk.  A TAPCO (by Mackie) Mix.60 mixer, an MXL 990 microphone and a pop filter.

3. If you were able to build your dream studio, what would it include? Be as specific as you wish.
Again, a Mac with ProTools first, a compressor/limiter/gate, an EQ, a Heil PR/40 with the desk boom, a suitably insulated and soundproofed room, and most especially, a soundproofed computer.  Also an off-board recorder.

The Heil PR40 is something I’ve discovered of late, and it’s a dynamic mic as opposed to a condenser.  Basically that means it doesn’t require Phantom Power, but the other part of that is that condenser mics take in a lot more background noise.  The Heil PR40 has a tight sound field so that it almost can’t pick you up if you move your mouth six inches in one direction.  It’s an expensive mic at $325 retail, but it’s probably the absolute best microphone for recording voice.

4. Other than a computer, what piece of HARDWARE would you recommend to a new podcaster?
If you use Skype at all, I’d recommend a second sound card.  But for everyone, I’d suggest a Zoom H2 or later, or some sort of portable recorder that gives you .wav or .mp3 capability.  It’s the aforementioned off-board recorder.  What I mean by that is something that is not plugged into everything else.  This is something I’ve learned sort of by experience.  When I first started podcasting, I discovered that if my laptop were plugged in, there was a lot of noise on the recording, but on the battery, it was quiet.  So when the laptop HDD went bad and we lucked into a couple desktops, I found that there is always a latent hum.  If you can get a power conditioner, that might eliminate most of it, but a battery-powered recorder gives you a lot of versatility.  Also, if you don’t have your signal bouncing back in through your mixer into the PC, it’s a lot easier to get clean recordings.  When doing panel discussions or Skype interviews, anything requiring multiple voices, it becomes easier to manage the unity gain of your output signal.  If you’re just recording your voice, then you’ll have a clean .wav or .mp3 of your voice you can dump down into Audacity or whatever and edit away.

5. What have you had to learn for yourself that you wish someone could have warned you about?
To go with “The Adventures of Indiana Jim” as my show title when I first thought of it.  I initially thought it was pretentious so I didn’t use it at first.  Really, it’s the branding.  You have to have a plan, and you have to know who you are.  When I started out I wasn’t sure what I was doing, and over time, I have developed a groove for it I suppose.

6. What would you consider a “beginner’s mistake” you’ve either experienced or hear others making?
Oh gosh, a lot of things.

#1, a failure to have an appealing website.  It’s so cheap and so easy, especially for my generation being so tech savvy, to look at other podcast websites and find a clean, inviting format for your website.  A .net domain you can buy for like $10 a year, and hosting for about $3 a month, and WordPress is free.  I am fortunate to be hosted by Farpoint Media, but you can buy a 100MB per month Libsyn account for file storage for $5 a month.  So for $8 a month and $10 a year, you can put up a website as nice as any other you can think of.  Take the time to learn a little CSS, and you can make that puppy sing.

#2, a failure to USE RSS.  I see so many beginners, believe it or not, or people who just haven’t taken the time to care, to have an RSS feed for their products, and still expect people to download things manually.  It’s so simple to set it up, so people can subscribe in iTunes or any feed reader.  You’re simply serving your audience by doing it.  In one place, with one application, I can download my favorite stuff.  I sounds so simple.

#3, a failure to use social media.  I have friends with Twitter accounts who simply forget to announce when a new project comes out.  When I mention this, I’m met with “well it was all over my website.”  Look, if you expect your friends and colleagues to casually browse by your website every so often and “discover” that you have a new product out, you’re doing them a disservice, and ultimately yourself.  The idea is to be heard, and you, as the creator, must do the work, not demand it of your audience.  If you aren’t using every tool at your disposal, you’re not doing enough.  Now that’s not to say you need to be on every social network under the sun, but if you are on Twitter and Facebook, and you’re not doing the simple thing of just posting a link saying, “here’s my new thing,” then what’s the point?

#4, a horrible sound.  Sometimes beginners use whatever it is they have at their disposal, and I guess that’s fine when starting out, but people really need to be more conscious of how they sound.  Soundproofing is the very first thing one can do, and Nathan Lowell is a good example.  When he started podcasting his novels, he recorded them in his car.  A car interior provides quite a bit of soundproofing and isolation, and that worked wonders, despite having a cheap microphone.  Another example of using the things at your disposal is Scott Sigler.  He recorded a lot of his stuff in his closet, because he cared about his sound.

