Submitting your first episode
Ready? Good. Before you submit, please double check you’ve done things correctly. It’s shocking and sad how many first time authors fail to read these instructions. Doing it right isn’t hard, and it’s frustrating when we check a file to see that something was left out. Check. Double-check. Triple-check if you must. Please?
Ready? No, you probably are not. Do yourself a favor and get a second opinion. Use the Podiobooks.com Mentorship Program to your benefit. You want these people to check your work. Seriously. Only about 1 in 10 files submitted by first-time authors make it on the first pass. Please use the Mentorship program before submitting. You’ll thank me later. And I’ll thank you right now.
Once the folks in the Mentorship program have had their way with your and you’ve specifically asked them to verify that you have all the tech specs correct, it’s time to submit to the powers that be at Podiobooks.com. Buckle up your corage and go to this URL:
http://www.dropitto.me/podiobooks
psw: simple
… and upload the file that you previously sent to the Mentorship Program. Immediately after that, send an email to inquiry@podiobooks.com with the name of the file you uploaded. We get a LOT of files submitted, and need to how to contact you after your file has been checked (and hopefully approved).
We (and by we I mean I) do not sit around checking for new files each and every day. It usually only takes a day or two for us to check and reply, but it can take up to a week. Please don’t email asking the status until a week has passed.
Our process of checking for compliance starts with a check the naming convention first, then moves on to ID3 tags. Finally, and only if it passes the first two tests, we’ll download the file and open it up in a waveform editor. We will not listen to your entire file, but we may make some spot checks. Errors in recording –- including repeated lines, coughs and other issues – will be missed. It’s your job to make sure your narration and production values are high, not ours.
If the file fails any of those tests, we’ll email you back and tell you what part failed. No, we cannot offer specific how-to, step-by-step details on solving the problems. The Mentorship Program probably can help, which you should have used before sending the file to us anyhow. Had you done so, you would have passed the first time. Seriously. Use the Mentorship Program.
When your file passes the check, we’ll send you more information on how to get us the remainder of your files, plus the additional information necessary to get your book live on Podiobooks.com. But relax, the hard part is over.
Why are we such sticklers for this stuff?
Because we’ve been doing this for a very long time and have a pretty good handle on how people enjoy consuming serialized audio books. Over the years, I’ve heard authors come up with some very interesting thoughts and ideas about how people listen -– or how they might listen -– to their books. In every case, these authors have been making assumptions based largely on how they themselves like to listen.
Those assumptions are always wrong.
The reality is the people have different ways they want to listen. You cannot cover them all. Do not even try. Your job is to provide the files in such a way to allow the maximum enjoyment for the maximum number of people. If you follow the guidelines set forth in this document, you’ll be ahead of the game.
Part of our job is to figure out ways to make it easier for your potential audience to listen to your book. We’re doing a good job, but frankly have a long way to go. We’re working on it. That may mean we come back to our authors in the future with some changes. So you really, really want to hold on to your master files. Storage is cheap. Or stick ‘em on a DVD somewhere. Just make sure you have an archive that you can easily manipulate in the future.
With that … see you on the site!