Ideally, these places provide an easy way to upload audio files, generate an RSS feed for these files, distribute that RSS feed, and provide a place where an audience can listen. Other features a hosting service might provide are analytics, ad integration, and a website for your podcast. There are a lot of options for podcast hosts, both free and paid. If you don’t want to spend money to host your podcast, here are some free podcast hosting options.

Essentially, where can I upload podcasts?

You can upload podcasts at a hosting service of your choice. Some are paid, but many offer free options so you can launch a test balloon of your show before committing money.

A free podcast hosting service acts as the home for your show. Just like a website needs a hosting provider, podcasts also need some way to help store and distribute the podcast audio files. Though most have cost tiers associated with them, and you can read about our favorite podcast hosting services here, several have more affordable options and some even provide free podcast hosting. Below is a list of the pros and cons and reviews of the best free podcast hosting services.

In general, podcast hosting services:

• Create an easy method to upload audio files
• Generate an RSS feed to describe the files as well as establishes file locations for download
• Distributes your podcast RSS feed to iTunes (Apple Podcasts), Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and more
• Provides a server where listeners can go and find the audio files

Another way to look at hosting is it serves as a vehicle that transports the show from its upload to its storage to its distribution and finally to its analytics as well as potential money-making opportunities. The host helps simplify everything in the creation and management process.

Don’t want to read the entire analysis? Here’s our quick winner:

Buzzsprout —  a simple, intuitive, and feature-rich podcast host perfect for most podcasters.

What to Look for with Podcast Hosting Free of Charge

Best Practices and How to Start a Podcast

In addition to its means as a platform that stores your important mp3 files and data, free services are also geared toward startup shows and traditionally has a lot of extra features and resources. These services may provide valuable tutorials and other reading material to learn more about what makes a good podcast and how to improve the overall quality of the audio recording. If you’re just starting out, make sure to check out our guide on how to start a podcast.

Podcast Analytics

Though the analytics for a podcast are basic at the free podcast hosting level, they can still help deliver important information and where and how your generating an audience as well as build upon that audience. The goal is to eventually have enough listeners that you can turn a profit on the podcast, though many still do it simply for the hobby of podcasting.

Pitfalls of Free Podcast Hosting

There are many other advanced features that are sometimes included with a free version and other times only granted to podcasters with paid accounts. These include a blog or website for listeners to stop in and visit, methods for listener feedback, automatic uploads to popular directories (Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, etc.) and customer service for any questions or problems you run into regarding the hosting or RSS feed.

The same rule applies with podcast hosting with any product: you get what you pay for and once again the old adage is true, “if you’re not paying for the product, you’re the product.”

If after some time your podcast outgrows the free host tier,  there is always the opportunity to upgrade to a paid podcast hosting solution.

Many are reasonably priced between in $10 to $20 per month. Until then you can expect the upload time and bandwidth to be limited, which not only impacts the number of hours you can upload each month but also the playback speeds. Advanced metrics and potential money-making opportunities are usually restricted to paid subscribers as well.

In the end, free versions are basic means to an RSS feed and file hosting, but as your audience grows you’ll want to consider an upgrade. When you get to that point, make sure to read our best podcast hosting services review. For now a free account is sufficient for many new podcasts.

Compare Free Podcast Hosting

Best Free Podcast Hosting Services

Buzzsprout

Buzzsprout is a hosting service that features a basic, free podcast hosting plan along with affordable monthly options that require no contract or credit card to sign-up. Buzzsprout currently works with notable podcast directories like Apple/iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcast and Stitcher.

The website has worked to provide hosting for over 50,000 people since the website was launched in 2009. It boosts several 5 star reviews from satisfied customers.

Strengths

• Subscription includes your own custom website and ways to sync with popular directories
• 250 GB of bandwidth each month for paid plans, even less for the free version
• Supports multiple audio file types then optimizes the quality of the file
• Easily migrate a podcast from another source onto Buzzsprout with minimal effort

Weaknesses

• Unlimited storage for free plan, but can only upload 2 hours each month
• Only 90 days of hosting for a free podcast before Buzzsprout wants you to upgrade to a paid version

Buzzsprout is promoted as one of the easiest ways to host, promote and track a podcast. Like a lot of providers it includes detailed analytics to learn more about the audience tuning in.

The website is designed to make it easier to upload and publish once an episode is recorded. Publishing can take place within minutes of an upload, or even get scheduled days or weeks in advance.

It supports a number of different audio files. Not only that but the website optimizes the file based on if it’s more spoken word, or a show that also incorporates a lot of music. A purchasable add-on will event boost audio to 128k stereo.

