A spooky, fictional, serial podcast

I am a musician and author who fell into podcasting somewhat accidentally after a friend suggested I turn one of my books into a podcast. The Skylark Bell podcast features a weekly reading of one chapter of my spooky, mysterious story Meadow Lane and the Skylark Bell, complete with creepy sound effects and my original music. On the last Friday of every month I put out a bonus episode where I tell a real-life supernatural, or at the very least unusual and unexplained experience.
 

I had never listened to a podcast prior to creating my own, but I now have several that I enjoy! My initial motivation in creating this podcast was to finally get my story out into the world, and to push myself to finish the other two books that go along with it! In October of 2020 I put together a teaser-trailer which I released almost immediately. Then I officially launched the podcast in late January of 2021 when I released an introductory episode. The following week I released the 3 first chapters of the story all at once, and have been releasing chapters weekly ever since. The final episode of this season is scheduled for the first week of September, then I have a couple of specials lined up for Halloween and the holidays to tide us over until Season 2.
 

I release one episode every Friday. I have found a groove in producing the episodes now. I record myself reading several chapters (usually between 6 and 8 at a time). I already have a template ready in Garageband with the intro music, background music, and outro music, so once I plug in the reading part, I record a spoken intro and outro then add sound effects. Composing and recording the music took some time (I realize most podcasters don't make their own music), now that I have a template I can produce a full 10-15 minute long episode in about an hour. Finding time to record is definitely a challenge, I have a family, 2 dogs, and a day job. I just squeeze in recording whenever I have some quiet time and try to get as much done as possible in those moments soI can line up episodes for release ahead of time and remain consistent. In the beginning I made the mistake of recording and releasing all in the same week, this was not a sustainable model for me, the stress of having to scramble to get the episode ready was too high. Producing and uploading to the distributor in batches is definitely the way to go.
 

I currently have not requested or been offered sponsorship. The only income I have that is partly related to the podcast is through my Patreon patrons. I started my podcast only a few months ago, and started out with 16 downloads per month. I am now up to nearly 400 downloads per month, and have been thinking of creative ways to market the podcast at get the word out. The podcast has been very beneficial in lighting a creative spark, providing a new creative challenge for me both as an author and as a musician. Family, friends, and strangers have all given me amazing feedback, and many have said my creativity and hard work has inspired them to try creative avenues themselves.
 

There are no guests on my podcast, I do absolutely everything. I record the music using a Roland Juno 88 keyboard (which has also come in handy for sound effects). For the spoken part of the podcast I use a Focusrite Scarlett box which connects to a Yamaha mixer into which I plug my Audio Technica microphone. The Scarlett box then plugs into my MacBook on which I run Garageband. Once I complete an episode I upload it to Auphonic for mastering, then to my distributor. I also put a lot of time and effort in the visual aspect of my podcast, I create graphics for each episode (always keeping the style consistent) and then create a simple video using those graphics so I can upload the podcast to Youtube.
 

I have created great following for my music on Instagram, so that is the first platform I focused on after starting the podcast. I also consistently share information about my podcast on my personal Facebook page and have gathered some frans (friend/fans) that way who have also become my champions and helped spread the word. I created a website, and consistently update links to various social media and podcast platforms everywhere I go. I try to make the podcast as easy to find and accessible as possible. Lastly, I printed flyers for the podcast which I posted in local coffee shops, the library, grocery store, etc. I also slipped some flyers into books of a similar genre in local Little Free Libraries.
 

Take the time to plan your releases, draw them out on a calendar. Record and prepare as many episodes for release as you can prior to launching your podcast. Start hyping up your podcast prior to launching, create all your social channels (you can keep them private until they're ready), upload photos, graphics, behind the scenes, etc before launching them so they already have interesting content when you make them public (vs having one or two random posts). Create an air of mystery, get people excited, then when you launch give them at least 3 episodes right away. Don't leave recording/releasing to the last minute, it is not fun, and odds are your episode will feel rushed. Google is your friend, if you're not sure about something or looking for advice, search for reputable sources and read read read! Also, use Linktree to make it easy to collect all your links in one place.
 

All links for my podcast, social media, Patreon, and website can be found here: https://linktr.ee/theskylarkbell