Last Saturday evening at Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh, NC, I
attended the panel discussion "Podcasting, Blogs, and Self-Publishing: New
Ways to Reach Audiences with Your Book." View the entire discussion on YouTube here.

Stacey Cochran, who interviewed
my publisher and me about two months ago, moderated the panel. His guests were P.G.
Holyfield and Mur Lafferty, authors and podcasters, and Elisa Lorello, who
blogs about the craft and art of writing. (Left to right in the picture:
Stacey, P.G., Mur, and Elisa.)

Authors employ a variety of Internet technologies as
marketing strategies. With rising gas prices, many authors are increasing their
online presence. Mystery, suspense, and thriller authors are comfortable with
web sites and blogs. But podcasting is a newer technology, perhaps not so
familiar and a little daunting.

Check out the web sites for P.G. Holyfield (Murder at Avedon
Hill) and Mur Lafferty (Playing for Keeps). Notice that you need no device beyond your own computer to access and download their podcasts.

Podcasting is a form of self-publishing. Many traditionally
published authors are quick to presume that podcasters give away their works
and receive nothing. That presumption is inaccurate. Furthermore, podcasting
does have applications for authors who are published traditionally. In a future
blog entry, I hope to interview P.G. and Mur and dispel some of the myths
surrounding this technology.