Anyone ever use PODCASTING for promotion??

It seems that to promote a book on a podcast you would first have to promote the podcast. I have not done any podcasting but basically it consists of creating prerecorded radio broadcasts which people can download to their ipods, sort of like on demand radio. To promote a book this way is like asking people to download commercials voluntarily which doesn't seem realistic. You would have to offer some sort of other content to draw people to the podcast. Perhaps some sort of talk show related to fantasy fiction (which I gather is what you write), interviews with authors or something that would draw your audience to the podcast in the first place. Then hit them with the advertising element and hype away. Hope this helps.

Tee Morris has apparantly had some success with this. You can find his website here.

What's podcasting??

Some people use it to do interviews. They save them in mp3 format and put them up for download to players, like ipods, or just on your computer.

I know of some companies that run weekly podcasts, like radio shows. People can download them or get subscriptions to them. Advantage to them is that they do all the promotion for them and have a built in audience. Doing them yourself won't get you far if you can't reach an audience you don't already have.

Which podcasts do you listen to most often? Those are the places you should appear. Any promotion that happens is a happy byproduct.

I've had one story appear in a podcast; no obvious effect on sales.

James, I am looking into podcasting my community radio show... PM me if you want to talk techie stuff. Not currently planning on using it as a platform so promoting my writing, so won't be much help there... but hey...

There are writers, like Michael A. Stackpole, who podcast about writing. His podcast is interesting and informative, and it promotes his books. Tracy Hickman reads excerpts of his books, and talks about gaming and writing. Some books have been recorded (podiobooks.com) and are podcast as a series. Matthew Wayne Selznick's book, Brave Men Run, was released simultaneously in print, audio, and as a podcast. If a short story you've written appears in a podcast, like Escape Pod or Variant Frequencies , your book can be promoted in that podcast. Or maybe you can find a podcast that reviews books, and get them to look at yours. Sci-fi/Fantasy Zone is one that does interviews and book reviews.
Try the link in my signature to find some of these. Hope this helps.

My editor and I recorded an interview back in June for a podcast. It'll be posted on my publisher's site and promoted around pub date.

I myself have ran an actual whole podcast series before. If my book gets picked up I'm sure I'd podcast it.

Anyone can podcast. That is a fact, not an opinion. All you need is a microphone and off you go. With Windows, while it's extremely bare bones, you can simply use Sound Recorder to record the podcast.

With a Mac it is far, far easier with GarageBand and iTunes. But believe me, it isn't hard at all.

Once you're a published writer and people know who you are, a podcast would be a fantastic way to keep in touch with your fans - it is a lot more interactive than a blog.

There's a fellow namd Tom Evslin who wrote a book called "HackOff.com" that was serialized on the website http://www.hackoff.com/ (where there was also a fake website for the HackOff.com company from his book-- http://www.hackoff.com/corp/ ) He published the book free online, downloadable several ways, including having it delivered via e-mail as each chapter was completed--via text, RSS, or podcast.

He then published (as far as I can tell, self-published) the book in hardcover.

The book was pretty popular online, and created some buzz at BookExpo this year. I didn't really get it, as it seemed to me that the people who read it as it came out for free would be unlikely to buy a copy--especially the people who downloaded it weekly to their IPods.

In any case, the point is--you can also use podcasting to publish your own audio books, or portions thereof. Whether this is a good thing or the hand of Satan remains to be seen.