A Good Week For Podcast Novels

I was delighted to hear the fantastic news that Terry Fallis, author of THE BEST LAID PLANS, a hilarious and fantastic satirical novel of Canadian politics, was short-listed for The Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour. I was delighted to hear this, not just because Terry's novel was one of the best books I read in 2007, but also because of the incredible manner by which Terry got his book into print.

When he first finished writing it, Terry GAVE HIS BOOK AWAY FOR FREE via a podcast feed. Via Chapter by Chapter installments, Terry narrated the novel and posted them for free online so that anybody anywhere in the world could listen to it. And hundreds upon hundreds of people around the world did -- and, like me, they loved the story. Then, in late 2007, the print version of the book was released.

And now, it's short-listed for a very prestigious award. I'm beside myself with excitement over this, and encourage anyone reading this to go Terry's website where you can learn more about the book and follow links to the podcast or where you can purchase the novel online.




And on April 1st, writer Scott Sigler, who has been giving away his novels for the past several years via podcast feeds and has amassed a huge cult following of "Junkies" -- upwards of 30,000 listeners to his novels -- has had his latest novel INFECTED released by Crown Publishing (a division of Random House).

I started reading Scott's novel the other day and am quite enjoying this disturbing and well written thriller, which is a cross between Michael Crichton and Stephen King. I've also listened to the first few chapters of the novel, read by the author, and was swept away with the wonderfully produced audio product. The audio version is done so well, in fact, that I'm tempted to shelve the beautiful hardcover into my collection and continue listening to the audio version instead.

Scott has also pulled out the stops in terms of promotion for his novel -- for example, check out the radical trailer for INFECTED.



Now if that doesn't get you interested in checking out Scott's book, I don't know what might. Scott also put up a short video which not only sets up the novel but provides a nice quick "introduction to Siglerism" and how he got to where he is today. Nicely done and it shows the laid back personality of Scott that I've enjoyed listening to on podcasts for the past few years.



So there, I've given two different examples (both north and south of the 49th parallel) of podcast novels that have recently reached a special kind of critical acclaim in the traditional publishing world. I'm quite excited for both of these guys, and wish both Terry and Scott much success. When great authors like these two succeed by trying new things to get their work out there and into the hearts and minds of readers, we all win!