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Catriona Laverty, Editor said:

The following is a reponse to the above article from Evo Terra, co-founder of podiobooks.com:
But why would a published author allow their work to be
offered free online? er… they wouldn’t.
But they do. And rather frequently. Cory Doctorow is the poster child
to show that it not only happens, but published authors can benefit
from giving away a version of something they are also selling.
Counterintutive? You bet. Yet it happens. And it’s not just Cory.
That’s one example.
Things are only free on the internet when they can’t find
anyone willing to pay for them.
Are you and I using the same internet? Most of the tools I use — like
Google — are free. No, that’s not what you meant. But generalizations
like that don’t help your case. I highly recommend “Free” by Chris
Andreson. It’s selling nicely. And you can listen to the full
audiobook for free here:
http://www.wired.com/techbiz/it/magazine/17-07/mf_freer
Even a fairly unsuccessful author would never give
permission to distribute his books for free and will always stick to
his meagre earnings rather than the no earnings from
Podiobooks.
Your comment implies it’s an either/or situation. It’s not. And many
fairly successful authors do distribute serialized audiobook versions
for free. A single reference for you to investigate — Scott Sigler.
There are others.
The result is an audio database of unpublished books.
While most of the serialized audiobooks on our site are unpublished,
several of our authors have received publishing deals after releasing
the free audiobook version. Some had publishing deals for the print
books and opted to use the serialized audiobook to help sell more
copies. Poke around the site a while and you’ll see several books with
links back to Amazon.com where you can buy print versions by
publishers large and small.
YouTube is entirely videos that could never get on
telly…
The reverse is happening. As an example, the copyright holders of
Monty Python have their own YouTube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/montypython
If you are a hopeless unpublishable author yourself then
the site might get you some exposure, a fan base or even lead up to a
book deal. It won’t though.
Most of the time, you’re right. The biggest reason most books remain
unpublished is that they aren’t very good. I’d love to say that no
amount of exposure can counter that, but I’ve been proven wrong too
many times on that account. But I will refute your final line. Because
it has happened before and it will again.
Maybe we should do an interview? I’m happy to share real information.
You’ll find me open and honest, and not at all a fanboy of the plight
of the underpublished authors. Call me at xxx-xxx-xxxx and we can
chat.
Evo
Co-Founder
Podiobooks.com
- 16 February 2010 at 6:11 pm
jddennis said:

Allow me to point out something that the poster of this article overlooked: several of the authors that contribute to podiobooks.com are published authors, both by large and small presses. The following is a non-comprehensive list of authors, as well as their publisher:
- Scott Sigler, Crown Publishing. It should be noted he is a New York Times Bestselling author who has had the film rights to his work purchased.
- J.C. Hutchins, St. Martin’s Press
- Mur Lafferty, Running Press Kids (a member of the Perseus Books Group) and Swarm Press
- Matthew Wayne Selznick, Swarm Press
- Philippa Ballentine, Dragon Moon Press with forthcoming work from Ace Books
- Christianna Ellis, Dragon Moon Press
- Phil Rossi, Dragon Moon Press
- M.H. Bonham, Dragon Moon Press, Yard Dog Press, with nonfiction also published by Howell Book House.
- Tee Morris, fiction by Dragon Moon Press, nonfiction by Howell Book House and Que.
- Andy Remic – a variety of publishers, including Solaris Books and Angry Robot Books.
- Cory Doctorow, another New York Times bestselling author, published by Tor.
- Jeremy Robinson, St. Martin’s Press
I personally own books by nine of these authors. I’d respectfully assert that the author’s assumption that people won’t pay for these works is flawed and, at best, simplistic. There are other reasons for putting work up on the internet rather than go for traditional publishing. Mr. Doctorow and Mr. Selznick have both stated a belief that information should be free. Mr. Sigler and Mr. Hutchins both had works rejected by traditional publishers, then decided to podcast it for the gratification of sharing their stories. The popularity of their works was sufficient to give their works life in traditional publishing. Ms. Bonham, Mr. Remic, and Mr. Robinson all were published BEFORE they podcasted their work and have turned to podcasting as a marketing method to promote their work.
The author of the piece is most welcome to their self-admitted “snobbery.” Their taste in literature is their own prerogative. But even for an opinion piece, this article lacks any kind of substantial facts that backs the journalist’s assertions. One would hope the editorial staff would be more thorough.
Also, it is discouraging that the comments field for the article was disabled. I will be posting this response to my personal blog with a link back to the article for others to find.
- 16 February 2010 at 6:51 pm
David Niall Wilson said:

While I’m not one of the authors represented at Podiobooks.com, I’ve certainly considered it, and will continue to do so, as an alternative method of promoting and promulgating my work.
The one comment I’d add to the already well-thought out responses is that I found it a little odd that the author singled out one person at the podiobooks.com site and tried to intimate that not having a page on Wikipedia was a solid indicator of a lack of success. Considering the personal nature of the comments leveled at Mr. Lowell in the article, it’s odd comments were shut down to prevent personal attacks.
In any case, an article of this type requires an informed source, and the comments field being opened back up allows a wider range or experience to help provide that. Thanks for that.
DNW
- 16 February 2010 at 9:42 pm
Rich Sigfrit said:

Saturday Night Live proved that many people want to rewatch videos which is why they were the first network to declare their own Youtube channel and feature their videos and digital shorts. Many TV shows have offered free commentary and additional content for free via podcast. But everyone spends $20.00 on a DVD for just the feature film, right? Many of the shows you watch on TV (Dan Harmon, creator of Community for example) got their start by putting their films online for free which led to them getting jobs on TV or Neil Bloomkamp with his blockbuster, District 9.
Perhaps you only took a surface glance at the medium, and didn’t hit the depths you didn’t know existed.
- 16 February 2010 at 9:52 pm
Richard Green aka Mainframe said:

I’m truly sorry if the writer has been receiving inappropriate comments to this article. I disagree with the contents of the main article, and feel that the writer hasn’t done enough research; but personal attacks really aren’t called for.
I’ve been an avid reader for years and I would offer a few positive attributes of the books available on Podiobooks.com .
I’ve been able to consume so many more novels in the past few years thanks to Podiobooks.com, since I can listen as I work. The quality of the novels I listen to on Podiobooks are as good as the novels I used to pay full price for. The top audiobook page at http://www.podiobooks.com/charts.php is a great start, as are Odin1eye’s podiobook reviews at http://viewfromvalhalla.com/podcast-review-directory/ .
Also, the novels I’ve enjoyed on Podiobooks tend to be better fit for audio than the audio version of traditional print novels. The format of podiobooks range everywhere between straight reads and full audio play productions. That being said, the novels that I’ve listened to on Podiobooks and also bought in print still hold up in well in print. (Yes, I do buy printed copies of some of the podiobooks I’ve already listened to.)
The podiobooks are free, but that doesn’t make them worthless. Most of these novelist are trying to gain audience and exposure in hopes of a paying gig. How many really good novels don’t get published or take years to be published? – a lot. With Podiobooks, I get great stories without having to wait on publishers. And I get to try them out and if I don’t like some, I get to move on and try another.
Podiobooks.com does have standards, I’ve heard enough to know that these books have to meet certain production standards to make it on the site. That doesn’t guarantee that you’ll like them all, but walk down bookstore shelfs – you’ll find thousands of books you’d never buy.
And last but not least, a lot of these novelist are people you can get to know on the Internet. And you can meet fellow listeners on-line. I’ve even met some of them in person at conventions – and they remember me (in my case, usually from Twitter). If you like a Podiobook, check out the authors website, contact the author and let them know what you think. Write reviews (short or long) at Podiobooks, iTunes, the author’s site, … wherever. With these books, YOU can get involved. And for that matter, your comments might end up making a future published version of some of these books even better than they are now.
- 17 February 2010 at 1:43 am
SVallie said:

I am an author published in a NY Times Bestseller [Michael Moore's Will They Ever Trust Us Again?], Marine Corps Times, Stars and Stripes, and various other traditional venues. I am also a blogger, a narrator of a podiobook [Brand Gamblin’s Tumbler: http://TumblerNovel.net, and the author of a work that will soon be podcast in its entirety.
Now that I’ve established my street cred, let’s get down to brass tacks. A few years ago blogging was considered simply a venue for journalists who were too inept to get published by traditional newspapers. It was considered no more than vanity press. Period. Full stop.
Today, blogging is considered a respected form of communication and is often referenced by major media outlets. Blogging is now seen as a way of getting views from people that under normal circumstances would never be heard. By this slow and steady transformation, bloggers have gained a certain respectability that the author of this article is now trading on.
In the circle of podcasters, podiobook authors hold great sway. This is because of the amount of tireless effort needed to write, produce, direct, edit, submit, and publish any work that is able to garner the acclaim that the author of the article has yet to achieve. For instance, Nathan Lowell has now produced a total of 8 novels in this way that are even now being picked up for publication by a Washington, D.C. publishing house.
I would list more authors, but I think previous commenters put the lie to the assertion that no podiobook writers can make the grade.
The author of this article must be very naive to believe that great fiction writers died out after the advent of audio formats. After all, I can think of many great works that have been translated in format from published works to audiobooks.
Gutenberg no doubt devalued books by making them more easily accessible to the masses. After all, he changed the format from hand written to mass produced. How much more so must book to audio format be losing quality? And that audio format being made widely available to everyone via the internet? I’m sure the author of this article is no doubt as astonished as I that there is any good literature left after such a travesty has been committed.
Perhaps it is time that internet journalists were held to the same sort of accountability that bloggers are. No doubt references and citations would then be attached to such in-depth reports.
It is not in my nature to be unforgiving to a student who makes a mistake out of lack of knowledge. That is, after all, why they are a student. So instead I would ask the editorial staff how such a piece of fiction made it into an award winning, well respected journalistic work? Mayhap it is time for them to step into the new millennium before cultural change passes them on into the fate of yesterday’s newspapers.
- 17 February 2010 at 2:44 am
Scott Sigler said:

–But why would a published author allow their work to be offered free online? Er… they wouldn’t. –
I am a New York Times best-selling fiction author, and all of my works are on Podiobooks.com. Placing my works on Podiobooks.com helped lead me to a publishing deal with Crown Publishing, a division of Random House.
Other commenters have already pointed out the column author’s complete and utter lack of research. Even the most rudimentary Google search would have contradicted the author’s presumptuous bias toward what defines “quality.” It’s not a personal attack to say that the author did zero homework and made ignorant, sweeping generalizations about the subject matter.
State your opinion, by all means, but do try to take at least ten minutes our of your busy day to also include the facts.
- 17 February 2010 at 4:43 pm
Emer Sugrue (author) said:

In response to the large number of comments on this article I posted a reply on my blog which you can find at http://www.emersugrue.com/2010/02/podiobooks-reply.html
Cheers,
Emer Sugrue
- 17 February 2010 at 5:33 pm
The Badger said:

Hi Emer,
DEF: Opinion. n. A personal view, attitude, or appraisal that is not allowed criticise or praise anything that is real or fictional.
Examples:
Opinion ≠ Ugh! OMG LOL, Podiobooks suck ass.
Opinion = LOL
I think what we have learned is that you are not allowed an opinion. In fact, if you have an opinion the best thing to do is think about rainbows or something. Maybe download some podiobooks?
Hug it out guys……
Note: Opinions held by the majority and the minority hold as much relevance as eachother.
*this post was brought to you by Irish Sarcasm.
- 18 February 2010 at 10:41 am
Rose Woods said:

“the perfect way to pretend you’ve read a book” indeed! I an not blind, illiterate or otherwise unable to read a printed book. I don’t write using weenie shortcuts like 2, 4 or UR. I am not lazy. I listen to audio books because I have very little of the undistracted free time that it takes to sit down and read a book. I’m a farmer, and I have kids. Audiobooks give me the opportunity to enjoy a good book with the added remembered pleasure of my parents reading to me as a child, all while I’m milking my goats, tending crops and other hands-on tasks. The words in the book are no less beautiful and have no less validity whether they are read or heard. As for sites like Podiobooks, I am deeply grateful that there are both new and established writers willing to read to me for free. What a delightful luxury! I only wish Salinger, Heinlein and Steinbeck were alive to read their own works aloud. I’ve found so many good stories on Podiobooks, all for free. Being a book snob does not necessarily make you more intelligent, but it definitely makes you less frugal, both with money and time. If a person is fortunate (debatable) enough to have both in quantity enough to waste, they would both be better spent in more noble pursuits than denigrating a worthwhile service. Thank you Scott Sigler, Nathan Lowell, et al for all you do.
- 26 February 2010 at 7:07 pm
V said:

If you’d care for some more examples of published authors offering their work online for free that aren’t associated with podiobooks.com :
Neil Gaiman – read The Graveyard Book on a book tour, chapter by chapter, and had video recordings of it put on a website. http://www.mousecircus.com/videotour.aspx
Stephen King – Riding the Bullet was available for free from, among others, amazon.com
If you read with the intention to boast about what you’ve read, then reading (or listening to) random books from the internet might not be for you. (Although if the book does become a success – the next Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings or Dan Brown -, you can’t boast you’ve read it way-back-when. )
- 27 February 2010 at 4:08 pm