One great feature on the dashboard is that it provides a notification of how much upload time is left in the current cycle, so you do not have to guess approximately how many more minutes you have left to upload each month.

Podcasters may learn everything about where and how listeners are connecting, what device or directory they are using to play the episode, and more advanced stats.

Buzzsprout helps get you listed on popular podcast directories and is also mobile-friendly. An embedded version is provided for your own domain. The hosting provider also includes your own website upon sign-up.

The free subscription delivers 2 hours of upload time each month and the episode is hosted for 90 days before its removed. The next step up costs $12 per month, and only one more hour of upload time each month yet is hosted indefinitely.

Deal: Get a $20 Amazon gift card when you sign up. Click here.

Spreaker

Spreaker is a well known provider for podcasters as it’s an all-in-one system for new as well as established shows. It provides a versatile program that helps you create, distribute, as well as potentially make money on your podcast.

Spreaker says they are “the one-stop-shop for recording, publishing, monetizing, and distributing your podcasts.” The free plan gives you basic stats, and the ability to store up to 5 hours of audio, and 10 episodes for the whole account.

The episode size limit is 300MB for all plans on Spreaker. You can host multiple podcasts on the same account, and they assist with distribution to iHeart Radio, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts. Spreaker does not offer monetization for their free podcast hosting plan, though it is available on their paid ones.

You don’t need a credit card to sign up for the free plan. Spreaker has an app you can use to produce your show, and even go live (no other free podcast plan allows for live broadcasting). The free plan has a 15 minute limit per live broadcast session.

Spreaker was launched in 2010, and now hosts thousands of publishers along with millions of active listeners. It includes apps for Android and iOS as well.

Strengths

• The best recording studio of any free hosting service for podcasts
• External tools like broadcasting software and mixers supported for advanced audio production
• Unlimited bandwidth on all subscriptions including the free version
• Live streaming, including up to 15 minutes per episode for users not paying a dime
• Podcast monetization program with dynamics ads, giving 60% of the revenue to the podcaster
• IAB certified podcast statistics
• Allows a single account to manage multiple podcasts

Weaknesses

• Monetization is only available on the paid plans

Spreaker is unique in that it also features an onboard recording and editing system on its platform. Users may record a podcast and post at a later date, or even broadcast live. Content may also get migrated from an existing service through its RSS importer. The studio app is extremely resourceful and easy to use.

After you record or upload an audio file, it’s time to distribute. Spreaker supports various forms of social media for uploads as well as mainstream directories like Apple Podcasts and YouTube. Like most podcast hosting services, you may also embed a widget onto your own website for immediate playback.

Analytics are crucial to the success of any new podcast and Spreaker provides basic statistics for its free and $5.99 per month plans, as well as more detailed stats for the higher priced monthly subscriptions. The analytics for the free plan is good but not great, about what you would expect as well as comparable to other free hosting providers.

The free plan also includes 5 hours of audio storage and 15 minutes of max live streaming (in a single session). However, the podcast monetization tool is not available with the free sign-up. Bandwidth is unlimited on every type of subscription.

Deal: First month free with code “discoverpod”. Click here.

Simplecast

Simplecast is taking a big and bold approach, with a modern design aesthetic that looks more like a high end gym or streetwear brand than a podcast hosting service. But, don’t be distracted by the bold fonts — with a $15 per month unlimited plan and two-week trial with no credit card required, they clearly mean business.

Simplecast also offers tools aimed at growing podcasts in their $35 per month Essential plan and $85 per month Growth plan, including more advanced analytics, collaboration tools and an increase in the number of included monthly downloads. 

Simplecast also offers Professional and Enterprise plans for larger volume shows, which is rare for some of the newer podcast hosting platforms out there. You have to contact Simplecast’s sales team for pricing, but working with a growing host could be a great option for a growing podcast network looking to get competitive pricing and lots of access to customer support. 

Podbean

Podbean is self-described as an “easy and powerful” way to podcast. The podcast hosting service provides four different plans for users, including one completely free version. As your podcast grows it also offers two paid versions.

Podbean currently hosts over 240,000 podcasters with more than 7.4 million episodes combined. The site also boasts around 6 billion downloads.

Strengths

• Provides excellent resources for sharing and building audience
• Features an app for Android and iPhone users
• RSS Feed and iTunes Support included even with free plan
• One of the largest podcast hosting platforms available
• Will scale as you grow

Weaknesses

• Free version is limited to 5 hours of storage
• Cannot use your own domain name for a podcast through free subscription

Podbean advertises as a service that presents everything you need to create, manage, and promote a podcast. The website features everything from custom domains to upload and publishing tools, methods to promote a podcast, as well as embedded players for the episodes.

