Issue 281 of The Fiction Podcast Weekly is brought to you by The Podcast Host's resource, They Found Your Podcast But Didn’t Hit Play. Why?

Our Discovery Survey showed a bit of a perception gap between what creators think listeners want and what listeners look for. In They Found Your Podcast But Didn’t Hit Play. Why?, Katie Paterson shows you what the survey data tells us, and what you might do to capitalise on these listener insights.

News, Roundups, and Announcements

• HAPPY WINTER SOLSTICE to ONE AND ALL! As you're lying about on the sofa eating cookies, watching twinkly lights and listening to great stories, remember to help Mom with the dishes and pour your older sister a beverage refill.
• Amanda McLoughlin shares everything you need to know about Spotify's pivot to video on LinkedIn. The gloves are off and that is just fine with me.
• Evo Terra announced, in the latest edition of The End: "I'm working with PHX-based audio fiction creator Conrad Miszuk to put together a series of "live" audio fiction presentations at the event in June. Our small test last year was a big success, so we're expanding to multiple days/slots for 2025. Shoot me a note if you're interested in attending, either as a fan or as a creator." More info at The End.
• Linda Marshall Griffiths muses on Instagram about the BBC's cuts to drama: This is a Dead Room.
• And, The BBC Audio Drama Awards have announced their shortlist for 2025. Can the BBC have awards without supporting the medium? Inquiring minds want to know.
• ​The Hi Nay Podcast is fundraising to sustain Season 3. Help Mari Datuin, whose babaylan (shaman) family background accidentally gets her involved in stopping dangerous supernatural events in Toronto.
• ​It’s the first-ever Audio Flux Winter Fundraiser. Er, FLUXraiser.

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Creator Resources

• ​NYC audio fiction meetup on Jan 12! Audio fiction creators of all kinds are welcome to hang out at Threes Brewing Gowanus, 2–5 PM on January 12.
• ​INDIE AF episode 301 interviews Ella Watts and Amber Devereux about all things behind the scenes of Camlann. Helpful discussion of: Casting! Directing! Automated spreadsheets! And so much more.
• ​Gabriel Urbina will teach the craft of writing for audio drama in 2025.
• ​Finding Their Voice Evan Ratliff tests the limits of AI voice agents and "a spur to try and create the sort of work that it can’t replace."

Opportunities

• ​Silver Sound's BIannual Sonic Dash i a 48-hour international competition to create a 2-minute audio piece entirely from scratch. Winner gets $1K, and the respect of your peers and comrades. Registration deadline: 29 December.
• ​UK International International Drama Festival Prizes are as high as £2000, not to mention the respect of your peers and comrades. Deadline: 17 January.
• ​The Homiens Art Prize is "an international, non-acquisitive art prize open to all artists and art forms." Deadline: 31 January.
• ​Leipziger Hörspielsommer International Audio Drama and Sound Art Competition - a free-to-enter competition for young, amateur artists and creators to submit audio pieces between 3 and 45 minutes. Deadline: 1st February.
• Yeah, I look at this stuff and think, "ugh, competition." But it's hard to find collaborative opportunities at all, let alone opportunities at this time of year. Let's make more great stories and collaborative opportunities next year.

Milestones & Debuts

• If you can find mirror olives on kid linen, you might find Miss Shipton's Traveling Teashop.
• ​The Devil's Chair A one-woman two-part horror for Realm.fm’s Undertow podcast. Tune in to hear comedian Dearbhla Ashe’s final show, as she reveals the eerie story of how she achieved fame and fortune & what she was willing to do to get it.
• ​The Leviathan Chronicles Christmas Special Evangeline makes a special offer to another immortal in exchange for some supernatural help.
• ​White Collar Prison: A Musical Congressman Richard Dutch is sentenced to 87 days in a junior executive suite at the White Eagle Luxury Correctional Facility & Spa. WILL HE SURVIVE???
• ​The Godfrey Audio Guide will wrap up the tour on Friday, December 27. Please remember: do not touch the art. This is for your own safety.

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