With just a few hours left to run (and not a lot of stuff left to see in the program), I’m hoping to spend a couple hours in the lobby saying “Safe Voyage” to all the great folks I’ve met this weekend from the podcasting community.
One of the things I was surprised at was the distinction between “literary” and “podcast” programming. It seems pretty clear that the two are a long way apart. People promoting first books are working hard with small presses to sell a few thousand copies. The listeners to the Golden Age books represent many more than the average numbers of the standard “first book” author. It’s astonishing.
I’m contemplating some ideas about New Media as well. The application of social media seems to be lagging behind – even in the podcasting community. There’s a certain “semi targeted” shotgun approach, but … I’m not sure we’re actually getting there.
More when I get home.
Okay, speak. Please. About literary versus podcast. Is literary supposed to be more pure or something? Or is the real distinction literary versus popular? (Warning: This is a subject that irritates the bejeesus out of me because I can never figure out which side of the line my own writing supposedly falls on – or who gets to draw the line.) So was this an ongoing discussion at BaltCon?
Hey, Joe.
“Literary” vs “Podcast” was the informal designation given to program items relating to “traditional dead tree writing” vs “new media.” The “literary” group had topics like “Plagues as Theme” and “Use of Social Science in Speculative Fiction.” The “new media” group had topics like “Podiobooks 102 – Why should I give my books away for Free?” and “Crowdsourcing.”
It wasn’t like “literary” like “oh well, this is F Scott Fitzgerald – it’s literary.”
Okay, I get it. Sounds like the “literary” items were deadly. As they usually are.
Are you home yet? Resting from your revelries? :)
Just for grins, I googled Balticon 42 and came across this web log (popularly known as ‘blog’) entry. Mr. Cottonwood asks “…literary versus podcast…”. Here are the definitions in their simplest form:
Literary: Print Media Podcasting: New Media
Lois McMaster Bujold, Iain Banks, David Weber, Piers Anthony, Charles Sheffield are print media authors. Nathan Lowell is a new media author. Here’s another definition: author: (1) one that originates or creates and
(2) the writer of a literary work (as a book). With this definition, I can agree with Mr. Cottonwood’s further statement “…the “literary†items were deadly…”. They sometimes can be whether the media is new or print. As you can see, it is all literary regardless of how it is published.
Very true, Lee.
There were some interesting juxtapositions — A print author who moderated a podcast panel — The podcast authors doing readings without actually — like — just playing the mp3. (I still don’t understand that one, but wev.)
What it? something like 49 weeks to BaltiCon43??
I can’t wait :)