First published in the Weekend section of The Tribune on July 3: http://www.tribune242.com/photos/galleries/2015/jul/03/07032015-weekend/
ONE of the biggest changes in the
publishing world has been the shift from the traditional printing
and
distribution of book in the digital era – and podcasts are
embracing that change.
There are a host of fiction-related
podcasts and, as you might expect, the science fiction field is at
the forefront, cutting the digital edge.
Clarkesworld was established as a
magazine in 2006, and continues as a monthly publication featuring
fantasy and science fiction. Their range includes a variety of
anthologies and also a regular podcast with stories being turned
into
an audio presentation.
The quality is top notch, the reading
splendid – the episodes presented by the honey-voiced Kate Baker,
the regular host – and there's a modicum of analysis after the
story is finished too. There are no advertisements, although there
is
a solicitation to donate money or to place an order for the
magazine.
But then, if you listen for free and discover you love the
material,
why wouldn't you want more?
Also in the science fiction field is
Escape Pod. Regular readers of this column may remember we covered
a
podcast called Pseudopod earlier in the year – a horror podcast.
Escape Pod is its jetpack-wearing sister, whizzing through worlds
of
aliens and mirrorshades, hard science and space fantasy, rather
than
dwelling in a world of ancient tomes and evil behind a creaking
door.
The format is largely the same – an introduction by one of the
podcast's regular hosts, then a reading by a voice actor. One
advantage this podcast has perhaps over Clarkesworld is the
rotating
roster of voice actors rather than a single voice. This lets them
pick a voice to suit the material – so if for example you have a
female protagonist, you aren't left with a male reader, which can
throw off the listening experience. There's an interactive element
too – at the end of the podcast, the host reads out some of the
response to previous stories from readers, which kind of makes me
want to go back and listen again to see if the praise and
criticism
matches up!
Website: www.escapepod.org
Publishing house Tor is one of the
most
well known imprints in science fiction – and their website has its
own podcast series, Rocket Talk. Rather than reading out samples
of
books or complete stories, however, this serves as a discussion
area
with authors and looking at the news in the publishing world. It's
a
real insight too – the episode I listened to featured authors
Linda
Nagata and Marko Kloos, who both write military science fiction.
Both
of them published their recent books through self-publishing at
first
before they were picked up by publishing houses – Nagata by Saga
Press and Kloos by Amazon's 47 North. The discussion works through
the differences in the experiences of going it alone versus in
partnership with a company, such as working with professional
artists
on covers and the differences in promotion of the novel. Nagata in
particular sounds as if she had fun with the many pictures of
hunky
models sent to her by her publisher to consider for her book's
cover!
The discussion then moves on to the nature of military sci-fi, and
the characteristics that so many books in the field share and the
crucial differences that mark out the leaders. It's a great listen
–
although, it has to be said, the audio quality isn't that great,
sounding like it's been carried out on Skype with not great
microphones. Still, perfectly audible, just a bit tinny.
Also check
http://www.tor.com/2009/12/14/torcom-podcasts/
for its other podcasts.
No comments:
Post a Comment