If someone is serious about podcasting, then they need to be serious about what they’re putting into people’s ears.  It takes maybe $130 in mic and mixer to get a decent sound, maybe $35 for a cheap mic stand and a pop filter.  It’s not a ton of investment if you’re serious.  Also, paying attention to distance from the mic, clipping, and simple public speaking.  These little things make a huge difference when starting out.

7. How much time does it take, once you have all the elements, for YOU to put together a 30 minute podcast? (please describe your production technique)
I would love to record “live to tape” as it were, but I lack the equipment to do it right.  So what I do is insert my intro file, then do the requisite recording, whatever that entails.  Most of the time I’ll record 10 minutes of whatever I want to talk about at first, then I stop to add the bumper for my little news headline segment, then when that section is done, I’ll usually aim for that 13 minute mark to hit the break for the promo.  I’ll take my bump-out file and match it up with wherever I break the talking, then paste the promo, then paste the bump-in file, and record from there.  I will record to the end and stop.  Before I put in the outro, I do the editing.  I run noise reduction, then compression.  I usually record with my levels hovering around the -12 mark to leave headroom so I don’t clip.  That usually ensures I get a nice clean sound after compression.  I’ll edit certain flubs and long uhmms to make sure I don’t sound too much like an idiot.  Sometimes I leave a flub or uhmm in if it will make the audio sound chopped up and unnatural.   I’ll match the outro up with the finished voice and then export to MP3.  That whole process may take a couple hours if everything goes smoothly.  I think for the ratio of finished recording to  production time, 1:4 is probably a safe estimate.

Casting Questions (answer if you can)

1.  What is the hardest part of putting together a casted podcast?
I think the first thing is making sure the actors get their voices in on time.  It’s unavoidable, but you will always get delays from someone in your cast.  Real life always strikes in the middle of a production, and I guess the hardest part for me is having to tell a cast member you have to move on with another actor.

It’s the nature of what we do to use volunteer voice actors, and no one wants to be “that guy” who “fired” a volunteer from a project.  You have to believe strongly enough in your project and your own schedule to take that step if it’s not working out.    You have to be very nice and gracious about it, and usually the other person understands.  They are, after all, the one to whom life is happening.  It’s still difficult, especially if you know their voice would be great.

The second hardest part is the differences you have in actor audio.  They’re all using different mics in different rooms, and sometimes it’s difficult to make sure they all go together.  I usually have a particular sound I like, so I’ll EQ or do noise reduction to get each one as close to the same as possible.  Sometimes I’ll run a low pass or high pass filter to get certain frequency ranges out of a particularly bassy or hissy sound.

2. Do you provide the entire chapter to your talent, or just their lines?
I will usually leave in a paragraph or two around the part in order for the actor to get a feel for the scene, but I provide the scene only.  Enough to let them see the dialogue and work with it, but not so much they get distracted.  My belief is that even with my leads, it’s fun to keep things hidden from them.  I find that if after the recording they get to listen to it along with the general audience, it will make them that much more excited about the work.  They will get just as much into the story, and they’ll want to see how their character fits into the story.

3.  Is instruction given to your talent on how you prefer the line to be read?
In most cases, yes.  Each actor is different, though.  For instance, I did not do a very good job telling Mae Breakall how to play a certain character, and so she read it one way when I had intended it differently.  Once I was clear, she delivered some of the best audio I’ve ever received, and Chris Lester can attest to that with her work on Metamor City.  As a director, you have to make sure you are clear on exactly what you want, because you can’t expect people to read your mind.  Of course, in some cases you simply give the lines and the actor knows what you want.  I have that kind of synergy with a few people, such as Philippa Ballantine, P.G. Holyfield, Sarah Gilbertson and Joe Harrison.

4.  What do you do with all of that unused audio?
I still have all the original files from Codename: Starkeeper, and I don’t really want to delete them.  I plan on going back and pulling outtakes for a blooper reel, but that’s going to take a lot of time.  What I’ve taken to doing now is pulling the outtakes out as I go through each individual part to get the best takes.  I’ll go through each part and find the best takes, then do the noise reduction and compression then, so that all I have to do later is cut and paste into the final project file.

