Frankly, I listen to mine on my laptop since that's where I spend so much of my time. (Not doing much for the middle age spread either.)

Some people confuse podcasts and audio books. That's understandable since in essence they are the same thing - they are either .mp3 files or .wma files (Don't worry. They're just file extensions. Most of the time your computer knows what to do with them.)

• Audio books are as they indicate. They are your entire book "performed" usually by actors.
• Podcasts are an audio way to promote/advertise your book. They are short in length. Usually way less than fifteen minutes.

How can you ensure you're doing a good podcast? Make it sound natural! The most engaging podcasts I've heard are interviews. Get someone to ask you questions about your book (you can make up the questions and give them to your friend).

Make sure the questions are interesting and really get into what's unique about your book. There's nothing better than hearing an author talk about the qualities, bad and good, of their main characters or what caused the author to write about such a subject. And, a podcast is where you can get this message across in a fun and jovial way.

What you are aiming for in a podcast is to get it to sound "natural". You want to laugh and joke around during a podcast. It's all right to talk at the same time (think of the show "The View"). Don't be concerned about not being a sound engineer. Focus on making it fun for your listeners.

Now you're convinced podcasts might be good for advertising your book, (I assume that since you're still reading) let's look at the logistics of putting together a podcast. Don't get nervous. It's much easier than you might think.

• The FIRST step is to get a piece of hardware that captures the audio. There are a number of them out there and the quality of them is constantly improving. Go to RadioShack and ask.

• The SECOND step is to write yourself a little script. Obviously there are many ways to do this. I recommend doing it in an interview format because they simply sound more vivacious. Remember, you've got to keep people's attention.

  Or you can read an excerpt of your work. This may not be as easy as you think. You have to sound like a man when you're reading the hero's part. Suggestion: Listen to some audio books for examples.

• The THIRD step is to load that audio file into your computer and edit it. Again, don't get nervous. It's not difficult at all. There are two free programs. One called Audacity and another called Lame.

  Now just open up your audio file and cut out the parts you don't like. Again, this is not that difficult. Even though it's audio, it's very much like operating Word, well sort of.

  Adding music is more challenging, but not impossible. Make sure you find some "legal" pieces of music to use. (Email me at leigh_barbour@yahoo.com if you have questions about this.)

  I would recommend saving the file as an .mp3 or possibly a .wma.

• FOURTH - you will need to get the audio file onto a server.

  Once it's on a server, simply link to the file like you would any web page.

Listen to my podcast on my novel Zebulon. If you come across any good podcasts, let me know and I'll list them right here!