For the past several months I’ve been working a secret podcast project that I’m now releasing. I’m so excited to share the new show and I’m super curious what people will think about it.
Here’s the deal.
Since August 2016, I’ve been recording weekly audio journal entries about my writing process as I’m working on my third book. I started the week that I pitched the new book to my editor and I’ve been recording regular updates ever since.
The new show is called The Anatomy of a Book and it’s now available on iTunes, Soundcloud, and Stitcher.
As many of my regular readers know, I already have two podcast shows that produce weekly episodes: Research in Action and You’ve Got This. I’ve written previously about my love for this medium as both a producer of content and a listener to a wide range of shows.
But I can imagine that some people are wondering: why a third show?
So here’s some of the reasons I decided to do it:
- I’ve never seen anything like this. This is the kind of project that I wish someone else would do it so that I could listen in. I’m assuming that means there might be other people like me who are interested in process-oriented narratives. (If you know of a podcast of another higher education professional detailing the writing of a book, let me know so I can follow along!)
- I love to pull back the curtain. A lot of the faculty and higher education professionals that I talk to think that publishing is very mysterious. If I can share about my writing and publication process in a way that helps other people figure it out for themselves that’s a huge motivation for a project like this.
- I needed accountability. As I started working on this new book, I was doing it mostly in isolation. When I committed to recording weekly journal entries, it meant that I needed to have something to talk about and that meant I needed to get writing!
- Reflection is key to the writing process. But I don’t always take the time for it. Recording these regular updates forced me to be reflective about my writing process and also about the emotional side of writing a book (i.e. all the fear that crops up).
- I wanted to get creative about promoting the book. Since this book won’t be available for pre-sale for several months and it doesn’t even have a cover image yet, I wanted a way to share about the book to build some buzz and interest. Hopefully listeners of the show will enjoy hearing a bit about how the book came to be and will consider purchasing it when it becomes available in 2018.
- I want to be a model of academic creativity and productivity. I write a lot about both of these topics, so it’s important that I’m walking the talk and regularly producing new and creative products for people who are following my work.
I hope you’ll take a few minutes to check out this new project. Again, it’s called The Anatomy of a Book and it’s available on iTunes, Soundcloud, and Stitcher. I’ll be posting episodes weekly on Thursdays and each episode will have show notes and a full transcript. (I also talk a little about the new show on this You’ve Got This podcast episode if you want to take a listen.)
If you know someone else who might like this new show, consider sharing this essay with them so they can learn about it. Also, if you try the show and like it, I hope you’ll leave a review in iTunes since that also helps spread the word.
Thanks for your continued support and interest in my work and projects — I hope you like this one!
To think on:
- How do you reflect and share your process of creating?
- What process-oriented narratives have you come across lately?