With Codename Starkeeper, I’m keeping the sound effects files that Joe Harrison made so I can pull from those whenever I do another Star Wars piece.  The music files I’m keeping later perhaps to show how I edited different musical pieces from different films together in certain scenes.

Paul is the author of the Fiends collection, Tattoo, and his newest novel, “Closet Treats.” All his work is available at Shadowpublications.com, iTunes, and Podiobooks.com.

General Writing Questions

1, Before you begin writing, do you script out the general outline of plot and characters or do you let these situations evolve as you write?
Writing for me is usually a bit of a discovery exercise. I get an idea for a story, but usually it’s just a kernel, a nugget of an idea. The story itself has to be teased out from my brain until I have enough information to really begin working on the rest of the tale. But once I get about 10k -20k words in, I have to start outlining on the longer works. In order to properly get the plot working and the characters, it takes a full outline which I then may or may not follow. Books are more difficult than short stories. Short stories happen fast and usually without too much effort. But novellas and novels are more involved. Much more involved.

2. I’ve heard repetitively that writers should deal with writing as any other job. Do you have a scheduled or structured writing routine? Please detail.
I try and write in the morning. When I wake up, I have 3-4 hours before my brain wakes up and decides it wants to get logical. Once that time in the morning disappears, writing can take an awful lot of work. It doesn’t flow very well and can be very frustrating. There are times, of course, when this is not the case. Basically, I try and write at least 1k words every day. But that has to be tempered by the other insanity in my life (of which there’s been a lot lately).

My fuzzies (two cats and a HUGE dog) usually keep me company. At least one of the cats ends up in my lap at some point in the day. It’s just the way it happens. Since I started writing again, things are pretty much the way they started, only that since my Linux box died, I’m a mac-only person now.

4. Do you write anything, or have you, that is solely for yourself?
There are many stories I’ve written (not finished) that started out only for myself, but ultimately needed to be released for some of the series I’m working. I’m afraid to admit it, but I’m a bit shy when it comes to writing about sex, but some of the stories I want to write, I’m going to have to really delve into that subject. I haven’t shared them yet, but they’re in the near future. And although those stories start out just for me, they’re all going to end up out there in the ether. At least the ones I can finish.

5. How has social media played a role in your writing?
Social media is a huge time sink. If I’m not careful, I end up spending all frackin day on twitter and facebook. Really have to struggle to keep that from becoming my day. However, it does sometimes pay off. My novella, Tattoo, only exists because one of my listeners, Pons Matal, told me about something he’d read. Canvas, one of my short stories, caused him to relate this incident and that ended up giving me my most popular work.

Also, social media has kept me writing. Most people are shy about leaving comments in the forums, but they do send me DMs or messages via Twitter to tell me what they think. That kind of support is difficult to replicate without social media. I have to say that during my most vulnerable moments, when uncertainty and doubt creeps in, the social media aspects have managed to keep me going.

Podcasting Questions

1. What type of OS do you prefer? Linux? Mac? Windows? What are your Machine’s specs?

I use a little Mac-Mini to do everything now. I used to write on my linux box, and podcast with the mac mini. But as of now, I only use the Mac. It only has 2gigs of ram and is the older 2ghz model. Basically, it’s a hamster computer. But it does what I need to do…for now.

3. What would your dream studio look like?
Oh, for the want of some serious cash.

The only things I would change:

a. soundproofed room. I MEAN SOUNDPROOFED!

b. Mac Pro with lots of RAM and SERIOUS firepower under the hood for crunching and editing audio

c. Logic Pro for editing and mixing.

d. new set of studio headphones (LOL)

e. better mic boom

4. Other than a computer, what piece of hardware would you recommend to a new podcaster?
The BEST Mic you can get your hands on. My AKG Perception 220 condensor mic gives me a MUCH better voice than I deserve. It warms it and makes me sound somewhat like a pro. But it’s VERY sensitive. But while you can use Audacity and GarageBand and god only knows what else for recording and mixing, you can’t fix a shitty mic. So make sure that’s what you aim to ultimately have.

