Self-Promotion Isn’t a Dirty Word
How to Build an Actual Play Podcast, Part 4
You’ve been through the entire production process and you’ve got a finished podcast in your hand!
Now it’s time to don a fluorescent orange boiler suit, jump up and down, and point at it while yelling your logline into a bullhorn in every language you know (and maybe one or two you don’t).
Self-Promotion Isn’t a Dirty Word
The best way I can possibly articulate my thoughts on self-promotion is to link you to the tweet thread that fundamentally shifted my perspective about self-promotion from being negative to positive.
I encourage you to read the whole thing, but the key line is this:
It’s helpful to understand that no one knows to look for your art until someone tells them about it. And the very best person to tell them about it—the person who is most knowledgeable and passionate about it—is you!
So let’s talk about how to most effectively spread the good word.
The Long Runway
When you’re trying to land a plane, it’s helpful to have a long runway. A long runway grants you time to work any problems that may arise. The same is true for podcasts. (I think. I’m not a pilot)
Sit down and write out a schedule that includes plenty of time for recording, editing, and tweaking. In an ideal situation, when you launch you would have:
2-3 episodes ready to publish
2-3 more episodes recorded (with 1-2 of those being actively edited)
A fairly clear idea of how much time it takes to make an episode of your show
A release cadence for your show - Are you doing a weekly release? Biweekly? Seasonal?
By this point in the process you should have a pretty good idea of what your podcast looks like (based on the three previous parts in this series). Depending on your format, you might choose from a number of different approaches to your release cadence.
For example, you might realize that by making minimal edits and 30-minute episodes you are able to bank 8 episodes in a single 4-hour recording session. That would probably make a weekly release cadence very achievable.
On the other hand, you might realize you want to create original music for each episode and coordinate with performers all over the globe with difficult schedules. That might mean that a consistent release schedule is unrealistic and you might be better served by taking a seasonal approach and releasing limited run shows followed by a long hiatus during which you build the next season.
It can be hard to sit on so much good material that you’re excited to put out into the world, but making a podcast is a marathon. Set a reasonable pace at the start to set yourself up for success long-term.
Coordinating a Successful Marketing Push
Once you’ve got all your ducks in a row and you’re ready to press publish, it’s important to get together with your crew and make sure everyone is on the same page about their responsibilities. If you expect your performers or guests or producers to promote the show you should make that explicit and easy for them to do.
For most seasons I will send out an email to the cast and crew that contains:
Relevant release dates
Links to the episodes
1-2 art assets (podcast art, character artwork, banner art, etc.)
1-2 audio clips with animated audiograms formatted in both square and vertical formats (I use headliner.app to make easy audiograms for podcast clips)
A short message that ask them to interact with the show on social media to their comfort level and thanking them for their participation
The easier it is to share your show the more likely people will be to do it. By removing work from others, you are decreasing potential points of friction. And in podcast production, the less friction the better.
Building a Useful Press Kit
When you launch any creative project, it’s good to have an easy-to-digest press kit that you can send to relevant news outlets and any friends who want to help you amplify your show.
As an example, here is the actual press kit we used when we launched the DIE season of My First Dungeon.
A list of things to include:
A hook with a clear release date
A 1-2 sentence synopsis or logline
Links to the show or sample audio
Your contact information
Show art
Cast and crew credits
Social media handles
Blurb from the cast and crew (or friends with reach)
Making a press kit is a good exercise even if no one is interested in covering your launch. It forces you to distill your show down into easy-to-explain blurbs. If you can’t explain your podcast in a simple sentence or two, you probably don’t have a clear idea of the show yet. By finding that simple logline, you will often gain a clearer understanding internally of what does and does not belong in your podcast.
Ultimately, press kits will still require you to rely on other people to help amplify your work. For long term success, consider building up your own channels of promotion like a newsletter or a Discord server (see what I did there?). These are great tools for building a community and will be invaluable as your podcast—and your audience—grow and evolve.
Elliot—who is responsible for the above press kit and many others—highly recommends watching this video from Plus One Exp.
Make It Easy to Say Yes
It’s so damn easy for anyone to say no to your podcast. Your job is to make it as easy as possible to say yes instead.
Getting someone to listen to a podcast is hard–to say nothing of listening to an actual play podcast that could be anywhere from 30 minutes to 4+ hours. Whether you want to or not, once you press publish and put your show out into the world you are competing with Critical Role, Netflix, eating ice cream, getting a pint with friends, beating the high score on the Galaga machine at the pub, trying to revive that long-forgotten sourdough starter, and long walks on the beach.
When you’re competing with so many things, success will be found by doing the little things right.
Get your show on every podcast platform you can think of (most RSS hosts will do this for you). Ask your friends to rate and review it (even if they don’t listen to it). Make cool cover art. Write a captivating show description. Work together with your team to spread the word to as many people as possible.
I know this whole article reeks of “You have the same number of hours in the day as Beyonce,” but I don’t mean for it to. Doing all these things would be a Herculean task. So don’t try to do it all. Just pick a few things you know you can do and do them well.
Every episode you make is a promise to the audience that you’re going to respect and value their time. Marketing is about making that promise believable enough to get a complete stranger to click on your podcast and see if your actions speak as loud as your words.
After that, it’s all about the stories you tell with your friends.
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And that’s all folks!
I could talk for days about all the in’s and out’s of producing AP shows, but I think I’ve given you more than enough of my perspective to chew on for now. Instead, in the final part of this How to Build an Actual Play series I asked some of the top actual play and narrative podcast producers for their best pieces of advice for anyone just starting out.
Watch your inbox in two weeks for an issue you will not want to miss!
Upcoming Schedule
6/9 - Next Season Announcement
6/16 - Season Trailer
6/23 - New Season Begins!
6/30 - Special Announcement
This series has been fantastic to read along to. Even though I'm not developing an actual play podcast, this is all really valuable stuff for anyone wanting to podcast in the TTRPG space.