The provider is like a lot of the podcast hosting companies featured in the article in that little programming knowledge is necessary to record, produce, upload and share your new podcasts. It is also mobile-ready which is a must for any podcast hosting service these days.

Though the three paid options do deliver unlimited bandwidth, the free version is capped at 100GB monthly, and five hours of storage space. The hosting is described as reliable with a robust network that is flexible based on where and how your viewers listen.

Podcasters may connect their own website to the hosting provider or embed a player on their own domain for easy playback. Sharing tools enable listeners to connect with you on social media, while other types of audience engagement like enabling feedback are nice additions.

Podbean presents a breakdown of how the podcast is performing, and also provides advertising sponsorship opportunities for its members. The website can help introduce premium subscription services to your podcast as well as crowdfund.

Related reading:

• Libsyn vs. Podbean Podcast Host Review
• Blubrry vs. Podbean Podcast Host Review

Deal: Get your first month free if/when you upgrade for a paid account. Click here.

Acast

Acast says they are “the world’s leading independent podcast company.” The free podcast hosting plan gives you basic analytics, unlimited episodes, and a basic podcast website. You can’t integrate with Patreon, customize your website, monetize with advertising, or distribute to Amazon Music, Spotify and Youtube using Acast on the free plan (as these features require a Pro account).

You’ll have to submit your RSS feed to listening platforms manually. There is not a limit to episode size for the free plan specifically, though the max episode size is 150MB for all plans on Acast to match the file download limit on Apple Podcasts. You don’t need to input any billing info to sign up on the free plan. Acast allows for multiple shows, but you are billed one plan per podcast – not an issue for using the free plan, but could potentially make upgrading costly if you have multiple podcasts on Acast.

Anchor

Anchor is self-proclaimed as “the easiest way to make a podcast.” When it started, Anchor had some controversy about who owns the content uploaded to it, but they have since clarified in their terms of service that “You retain ownership of your User Content. Using Anchor does not cause you to lose ownership of your content.”

Since being acquired by Spotify, Anchor has had numerous issues with the podcast community including producing podcasts in a non-compliant manner, making their podcasts unplayable in some podcast players, several large-scale bugs, deleting podcasts without cause, allowing pirated podcasts on their platform (and here) — and to be monetized, and many others. I would recommend staying away from Anchor.

They only offer a free plan, which allows for unlimited episodes, basic analytics, a simple website, and some monetization options, though the latter is available only to users in the US. There is no episode size limit, though you can only upload 250MB at a time (but multiple files can be combined into a single episode).

The biggest downside of Anchor is that you can only create one podcast per free podcast hosting account. If you want to use Anchor for multiple feeds, you’ll need multiple emails – but only a different email, as you don’t need a credit card to sign up. Anchor also assists with distribution to a number of listening platforms, and has an app that podcasters can use to make their show.

Castbox

Castbox is a podcast app (self-proclaimed as “the best free podcast app with over 95 million volumes of content”) that also allows podcasters to host their feeds for free. Their plan allows unlimited hosting, but they only offer statistics from people who listen using their app.

If you want additional analytics on your show, you’d have to use a third party service, and this can be a dealbreaker to many (especially because many third party services aren’t free themselves). You can host multiple feeds in the same account on Castbox, and you don’t need to input any billing info to sign up. The episode size limit is 400M, the second largest of all the free hosting services. There are no monetization options available through Castbox, and you’ll need to submit your RSS feed to other platforms manually – though it will automatically show up on the Castbox app.

Pinecast

Pinecast’s tagline is “podcast hosting made easy.” The free plan gives you basic analytics, up to two podcast feeds, and access to the tip jar (which lets you collect donations from your listeners). Pinecast also assists with distribution to a number of listening platforms.

On the free plan, you can upload an unlimited number of episodes, but only the ten most recent episodes per podcast are available to listeners – previous episodes are not deleted, and if you join a paid plan your full backlog will be available to all. If you’re making a serialized show with more than 10 episodes, this might be a dealbreaker, but if you’re doing topical episodes this might not be an issue.

The free plan has a 48MB episode size limit, which becomes 80MB on a paid plan (along with unlimited feeds instead of two). You don’t need a credit card to sign up for the free plan, and there are no monetization options available through Pinecast beyond the tip jar. 

Podomatic

The free podcast hosting plan gives you 15 GB of bandwidth per month and 500MB of storage a month, by far the most technical limits of any free podcasting plan. There is not a limit on the number or length of episodes beyond the available bandwidth and storage on your Podomatic account. The episode size limit for Podomatic is 350MB for all plans.

