HNT - Audible To The Naked Ear

I was quite pleased to receive my subscription copy of Canadian Bookseller magazine today, particularly since this issue (Volume 2 - 2008) contains my article on podiobooks and what it might mean to traditional publishing and bookselling.


The article, which is just one column shy of being a two page spread is entitled Do You Hear What I Hear? and is summed up with the following description: Podiobooks have given voice to aspiring authors and garnered them a great audience for their work. Are traditional publishers and booksellers listening?



Within the article I examine the pioneers of the podcasted novel, including Tee Morris and Scott Sigler and the successes they've each seen by podcasting their fiction as well as the creation of such websites as Podiobooks.com where people can find and download a great selection of free audio books via weekly RSS feeds.

And I also explore in depth the roller coaster path that Canadian author Terry Fallis took from not being able to find a publisher or agent for his novel The Best Laid Plans, how he gave the novel away for free as a podcast, then self-published it and watched it go on to be nominated for The Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour and landing an agent. (Of course, just days after my article went to press, Terry won the award, and also landed a publishing deal for his novel. It'll be coming out this fall from Douglas Gibson Books.)