One night a few months ago I discovered something interesting on the Zune marketplace under the podcast section. It's not something new in the strictest sense, but the idea was completely foreign to me, much like how one discovered the magic of instant messaging. I found a series called "How to Succeed in Evil," by Patrick E. McLean, a podcast novel. (You can check out this novel's website here: http://succeedinevil.com/ )

What is a podcast novel? That's what I wondered, but since all its chapters were FREE downloads, what's wrong with checking it out? As it turns out, a podcast novel is simply an audiobook with chapters released in a serialized format. In other words, it combines the concept of a podcast and an audiobook (consequently called a podiobook). Some authors/narrators use sound effects, others don't. I listened to "How to Succeed in Evil" while working much like how people usually listen to music on their mp3 player. When I finished the story three weeks later, I hungered for more. 

The 2nd half of the episodes released also had a plea from the co-founder of podiobooks.com, Evo Terra, to buy J.C. Hutchins' "7th Son: Descent," which was originally a techno-thriller podiobook, but has been released IN PRINT due to its popularity as a podiobook. Being a sucker for "related goods," I proceeded to check this "novel" out. The very first line of this book: "The president of the United States is dead. He was murdered in the morning sunlight by a four-year-old boy..." How can that NOT hook you?

As it turns out, the concept of a podcast novel has been around since 2005, when Scott Sigler released "EarthCore" as the "first podcast-only novel," which had over 10,000 subscribers. Since then, Sigler was able to get many of his novels to be released in print (I myself ordered my copy of "Infected" and "Contagious"). If you haven't listened to a podiobook yet, go ahead and check them out. Since Scott Sigler released "EarthCore" in 2005, there have been many authors/podcasters that began releasing their own podcast novels. There are many available in different genres on podiobooks.com, the Zune marketplace, or the iTunes store, many of which are free to download and listen to.

If you're also into sci-fi stuff like myself, I suggest to listen to 7th Son: Descent by JC Hutchins and Infected by Scott Sigler. You can check them out at their sites, http://jchutchins.net and http://scottsigler.net.

This is a prime example of new media technology being used in today's world. Scott Sigler himself even uses social media to keep up with his fan base (I was even sent a few direct messages to my surprise over Twitter from him). Hopefully I've opened up your eyes to another form of media and I hope you'll participate as a listener in this movement.