But if you can’t afford a damned good mic, Invest in a ZOOM H2 for podcasting. It’s a good enough mic and is self contained so you don’t even need a hardware mixer. I’ve used it for a couple of “mobile” casts now and I’m very happy with it. Although it will never replace my AKG mic.

5. What have you had to learn for yourself that you wish someone could have warned you about?
I think I was actually warned pretty well, LOL. After listening to Scott Sigler and others talk about how much work it was to do this, I was well prepared. If anything, I wish someone would have warned me about just how much work it takes to edit and make an episode sound professional. I never would have guessed it could take a freakin’ hour to record ten minutes of audio, mix it, and then send it to the internet. Sometimes it’s daunting just how much of your life can be spent getting one freakin’ paragraph sounding better than shit.

6. What would you consider a ‘beginner’s mistake’ you’ve either experienced or hear others making?
a) I’ve listened to many podcasts that sound like they’re recorded inside of a tin can while a garbage disposal of static fills the background. This makes it very difficult to concentrate on the words and such. Also, and I was guilty of this too, being too lazy and repeat a phrase that you stumbled on. This can really break the flow of the story. It’s not a good practice to get into.

b) For god’s sake, do not read your work off of paper! No matter how hard you try, you’re going to have to get the shuffling, crinkling
of paper out of your cast. Either invest in a damned lectern, or read it off the computer. There’s no damned reason to watch your audio record, so read it off the damned screen. Crinkling, shuffling paper sounds very unprofessional and is the sign of someone who hasn’t really thought about what they’re doing.

7. How much time does it take, once you have all the elements, for YOU to put together a 30 minute podcast. please describe your production technique.
A 30 minute podcast. Ugh. Okay, so here’s what I do for an episode of Closet Treats:

a. Record a chapter as its own file (3-15 minutes + time for repeats [this can take 45 minutes if I really suck that day]).

b. Edit the individual file and make sure it sounds good. This requires listening to the entire chapter.

c. Export the file out as a VERY high quality AAC file.

d. repeat a-c until I have all the chapters done for the episode.

e. Create a new garageband project. Put in the “intro.” Bring in each individual file into the new project. Add chapter breaks (“Chapter X”) and transition sounds. Add outro music.

f. QC entire episode to ensure I didn’t miss anything in the “a-c” section.

g. Export file to AAC high quality

h. Use levelator on entire episode.

i. Edit ID3 Tags.

j. Put on the web.

So a 30 minute podcast? It can take HOURS. It depends on how many chapters there are and how much I SUCK at reading that day. But I’ve gotten the rest of it down to a pretty good flow. It took a long time to get into the routine, but every episode gets easier. You can’t make audio crunch faster (without a faster machine). More importantly, you can’t rush the QC portions. However long it takes, is however long it takes. There’s no way around it.

Casting Questions

1. What is the hardest part of putting together a casted podcast?
Up to this point, I’ve only ever had one other performer in my works. But this is a serious freakin’ pain in the ass. They record their lines, and then you have to chop up your reading, insert/edit their audio files to fit. It can be a very very long process whereby a simple 3 minute conversation takes an hour to edit. There’s a reason I don’t do this very often. It can make for a great audio drama, but it keeps you from writing. And that’s always a BAD thing.

2. Do you provide the entire chapter to your talent, or just their lines?
Talent gets the entire story or entire chapter. I think it’s important that the other actors know the context of their lines. Otherwise, it can get very difficult for them to figure out their character.

3. Is instruction given to your talent on how you prefer the line to be read?
I’ve been blessed on this. Working with Andrew Richardson, I simply gave him the idea, a little bit of an idea, about how I saw the character. He read Nigel from Tattoo in a way I’d never even dreamed. It turned out better than I’d expected and made the character one of my favorites. It’s difficult to direct someone from miles and miles away. And without being there live to help them figure out the line, it could take DAYS to get the audio you want. So I try not to be a fascist director. I don’t think it’s helpful and I certainly don’t have time for it. I like to let people use their imaginations and bring to the production exactly how they see the character.

4. What do you do with all of that unused audio?
Unused audio? I FLUSH IT! I’ve often thought of making a blooper reel, but the majority of my f ups end up going to data heaven.

