Serial Revival Via Podcasting
Modern Serials that Could Eclipse Their Radio Forefathers
Podcasts are, along with creating a podcast, still in their infancy. A review of the serialized podcast of a popular recent book gave a glimpse into the possibilities.
In 2006, author J.C. Hutchins wrote 7th Son: Book One, Descent, the first in his 7th Son trilogy. The book was written not for print publication, but rather as a serialized podcast.
Podcasts are audio and video files that can be downloaded, generally for free, onto a personal computer via Apple iTunes or another comparable podcast downloading program. The files can then be listened to on the PC, an iPod, MP3 player, or burned to a CD.
In a nutshell, as Hutchins describes, the book "chronicles the story of seven strangers who have been brought together after the recent assassination of the U.S. president. These men quickly discover they all appear to be the same man ... with identical childhood memories." The young men, all named "John Michael Smith," find that they were the subjects of a government human cloning experiment and they have been brought together at the Seventh Son facility, the place where they were created. Although they had never met, they were assembled to stop the man who murdered the United States president, John Michael Smith, code named John Alpha, the man from whom they were cloned. The book is a spellbinding account of the tribulations the men face as they learn more and more about their creation, the diabolical nature of John Alpha, and set about trying to stop him.
Aside from being a fantastically written book, and one of those that, had it been in print, could not have been put down, it shows the tremendous potential for book podcasting and podcasting in general. The nature of contemporary radio, television and other media have made a return of the old radio serials of the mid-20th-century impossible. Enter podcasting.
Hutchins serialized 7th Son, which is available free through his website, podiobooks.com or Apple iTunes, roughly along chapter lines, publishing new episodes each week. Acting also as narrator, the author did a fantastic job, especially given the difficulty of giving a distinct voice to seven characters with only slightly different variations of the name "John Michael Smith." His narration brings listeners frighteningly close to the characters and feeling of the book, more so than even a professional narrator could have done.
Although 7th Son was a fine example of a serial podcast, there are increasing numbers of books in podcast form in virtually any genre imaginable. The growing popularity of podcasting and the ease with which consumers can obtain and use the needed technology will help to ensure the limitless future of the podcast. The listener following enjoyed by the serials of a bygone era are also a testament to the limiteless heights great books can reach as authors discover how to make a podcast.
J.C. Hutchins has secured his future as an author with The 7th Son Trilogy, which is currently in the middle of the final book, 7th Son: Book Three, Destruction. He has also helped podcasts take a giant step from infancy toward young-adulthood. Given the finite nature of print publishing, the infinite possibilities of creating a podcast, a good one, should give hope to aspiring authors.
