Setting Up Podcast Technology

Image: articalwiki.com

Podcasting
I had to be in the day job early doors yesterday so never got anything done prior to then, so I threw myself into getting the podcast software setup for the book festival project.

I’m using a WordPress plug-in to manage it (Podpress) which is a self-contained podcast publishing piece of software, i.e., it does the lot: iTunes feed, podcast subscriptions, overall and show configurations, and statistics.

Getting it installed wasn’t so easy, though. It took me most of the night to get the XML feed configured correctly, the problems eventually coming down to a single line not being compatible to my version of WordPress. I went back a version, reinstalled everything and reconfigured it to an earlier version, and voila! We’re in action.

All the other settings seem to be straight forward, although there may be some tweaking involved once I’ve published the first episode. It’s all a learning process and I think now I’m good to go on the technological side, most of the learning will be about producing the actual podcasts.

I’ve got a web host, the podcast and recording software is ready, I’ve got an iPhone, I’ve ordered a microphone for recording outdoors, and I’ve got a theme tune. Now all I have to do is start publishing! Watch this space.

EdBookFest Update
Other than the podcasting setup, I’ve also reinstated the book festival blog I created three years ago but never ended up using. I’m going to use it to run in parallel with my blog but it only contain book festival blogging and media you will also find here. You can find it at the Edinburgh Book Festival Blog.

Rain
The rain is back. Gone is the sun although the warmth remains. It’s very muggy and clammy right across the central belt, and as I look out the window of my writing den, I see little puddles growing bigger. I long for the sun just now. I want to strip off to my swimming shorts and flip-flops, lie by a pool with a good book and a bowl of olives and just relaaaaax.

Summer Newsletter
Check out my latest newsletter – the summer edition of The Patter is now online. Notice how I placed the mention of summer after a paragraph on rain? Aren’t I a kind fella?

Story Shop Wrap-Up
My piece on the apparent imbalance in the Story Shop application process sparked some interesting debate over on Twitter yesterday. The first tweeter to get back was, surprisingly but most delightfully, the Edinburgh City of Literature Trust. The discussion went much wider with other authors and organisations getting involved..

Before I say any more, I don’t want any part of this debate to detract from those who were awarded slots. I don’t want to be responsible for taking away the joy and the well deserved plaudits of all my fellow writers who will be doing readings at this year’s book festival. That’s not what I’m about.

We’ve been told that applications are read out anonymously and selected on this basis alone, so one must therefore assume that the best pieces of fiction won. Being an editor myself, I know how subjective this can be, and I understand fully, having had fiction rejected time and time again only to then have it accepted, just how subjective an exercise this can be.

The bottom line is the most preferred pieces get selected based on taste. This strikes to the very heart of what literature is about. It’s not about pleasing everyone all the time, it’s about the desire to make one person stop and think about your work, to impact upon them your feelings and emotions, and maybe to make them come back for more.

Ciao for now!