5. What is the hardest part of putting together a “straight read” podcast?
A straight read podcast requires you to make a decision: come up with your own voices for each character, and figure out how to make the changes between voices enough for the reader to grab it. I don’t go as crazy as Scott Sigler, but I try and give each character their own voice. Female voices ARE THE WORST! I don’t do them very well and enunciation is VERY difficult.

6. As far as cast goes, what would you like to try, but haven’t so far?
Next year, when I tackle “The Day The Town Died”, I’m going to have to have at least 4 voice actors. That is going to be hell, but it’s the only way I can properly do the cast. So, I guess that’s going to be the “I haven’t done this yet” but doesn’t fall into the “I want to do this” category.

General Questions

1. If Someone approached you with THEIR book, and asked you to podcast it for them for a fee, what would you consider a reasonable rate per episode? (The way YOU do it?)
Eek. This is difficult Guess it would depend on how many voices and etc. But IF I was going to charge for this, I think $30 an episode is fair. Yeah, I’m cheap.

2. Do you podcast as part of a larger plan, or because getting your content out in some manner IS your plan?
I podcast because I love doing it. But also, yes, it is part of the larger plan. I’m building a fan base. I’m starting a business. I’m becoming a professional writer. And without an audience, there’s very little reason for me to keep writing. Without an audience, there is no feedback. Without podcasting, there is no audience.

3. What is the nicest compliment you’ve been paid or what keeps you coming back?
“I just listened to one of your essays. You made of brilliance.”

“I finished an episode last night and couldn’t sleep. When’s the next one coming out?”

“Can you please give two episodes a week? I can’t wait an entire week for the next one!”

“You scared the hell out of me.”

Comments about how good my writing is and how much they enjoy the characters come rather infrequently, but they definitely keep me writing and podcasting. I love what I do. Hearing from people who are enjoying it make all the expense in both time and money worth it.

4. How important are numbers of downloads/subscribers to you? Do you keep track?
I have obsessive compulsive disorder when it comes to watching subscriptions and download numbers. I check them at least 5 times a day: I can’t stop myself. Sometimes it can be a little depressing because I want instant gratification: 200+ downloads the first day, for instance. But I’m getting used to it taking a while. A lot of my listeners are on very different schedules and like to pile up a whole bunch of episodes before they download them. I understand this behavior. But it’s taken me a long time to get used to it. A LONG time.

5. How important are reviews left on Podiobooks/iTunes/other venues to you?
Comments and reviews are awesome. They’re great. But I know how fickle people can be. When I see some great reviews, I usually know the person already from Twitter or Facebook. I see their username and know instantly who it is. Tattoo has a review on iTunes from someone I’ve never heard of before, and what they said means a lot to me. Seeing 5 stars on iTunes for your cast and your stories is great, but when there’s only ten reviews or so, it seems a bit…well…false. But they’re important because they might be the thing that brings another potential listener or fan to the cast. Therefore, they are very important. But I’m a realist. I’m not in the big leagues. I’m not a JC Hutchins, Scott Sigler, Philippa Ballantine, or Phil Rossi.
It’s going to take a long time for me to build that kind of audience and therefore, I have to be patient. It will come. And I’ll just keep writing and trying to get better with every episode.

6. If not answered before, how do you read your manuscript while recording?
I said before, I always read it on the computer. A long time ago, I tried using hardcopy, but, man, it sucks. I hate it. It doesn’t work for me. So the computer is the only way I do it now.

After spending (many) years completing their first novel, New World Orders, in early 2008 they decided to podcast it after failing to find a publisher or agent for it. The positive response motivated them to release a podcast collection of short stories, and to complete a second novel late in 2009. They are currently shopping that novel and working on several other projects, including likely ebooks and podcasts later in 2010.

This response to “How I do it” was written by the Ed Parrot half of the duo, and he can be found on twitter at @egtalbot

General Writing Questions

1. Before you begin writing, do you script out the general outline of plot and characters, or do you let these situations evolve as you write?
That’s a good question. Mostly I let it evolve, but I do usually start with some sort of outline. The outline is usually just a few one line bullet points, though. I add to it as I go, because a lot of times when I’m writing I will think of things that I want/need to happen later on and I don’t want to lose the idea. Interestingly, I am currently working on what I expect will be a 30,000 word novella and after writing two short chapters, I suddenly came up with a lot of the details about where it will go, so I started writing an outline. I now have about 4000 word outline for the 30,000 word novella. I’ll be interested to see how well it works.

