How to Produce 400 Podcast Episodes: Three Tips on the Creative Process
Writer: Landis Wade
Podcasting, like any other creative endeavor, requires at least three ingredients to be successful. One is the creative spark–the good idea that gets the creator excited. The second is the creative fuel–the in-the-trenches-perseverance the creator needs to keep going and going. And the third is what I call creative evolution, the ability of the creator to change, evolve, and try new ideas to make the first good idea even better and keep the energy alive.
Most podcasts fade after less than ten episodes. They start with great ideas, but they run out of gas too soon. To make it to 400 episodes, we kept the pedal to the metal, but more importantly, we continued to change, evolve, and try out new ideas.
The Creative Spark
In the summer of 2018, I had an idea to start a podcast where I would interview authors about their books. I was juiced to learn a new skill–podcasting–and equally excited about supporting and learning from authors.
I was naïve about how much time it would take to produce an interview show, but now, with six years of podcast experience, I know better. Creating involves trial and error–a/k/a mistakes. Otherwise, creators aren’t taking enough chances, and fixing mistakes–the process of getting better–is part of the process.
Fortunately, I had the time to make mistakes and learn from them. I was retired from the law, and as a recovering trial lawyer, I approached podcasting like preparing for a trial. I had my to-do lists, my outlines, my tools, my team, and my desire to get it right. None of that would have been possible without the spark of an idea that excited me.
The Creative Fuel: Perseverance
People who persevere do it for all kinds of reasons. Fear of failure. Desire to succeed. Or, in some cases, plain stubbornness. Perseverance is so important to the creative process that all three traits help. They did for me.
When I started the podcast, if you told me we would eventually release 400 episodes, I would have questioned your sanity. I almost stopped with the 300th episode, but instead, the podcast evolved and became stronger and better (more about that below).
People who don’t write books are often surprised at everything that goes into the process. The same is true for podcasting. It’s more work than it seems–all we have to do is talk into a microphone, right?– but in my experience, the more effort that goes into a creative project, the better the outcome.
I am grateful Pod-fade did not happen to Charlotte Readers Podcast because the rewards of podcasting were numerous and none of them had to do with money (this was not even a break-even project).
Creative Evolution
When the podcast released its first episode in the fall of 2018, I was recording in a Charlotte studio with Charlotte area authors. I had no idea virtual recording was a possibility until I was forced to consider it when the Pandemic struck. I was unnerved about the how, the costs, and the risks of virtual recording, but it was either learn something new or end the podcast.
When I accepted the need to evolve to remote podcasting, it opened up doors I wouldn’t have walked through otherwise. It led to interviews with authors in 33 U.S. states and four countries, including many award-winning and New York Times bestselling authors who would never have showed up for an interview in a Charlotte studio.
The evolution to virtual podcasting taught me a valuable lesson about creativity. A creative person needs to be willing to consider the possibilities, try new approaches, and be willing to fail. It can lead to unexpected rewards.
Experimentation became a key component of the podcast experience. The nature of the show changed, changed again, and then changed again. We had episodes in long form, short form, once a week, twice a week, back to once a week, scripted, unscripted, one guest, two guests, a bunch of guests, one host, guests hosts, remote, in person, audio, video, and more.
The second major creative evolutionary moment in the podcast came when we reached the 300th episode. I was struggling to keep up with the podcast and other creative projects, but instead of letting the podcast die, I invited two talented creators to join me on the podcast, and fortunately, they said “yes.” Hannah Larrew and Sarah Archer became co-hosts of the show and the show got better. And herein lies a tip about community.
Creative communities have more ideas and more reach than single creators working alone. By having three hosts instead of one, we added varied knowledge and experience to the podcast. Hannah is a book publicist. Sarah is a novelist, poet, and screenwriter. We’re all readers, but we often read different books.
We were able to add three host shows to the podcast, and we expanded the show format to include book recommendations and conversations about writing topics and the business of publishing and book marketing.
We added a feature to the website to allow audio feedback from listeners and played the audio on the podcast. We expanded the website to feature a community blog for writers to share their wisdom about writing and the writing life. And we broadened the focus of our newsletter.
We also published 8 podcast books of author quotes on a variety of writing topics, and Sarah and I, with editing input by Hannah, wrote a mystery novella about two podcast hosts called Death by Podcasting.
In short, by creatively evolving, the creative experience became more enjoyable and it produced new, better, and ever-evolving content.
The Rewards
Learning new skills is a valuable award from any creative project. I learned how to conduct a better interview, how to record, edit, and produce a podcast, how to become a better writer, and how to engage in creative evolution. But one of the biggest rewards was the development of a broader community.
By interviewing authors, I made author friends and we supported one another. By teaming up to create a three-host podcast, I developed a deeper relationship with my co-hosts that led to a fun experience and improved content. And by releasing podcast episodes into the world, I met interesting readers and writers and formed new relationships.
Community may be at the heart of surviving any creative experience that depends on alone time to get the job done, and when a creative project broadens one’s community as it did for me, that is a huge bonus.
Why End The Podcast?
The combination of life stuff (I won’t bore you with those details) and the desire to complete other creative projects (our next books and writing projects, as but one example) doesn’t leave enough time (at the moment) to put out a weekly podcast.
We aren’t quitting so much as recognizing the need for creative evolution. Having reached the milestone of 400 episodes–something we are very proud to accomplish–we are reacting to the call of new creative sparks.
I am extremely grateful to everyone who supported our podcast, listened to our podcast, appeared on our podcast, partnered with our podcast, and became a part of our community.
We plan to keep the podcast website active and we plan to stay in touch with a newsletter that surely will evolve. And who knows? We may even podcast again one day.
About the Writer
Landis Wade writes light-hearted legal thrillers and mysteries with a historical or holiday touch (cozies with a bit of a thrill). He is a recovering trial lawyer (after 35 years of law practice) and founder of Charlotte Readers Podcast (where he has conducted 500+ author interviews), whose third book—The Christmas Redemption—won the Holiday category of the 12th Annual National Indie Excellence Awards and whose recent novel – Deadly Declarations– won more than six awards including Winner in the 2022 American Fiction Awards in the Cozy Mystery category. He compiled The Write Quotesseries–8 books that release monthly beginning March 1, 2023. Book 1: The Write Quotes: The Writing Life, features inspirational and practical quotes from 500+ interviews with hard-working, award-winning, and New York Timesbestselling authors in more than 33 U.S. states and five countries.
Podcast website: charlottereaderspodcast.com
Author website: landiswade.com