At the Association for Women In Communication conference last month I had the chance to talk with Tom Masters, author of Blog to Books and Beyond: A New Path to Publishing Success. His book gives a general overview of what blogs are and what makes them successful, and takes a look at specific cases like Julie Powell and The Julie/Julia Project — which also became a motion picture, and Diablo Cody, whose first blog Darling Girl led to a book about her life as a stripper, and eventually to her book, Juno. You know the rest of that story.
Tom is also president of Book Publishers Northwest, so he is particularly aware of some of the options in my region. He offers some advice for how best to structure a blog, and things to think about if you want to blog your novel. I’ve been looking at differences in blogs and blog strategies a lot because there is some interest in establishing one for my employer, so much of what Tom talks about is familiar to me. What was new to me was the idea of podcasting a novel.
He gives a brief case study of Scott Sigler, science fiction writer, whose novel EarthCore got picked up by AOL/TimeWarner, but they “scrapped the imprint” just before his book was to be printed. So, he decided to put his book out for free via podcast. He created 22 audio eposides, 45 mins each, by recording in a closet. Tom likens it to the old 1940s radio shows. Sigler had to provide all the character voices and generate enough drama to keep the listeners interested, but evidently was successful because he quickly built an audience of 5,000 listeners. His second novel Ancestor drew 30,000 listeners. I believe he had some help getting the word out via an online science fiction network.
I have not investigated this yet but I am intrigued by it. His podcasting success attracted a Canadian publisher which published both books. It comes down to the same story I’ve been hearing for a while — pubishers are reluctant to take a risk on an unknown author, especially in these economic times, so if you can prove to them you already have a sizeable audience, they’re more willing to give you real consideration.
Of course, podcasting is an investment. Maybe not as much as self-publishing a book, but you would have to create a quality product that people wanted to listen to, and then you have to promote it to people who know nothing about you or your work. Sigler used the Garage Band program on his Mac to create and edit his episodes, including background noises just like they do now for radio feature stories. Tom told me Sigler got criticized by one of his listeners who said a character voice in his second novel was too similar to a character in his first novel. You might need some help, like drawing in friends to be some of the characters. It could be fun, or, not so much if you are a demanding and exacting producer.
My characters would have to have Irish and British accents — which I’m afraid I’m not so good at. But, I think podcasting would be a great option for historical fiction if done right. I’d love to hear from anyone who has tried this approach for historical fiction.

When I was in college and wanted to avoid the hard work of studying for an exam or writing a research paper — I suddenly discovered that my bathroom was in desperate need of a deep and thorough cleaning. So, it should come as no surprise (although somehow it did) that since I’ve matured, so have my habits. Now that I am facing a major revision of my novel, I suddenly and desperately need to remodel the entire guest bathroom. I will not be dissuaded.
I appreciated Ann Curry before, but after hearing her speak at the Association for Women In Communications’ national conference Saturday night, I am a true fan. It is not because she is gorgeous — though she is. Her face absolutely glows, and when she mentioned she grew up in the 50s like my friend and me, my friend who is contemplating a facelift leaned toward me to say “I think I’ll just kill myself right now.”
My professional group, the Association for Women In Communications, is celebrating its centennial this year. And, because it all started with a few like-minded and determined women at the University of Washington, the UW School of Communications is co-sponsor for the
I had to put down Phillippa Gregory’s 