A superhero audio drama with mystery, action, sound effects, and original music

No co-host to speak of; just me. But my background is in authoring satirical but helpful books on personal improvement, doing a lot of volunteer work, and wanting to change the world, cheesy as it sounds. My podcast is about four friends who acquire abilities in the midst government conspiracy, and have to decide how those powers will be used. My listeners are anyone who loves action, romance, mystery, and sound effects/original music.
 

I listen to several podcasts, from social commentary, to marriage advice, to sermons and more. I actually have another podcast—Lightning Bolts and Leather Jackets—that focuses more on social commentary and issues that the Christian Church needs to address. But I’ve always wanted to publish this story that I’ve had in my heart (and my hard drive) for a long time. Even just working on it myself had allowed God to work some major revelations and changes in my life…and that’s what I wanted this story to do for as many people who heard it. After doing my other podcast and reading my story to my wife, I thought it might be even more fun to do that story as a podcast. So, I started back in May of this year. It took some time to get the voices and the editing right, but I wanted it to really capture the listeners’ attention and be of good quality—at least good quality for an amateur such as myself!
 

Usually I can record one day and edit the recording the next. My lunch break from my regular job gives me adequate time to squeeze that in. It takes me a couple hours worth of work on average, but the later chapters might take a little longer due to additional music cues and sound effects. The episodes are released twice a month on Friday mornings—alternating with the other podcast that releases on the off weeks on Tuesdays. I fund the podcast myself, but it’s been invested in by family who bought me a more professional soundboard, and by my wife who got me business cards and stuff. But I don’t spend anything on ads just yet; soon, though!
 

I do take sponsorship! Currently, my sponsor is Anchor, the platform I use to publish the episodes. But I’ve made only about $0.70 so far, even with over a hundred listens, so I’m down for more sponsors! I’ve got a list of companies I plan to reach out to once I’m about a third of the way through my series. That way, I’ve got enough traction and rhythm to focus on the sponsorship; right now I’m focused on the story.

Podcasting has taught me a lot about myself, but more so about the creative process. I’ve become more proficient in editing and recording, and I never, ever thought I’d compose a song or reach people in different countries. So it’s helped me to branch out and take risks, learn things I didn’t initially expect to learn.
 

I use a Maonocaster soundboard to add effects and voice modulation, a Zoom microphone to record, and the software I use to edit is called WavePad. It was around $10 on the App Store and it’s been a huge help. I have all the episodes already broken down and written into chapters, so they’re ready to record. But I’ll prepare the atmosphere in advance, like the music and sound effects. Once it’s recorded, I can add those other things in during the editing process, and just finalize it. One of my coworkers actually has helped me normalize the latest episodes, so I send it to him first to make sure the sound is at a healthy and non-competing volume, and then it goes through Anchor to be published…after I put an ad in the middle!
 

Right now I promote it through my other podcast. Once I’ve got a few more episodes, I’ll finish the website and get some more social media presence. Honestly it’s not my strength, but it’s necessary and I can learn—word of mouth can get you far, but I’d love to cover all the bases.
 

Don’t be afraid to learn, and don’t be afraid to fail. Because you will, almost certainly. But once you dust yourself off, and realize what you’ve learned, you can improve. Failing isn’t what makes a failure; but failing to persevere is.
 

You can learn more on my other podcast, linked below. It’s full of personal stories, some interviews, and gives a deeper reasoning for why I do what I do, and why I believe what I believe.
https://anchor.fm/victor069