2. I’ve heard repetitively that writers should deal with writing as any other job. Do you have a scheduled or structured writing routine? Please detail.
Well, I don’t consider writing a for-profit venture at this point. Don’t get me wrong, I want to sell my work, and I have some plans to make that happen. But I’m a realist – the odds are against making a living from it, even if I were willing to give up sleep, exercise, my fairly high-powered job, or spending time with my family. Which I am not. That leaves me roughly 1-3 hours a day for writing, recording, marketing, etc. I can write 1000 words an hour generally, so if I write an hour every other day, that’s almost two rough draft novels a year. I mostly allocate that time in the mornings, though I occasionally will write from 8-9PM. I don’t force myself to write very often, but once or twice a year I pick a month where I write at least 30,000 words and generally I will write at least 600 words on all but one or two days of that month. Otherwise, I just sort of go with it when it comes to writing.

3. What is your writing environment like? (cats, music, computer etc.) How has this evolved/changed?
I do most of my writing sitting at my computer in my office (I work on the computer from the house for my day job). I almost never play music when I’m writing, although it doesn’t seem to affect me one way or the other when I do. I have two other places where I write. One is lying in bed before I go to sleep. I sometimes take out a notebook and write for 20-45 minutes before going to sleep. I find this can be good if I am struggling to make the time earlier, it can help break blocks. The other place I write is on airplanes. I used to travel half a dozen times a year, but now it’s more like once or twice. I usually can write very effectively for about two hours on a plane.

4. Do you write anything, or have you, that is solely for yourself? (no intention of sharing with a large audience)
Hmm, I have written two poems and one prose poem that I haven’t shared. The two poems basically just aren’t very good, so that’s the reason I haven’t shared them. The prose poem I shared with one family member and I do think it is good, but it also is recent and about a death in the family. I will share it at some point, but it doesn’t feel right at the moment. Aside from that, I like to share everything.

5. How has social media played a role in your writing?
Social media has played a big role in corresponding with fans and fellow writers. Last year, podcaster James Melzer started a 1K a day writing challenge on Twitter for one month, and I jumped on it with him. It’s safe to say that I would not have written 37,000 words during the month without social media. I am not the most prolific of tweeters or facebook enthusiasts, but I do especially enjoy the interaction on Twitter.

Podcasting Questions

1. What type of OS do you prefer? Linux? Mac? Win? What are your machine’s specs?
Heh, I am a windows programmer for my day job, so I used Windows. I have an early 2009 Dell laptop, nothing special, but it’s more than enough to do recording and editing.

2. Would you please describe your current studio? How has this changed? (What did you start with?)
My current studio is basically the same as what I started with in terms of equipment. Now, before I started, I experimented with just a USB condenser microphone, but I could never get good sound. J.C. Hutchins gave me the suggestions that led to my current setup, and he credited them to Mur Lafferty. I have an MXL 990 mike, a Behringer Xenyx mixer and a Behringer digital converter to go from the mixer to the computer. My studio is actually just a room with a large bed with pillows and blankets piled high like a moat around myself and the microphone. That gets rid of a lot of the echo – I did some trial and error, and am always tweaking things a little bit. My computer goes outside the door of the room to avoid fan noise. Oh, and I use Audacity for software.

3. If you were able to build your dream studio, what would it include?
Can’t answer this one, I don’t have a dream studio.

4. Other than a computer, what piece of HARDWARE would you recommend to a new podcaster?
I would recommend the three pieces of hardware that I have. I don’t believe you can get an adequate recording with just a USB mike – I’m sure there are a few exceptions to prove me wrong, but why make it hard on yourself?

5. What have you had to learn for yourself that you wish someone could have warned you about?
A tough question. A lot of what I’ve learned has come from advice from other podcasters. So I mostly didn’t have to learn a lot of key things, just a lot of little things. I guess the biggest thing that no one specifically warned me about was to stay away from using various software techniques to improve sound quality. Filtering, normalization, etc. They mostly don’t work. The key is to get clean source audio by setting up a decent enough system for recording, then the amount of post-recording cleanup is limited to just editing basically.

