During my youth and early adulthood, the only types of electronic mass media available to the public were television and radio. Now, there are a multitude of electronic channels for mass communication made possible by the Internet. For only the second time, I took part in one of these new channels, specifically a podcast administered by a Chicago-based writer named Marsha Cook.
Marsha’s podcast, titled “Michigan Avenue Media Podcast,” focuses primarily on literary issues, but as she candidly admits “we dive into a variety of topics from writing and publishing to movies, relationships, self-help, and even style and health.” I learned about Marsha’s podcast from Krysten Lindsay Hager, a fellow YA author who, like me, had Astraea Press as a publisher until they closed up shop. Krysten was a co-presenter in this podcast, setting up an interesting 3-way dialogue.
The podcast was scheduled for 5 pm, Thursday, March 19. Because I was unfamiliar with Podbean, the Internet hosting platform that Marsha uses, I got on the Internet almost a full hour before that time. Almost anytime I’m dealing with a technology that’s new to me, I give myself plenty of time to adjust to it. In this case, it didn’t matter. For reasons that had nothing to do with my angst over new technology, the program didn’t start until about 5:40. This didn’t bother Marsha too much, possibly because her 1,000+ followers can access her podcasts long after they’ve finished. She did mention, however, that (possibly because of technical snafus like ours) Podbean will soon discontinue doing live broadcasts.
The program lasted about 52 minutes and was audio only. That suited me fine, since I don’t consider myself very photogenic. It also allowed me to focus on what I wanted to say, rather than worrying about distracting motions I might unconsciously be making or clutter on my desk. Overall, I thought there was a good balance among the three of us as far as contributing to the dialogue. Marsha pointed out that sexual abuse and similar once-taboo topics are now discussed more openly in our society. I got to ask Krysten about a sequel to Dating the It Guy, an early novel of hers I read several years ago. Best of all, I was able to tell Marsha’s followers about the inspiration for the Secrets We Carry and about my commitment to donate two-thirds of my book sale revenue to the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network and the Ohio Domestic Violence Network.
Rather than try to summarize all the different topics Marsha, Krysten, and I talked about, I’ll add a link at the end of this paragraph that will take you to the recording of the podcast itself. So far, I’m not aware of any jump in online sales that can be attributed to the podcast, which is just a little disappointing. However, the experience of being on Michigan Avenue Media Podcast has given me the confidence to try this avenue of book promotion again. And I may not have to wait too long for another opportunity like this to come, since Marsha has already said she’d like to have me be a guest for a future podcast.