A podcast novel (also known as a serialized audiobook or podcast audiobook) is a literary format that combines the concepts of a podcast and an audiobook. Like a traditional novel, a podcast novel is a work of long literary fiction, however this form of novel is recorded into episodes that are delivered online over a period of time and in the end available as a complete work for download. The episodes may be delivered automatically via RSS, through a web site, blog, or other syndication method. These files are either listened to directly on a user's computer or loaded onto a portable media device to be listened to later.
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The types of novels that are podcasted vary from new works from new authors that have never been printed,[1][2] to well established authors that have been around for years, to classic works of literature that have been in print for over a century.[3][4] In the same style as an audiobook, podcast novels may be elaborately narrated with separate voice actors for each character and sound effects, similar to a radio play. Other podcast novels have a single narrator reading the text of the story with little or no sound effects.
Podcast novels are distributed over the Internet, commonly on a weblog. Podcast novels are released in episodes on a regular schedule (e.g. once a week) or irregularly as each episode is released when completed, and can either be downloaded manually from a website or blog, be delivered automatically via RSS, or other method of syndication. Ultimately, a serialized podcast novel becomes a completed audiobook.[5]
Podcast novelists use giving away a free podcast version of their book as a form of promotion.[6] Some novelists have even secured publishing contracts to have their novels printed.[1][2] Podcast novelists have commented that podcasting their novels lets them build audiences even if they cannot get a publisher to buy their books. These audiences then make it easier to secure a printing deal with a publisher at a later date. These podcast novelists also claim the exposure that releasing a free podcast gains them makes up for the fact that they are giving away their work for free.[7]
The differences between a podcast novel and an audiobook are almost nonexistent. A podcast novel is essentially a serialized book with chapters released over time, whereas an audiobook's chapters are released together at the same time.