How to support podfic & podficcers!
Iāve seen a few āHereās how to support writersā posts, so hereās one for your friendly neighbourhood podfic people!Ā
Podfic is more well-known these days, but in case you havenāt come across it: think of it as fan-made audiobooks for fic.
If you like podfic and would like to help the people who make it make more of it, here are a few easy tips and tricks:
How to support podficcers as a writer:
Post a permission statement somewhere public! That can be your AO3 profile, your tumblr bio, the tags of your worksā¦ Preferably all of the above! You donāt have to give āBlanket Permission,ā it can be an āask first but Iāll probably say yesā or an āleave a comment and I will decide on a case-by-case basisā statement. Or even a āBlanket noā statement, which will spare the podficcers the time and energy to track you down and ask you, only to be told no thank you. If you want to be asked, though, make sure you specify an up-to-date way to contact you.
Share the podfic! If someone makes podfic of your work, the most helpful thing you can do as a writer is share it: accept the related work notification and add the āpodfic & podficced worksā tag on AO3,Ā but especially share the link on Twitter, reblog the podficcerās post, etc. You donāt have to rec the podfic or even listen if you donāt want to-itās not expected of you! You donāt have to say anything but āLook, this exists!ā Your audience as a writer is almost always much bigger than the podficcerās own audience, so by sharing the post with your followers, you will help increase the podficās visibility and chances of getting feedback, which in turn will probably motivate the podficcer or inspire other podficcers to record more of your stories/your fandom.
How to support podficcers as a listener:
Give feedback! If you think writers get little reward for their efforts, oh boy do I have news for you about podficcers. Thereās a bunch of reasons why itās logistically harder to leave feedback on podfic (weāve all downloaded and listened to something & thenā¦ forgot to come backā¦.), and readers sometimes donāt know what to say. If youāre looking for inspiration or a place to start, here are some ideas for leaving podfic feedback: Podfic Feedback Toolbox by KLB, and some useful vocabulary to comment on podfic by yue_ix. Feedback on podfic is so rare that I guarantee you that every single kudos notification, comment, tweet, squeeing tags on a reblog, ask or nice AO3 bookmark is cherished forever.
Share the podfic and/or rec it! Maybe new people will be intrigued and give it a try, which will increase the demand, which will motivate your current podficcers and attract new ones, you know the drill.
In general, the more podfic-positive and responsive a fandom, the more podficcers will be attracted to it. So if you love podfic and would like there to be moreā¦ You know what you have to do :p
And if youāre new to the idea of podfic and donāt know where to start: There are more than 22,000 on AO3 right now, in a multitude of fandoms, ratings, lengths, voices and styles. You can usually stream them right on the page, and you can always download them to listen to later. Itās never been easier to have a fluffy ficlet keep you company while you do the dishes or to have someone tell you your favourite AU as a bedtime story.
And thatās it for me! Please share this post and feel free to add your own tips or ask questions if you have any. :D Thank you for reading!