6. What would you consider a “beginner’s mistake” you’ve either experienced or hear others making?
The biggest beginner mistake I hear is simply accepting less than decent sound or performance. Everyone is in a hurry to get started, but I’ve heard a bunch of different samples from people who thought they had it, and they simply didn’t. Put on a good pair of headphones and listen critically to your own stuff. I pulled my hair out for weeks and weeks with trial and error when I was literally ready to pull the trigger except that my sound wasn’t good enough. I am very glad I persisted until I figured it out. Plenty of people have better sound than me, but there’s a certain level with solid reading and little or no background hiss that I think most people can reach of they shoot for it.

7. How much time does it take, once you have all the elements, for YOU to put together a 30 minute podcast? (please describe your production technique)About 2 hours. The recording itself will be about 40-45 minutes. Then I need to listen through the whole thing and edit it as I go. Then I run it through the levelator, then mix in intro/outro/promos. Then one last listen to double-check, usually done while I am preparing show notes and stuff to actually get it in my feed.

Casting Questions

1. What is the hardest part of putting together a casted podcast?
My podcasts have basically only had three voices – myself, my co-author, and my wife. We did have one or two guest voices, but those were very minor. The hardest part is simply the time consuming process of mixing in all the track so they sound good together. I can imagine that if I had to wait on people for audio, that would be the hardest part!

2. Do you provide the entire chapter to your talent, or just their lines?
All three of us read the whole thing, with lines highlighted.

3. Is instruction given to your talent on how you prefer the line to be read?
Not applicable.

4. What do you do with all of that unused audio?
Not applicable

5. What is the hardest part of putting together a “straight read” podcast?
Keeping different voices consistent. I might be able to get a Russian accent if I practice, but keeping it the same as I switch from voice to voice can be tough. To solve this, I sometimes will record all of one character’s voice in a row.

6. As far as cast goes, what would you like to try, but haven’t so far?
I think an audio drama, like Mur Lafferty’s The Takeover, would be fun to both write and produce. A HUGE amount of work, though, so I don’t have one planned at the moment.

General Questions

1. If someone approached you with THEIR book, and asked you to podcast it for them for a fee, what would you consider a reasonable rate per episode? (The way YOU do it)
Ooh, that’s a tough question. If I were to gain nothing from it at all besides the salary – no cross-promotion or anything – I’d have to bill for 30-40 hours of actual work. I would probably do it for about half of my hourly rate at my day job because I’d enjoy it. But I might be less inclined to do it for a book I didn’t like. I should also note that I am usually more than happy to read parts for other podcasters – I’m assuming your question relates to someone I don’t know who has not podcasted a book before asking me to take on the whole thing.

2. Do you podcast as part of a larger plan, or because getting your content out in some manner IS your plan?
The answer is both. I podcast because I think it’s a great way to get people exposed to my work. If that leads to some sort of income in the future, great, but even if it doesn’t, I like the idea of sharing my work.

3. What is the nicest compliment you’ve been paid or what keeps you coming back?
Nicest compliment I guess was a gushing five star blog review on the Time Well Wasted blog when New World Orders first came out. What keeps me coming back? A lot of things – it’s nice being part of the “community” and it just feels right to release my work in this manner.

4. How important are numbers of downloads/subscribers to you? Do you keep track?
I definitely keep track of downloads. The “subscriber” numbers are almost useless (a complex discussion best left for another time). I check my downloads a couple days after releasing a new episode and maybe once or twice a month aside from that.

5. How important are reviews left on Podiobooks/iTunes/other venues to you?
Reviews are extremely important. I’m not sure listeners realize this. I don’t even care if they are BAD reviews as long as the reviewer explains why he/she didn’t like it. It’s not about ego, it’s about knowing how my work impacts people. It’s a connection of sorts between author and consumer. Not incidentally, it will also help my writing/podcasting be better in the future.

6. If not answered previously, how do you read your manuscript while recording (hard copy, teleprompter, etc)?
I read a hard-copy when recording, but I think I will bite the bullet and get an e-reader soon, so that may work better in the future.