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Jennifer Hudock is an emerging author and podcaster who enjoys writing horror and dark fantasy fiction. She has been published in a variety of small print journals and online ezines.  At present she is the publisher and an editor for the online literary arts journal, eMuse.

On July 1, 2009, Jennifer began podcasting her novel, Goblin Market. This is her first attempt at podcast fiction. We sat down to talk to her about the process of beginning the podcast.

Can you tell us a little bit about your first podcast novel, the Goblin Market?

Goblin Market is a dark fantasy novel inspired by Christina Rossetti’s poem, “Goblin Market.” Meredith, my heroine, must pass through a wicked, enchanted forest in order to retrieve an antidote to the goblin poison that is slowly killing her younger sister. On her journey, Meredith learns the truth about her own identity, and her comes to understand her ties to both the faerie world and the treacherous king who wants to make her his bride.

What made you decide to present your work, The Goblin Market, as a free podcast?

I started listening to James Melzer’s The Zombie Chronicles: Escape back in February 2009, and the entire time I was listening to the story I kept thinking, “Wow, what a unique medium for putting your work out there.”  I contemplated doing it myself, but didn’t really think I was ready. The more I started to learn about other podcasters and their work, the more I started to think about Goblin Market, which had been sitting on my hard drive waiting for me to do something with it for about two years.  After talking it over with some podcaster friends, I just decided to dive in and do it.

What were the biggest problems you had to overcome in starting up this podcast?

The first episode of Goblin Market was a nightmare to get going. I recorded it about two weeks before the launch date I planned and sent it to a good friend for his feedback and advice. The day before it was set to air, the file was corrupted and I had no backup. I thought for sure I had lost the entire episode and would have to re-record hastily.  Fortunately, my friend still had a copy of the original file, so it saved me.

What is your equipment set-up like? How do you record and edit your episodes?

Embarrassing as it is, my equipment at this point is sub-par. I have a $20 microphone and use Audacity to record at this point. Even using Levelator and spending hours tweaking and adjusting the sound, the quality disappoints me.  I am working on upgrading my equipment in the next few weeks, and when I do, I am going to rerecord all of the early episodes so when I am ready to upload to podiobooks, the quality of the recording is worthy of the story.  As for editing and recording, I record about a week before the episode is scheduled to air, that way I have enough time to edit, listen and tweak the sound quality to the best of my ability.  I usually record in one full session, just picking up and moving without stopping if I stumble and editing out the stumbles later.

Who were some podcasters that inspired you, and how did they inspire you?

James Melzer really inspired me.  I remember listening to episode one of The Zombie Chronicles: Escape, and thinking wow, now here’s someone who really puts their heart and soul into the storytelling aspect of writing.  I’ve always been partial to vocal storytelling, so it blew my mind to hear him put forth so much effort to make each voice in the story unique, and this helped make the characters believable and identifiable.  Then I started listening to Mur Lafferty, and was completely blown away by everything she had accomplished, on top of being a phenomenal storyteller.  It made me call into question my own efforts as an author, and I had to start asking myself how far I was willing to push things to get my work out there.

What podcasts did you listen to? What did you learn from listening to them?

The Zombie Chronicles: Escape, Mur Lafferty’s Heaven Series and Scott Sigler’s Contagious were some of my first podiobooks.  Right now I’m listening to Michael Bekemeyer’s Scatterpod Dark, which is a series of dark short stories.  Aside from learning about what things needed more editing, and how I could make my story sound compelling enough to capture readers, one of the greatest things I learned from listening to other podcast fiction is that even when your sound quality needs a bit of work, people will come back if the story itself is compelling. That’s no excuse for poor sound quality, mind you, but it is a testament to your work as a writer, and in the end that is what truly matters.

What piece of advice would you give to someone who is thinking about podcasting their work?

Do your homework and definitely try to find a willing mentor to show you the ropes. Unless you know everything there is to know about recording, reading and then getting your podcast out there, you can learn so much from someone who’s already done what you are trying to do.  Don’t be afraid to look stupid.  Looking stupid before you launch will save you from looking stupid after you launch.

Do you think you will continue to do this after the Goblin Market?

Absolutely.  I actually podcast short stories and poetry from time to time as well, and I am currently working on an upcoming podcast fiction project with James Melzer called Twists of Fate, which you can find out more about it by visiting our website: http://www.twistsoffate.com  We’ll be making more information available as we near the launch date.

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Jenny’s Blog can be found online at: http://www.jenniferhudock.com
The Twist of Fate project is at http://www.twistsoffate.com