Archive for the 'Book' Category

• Author : Kirk McElhearn, Richard Giles & Jack D. Herrington
• Publisher : Oreilly
• ISBN Number : 0-596-10230-5
• Cost : $9.99
• Buy Book : Buy Amazon
• Pages : 99
• Star Rating : 6.5 out of 10

This is a curious book as I’m not too sure who it’s intended audience is. With it’s by the seat of the pants approach to podcasting, it’s too brief for the beginner and lacking in content for the intermediate/advanced user.

There are 5 chapters. The first chapter runs at 30 pages and introduces the new user to podcasting, but it’s far too iTunes/iPod centric for my liking. The last chapter is 31 pages of brief podcast site reviews, which actually accounts for nearly a third of the 99 pages. Some of the sites reviewed, are sites I must admit I’ve never heard of, so just for that, it’s pretty neat, albeit an expensive way to find new sites. The remaining 3 chapters cover making; choosing a format and editing your podcast, but due to the limited amount of remaining pages, each is covered at a whistlestop pace.

Conclusion : I think this is a great gift to give a new iPod user, or someone who’s curious about podcasting, but for anyone else, the book tries to be a Jack of all trades, but ends up being a master of none. Having said that though, $10 bucks isn’t a lot of money and if you can pick up some new stuff you never knew, it will be value for money.

The first issue of Podcast User magazine was launched today. With 24 pages of great articles from some great names in podcasting, including Paul @ Podcastpaul, Phil @ bitjobs and Mark @ TartanPodcast, amongst others, be sure to visit the site and download a copy.

If you are interested in receiving the magazine via your aggregator or podcast software, be sure to subscribe to the feed.

• Author : Stephanie Ciccarelli
• Publisher : ThePodcastingEbook.com
• ISBN Number : N/A
• Cost : $9.95 new price, 50% lower
• Buy Book : Buy Direct
• Star Rating : 9 out of 10

Whenever I think of books, even in this modern age, I think of conventionally bound hardback or paperback books. Not to say I haven’t downloaded the odd PDF document and printed it out, I have, but I’ve never purchased a PDF book before. That said however, if more books were as good as this I definitely would.

ThePodcastingEbook.com is 94 page electronic book available in Adobe PDF format, that introduces you to podcasting, with more emphasis on creating podcasts and generating income from them. That’s not to say that anyone interesting in creating podcasts isn’t going to get their monies worth, as they most definitely are. The main body of the book is split into 19 chapters which are shown below to give you an idea of what to expect:

• Introduction to Podcasting
• Browse, Listen, Subscribe
• Brand Your Podcast
• Plan Your Content
• Podcasting Technology
• Record Your Podcast
• Music in Your Podcast
• Editing Sound Effects
• Editing a Voice-Over
• Mixing Your Podcast
• Mastering Your Podcast
• Getting Outside Help
• Hosting Your Podcast
• Publishing Your Podcast
• Creating Your Feed
• Submitting Your Podcast
• Promoting Your Podcast
• Growing Your Podcast
• Making Money Podcasting

Each chapter is very well presented and includes a breakdown of what the chapter includes. The early chapters in the book include numerous screenshots of websites and applications covered, but a few more illustrations / pictures would be good, especially when discussing the equipment used in podcasting.

For many podcasters, the inclusion of telephone conversations in their podcasts can be a thorny subject, but that is all covered in the book, as well as locating music to be used in your podcast. Some of the other interesting chapters are promoting your podcast, which can be an artform all in itself and making money from your podcast.

For anyone purchasing this book, a whole slew of bonus material is thrown in too, including a podcast session guide, fully-produced podcast episode numbers, royalty-free music soundtracks and a press release template.

Conclusion : For people with no experience in listening to podcasts, I would say pick up one of the other podcasting books intended for beginners. For anyone keen on creating their own podcasts, this book is an excellent resource. If this book were sold as is, it would to my mind be a little on the expensive side, especially since it is only available in electronic format. However when you also include the bonus material included, you have to say this book in a winner.

Addendum : The price of this eBook has now been reduced by 50%, which now makes it exceptional value for money. Rating has been changed to reflect this.

• Author : Bart G. Farkas
• Publisher : Peachpit Press
• ISBN Number : 0321369297
• Cost : $19.99
• Buy Book : Buy Amazon
• Pages : 212
• Star Rating : 9 out of 10

For anyone wanting to produce their own podcast, the options can seem daunting. At the simplest level, you can just open sound recorder on a windows machine, plug in a microphone and go. This is a cheap way to start, but you’re not going to gain yourself many fans, for if a podcast is of questionable quality, listeners are unlikely to come back for more, and adding to your subscriber list is what it’s all about.

Secrets of Podcasting is very much an A-Z of podcasting, from planning to creating and finally distribution. The book is split into 4 chapters spanning 212 pages. Geared very much to the creation of podcasts on both Windows and Mac computers, there’s still a lot of content relevant to creating on other platforms.

The first 2 chapters lean more to the listening of podcasts, with a brief history of podcasting, through to choosing a podcast aggregator and a device to listen to them on. There’s also an overview of several podcasts, but with hundreds being added every week, this really only skims the surface.

It is however the last two chapters where this book really shines. These chapters cover some of the best hardware, to give your podcast that professional sound. An assortment of microphones, headphones, audio interfaces/preamps and digital records are all described in depth, along with their strengths and weaknesses. This chapter provides a really good breakdown of why you would use each piece and gives various cost options, so you can create a setup to suit your pocket.

Also in the latter half of the book, some of the many software packages are covered. These range in price from free, to several hundred dollars. The remainder of the book covers the creation process and what to do when you have finished, like creating your feed so people can find you and how to enable people to find you.

Although a fairly compact book, there’s a lot of useful information, all presented in a very easy to read manner. There’s also interviews liberally distributed in the book with key players in the podcast field, from podcast creators, to service providers. This is an excellent book, that guides you through the creating of a podcast, covering all the information you will need to know.

Conclusion : The Secrets of Podcasting is an excellent book aimed at a beginner/intermediate level of reader. At $19.99 US, it manages to give you real bang for your buck.