On the free plan, you cannot get any analytics for your show, integrate with Patreon, or get sponsorships with Podcorn using Podomatic, but they will help assist with distribution to a number of listening platforms. Like with Castbox, the lack of analytics is Podomatic’s biggest drawback.

You can manage multiple feeds using one email, but must have separate accounts with different usernames. Podomatic also offers a way to record your podcast directly on the podomatic website (though it does not support guest callers), and you don’t need to input any billing information to sign up.

SoundCloud

SoundCloud is not a podcast host. Do not use SoundCloud for podcasts.

The post The 9 Best Free Podcast Hosting Services in 2023 appeared first on Discover the Best Podcasts | Discover Pods.

There are a million different social media websites that you could promote your podcast on. But if you’re like me, you’re one person making your audio drama and you don’t have time to post on twitter/facebook/instagram/reddit/tumblr/tiktock/etc every day all the time. Just typing that out was exhausting! I recommend that you pick and choose which social media to post on based on which websites you use and where you expect your audience to be. I use Twitter to promote my shows because that’s what I personally use a lot. I understand how the website works, so it’s easy to use. I also have Instagram accounts for my shows, but I don’t post as often on there – usually only for episode drops and milestones. 

But something that’s important to remember is that audio dramas and fiction podcasts are evergreen. Episodes don’t need to be new to be relevant, interesting, or valid. You don’t need to only promote your latest episode, you can (and should!) share old episodes too. There’s always going to be people who’ve just found your show, and content that’s old to you will be new and exciting to them.

The bulk of this article will focus on social media marketing, but there’s other avenues as well.  Doing cross promos with other audio dramas may be the best way to gain listeners. Ideally, you should have some audience overlap in shows you cross-promo with (beyond “they’re both fiction shows”). Trailer swaps or even cross-feed full episode drops are both great ways for people to discover your show while listening to podcasts. 

Additionally, sending press releases for important milestones (or publicising those milestones on places like Fiction Podcast Weekly) is another way to share your show. Create a press kit to send out alongside these releases, and link it on your website for critics to easily find. 

But when promoting your audio drama on social media, you should have an account for your show. This helps you build a brand for your show – one that doesn’t have to compete with the brand of a network account or your own. 

It’s important to know who your audience is. What type of person listens to your show? Who is it made for? (I promise your audience isn’t everybody!) When you promote your podcast, you should be working to market it to that type of person. You should also avoid shoving your show in people’s faces. Don’t just drop a link and run – engage with potential listeners.

Here are some of my favorite tweets from audio dramas:

Read more: Why Isn’t Anyone Marketing Podcasts Correctly?

I’ve noticed that audio dramas who create visuals for their show are more successful on social media. They get more engagement and more followers. It’s easier to catch people’s eyes with fun graphics, and you can tell a lot about the aesthetic of a show from them. These can be mood boards, in-universe visuals, or even episode-specific cover art. In regards to the latter – most podcast hosts allow you to upload separate cover art for your episodes, and most podcast apps display that cover art alongside the episode. You can make your feed more visually interesting with episode cover art, and as a bonus, you can post that art on social media too. 

A view of two shows on Spotify – one that I’ve added episode cover art to, and one that I haven’t.

I use Canva for creating graphics. It’s easy to use, and they have lots of built-in fonts, templates, and art you can pull from for creations. I’ve used Canva for everything from cover art and mood boards to memes and shit posts. Not everything you post needs to be super serious!

Here are some of my favorite graphics:

(Okay look, I know I made this one, but I did spend way too long laughing at my computer about it. Sometimes you gotta have fun marketing your podcast). 

The visuals you post don’t all have to be fancy graphics. You can share screenshots of your DAW during sound design, pictures from recording sessions, and even lines from scripts as you write. As a creator, I love to see what’s happening behind the scenes on other shows, and as a fan, I love getting a teaser for what will be in my podcatcher soon. 

You can also create and share clips from the episodes themselves. Headliner is a fantastic app for doing this – you can even add captions so someone can follow without turning the sound on. Frankly, you should add captions anyway because they’re an important accessibility feature! Part of good marketing is not restricting who can access your content. (Editor’s note: This also means using alt text for all marketing images!)

When you share episodes on social media, give a direct link to listen. There are websites like Kite and Chartable that will generate a link that when clicked, gives you options for where to listen.

And the same goes for promoting merch, crowdfunding links, or your Patreon. You want to reduce the number of clicks people have to do to engage with what you post. Don’t make them search you up in a podcast app, or Google your Teepublic store, or scour your website for a Patreon link.

Speaking of your website – have one! It doesn’t need to be fancy or complicated, but it needs to have all the information about your show in one place. When people google your show name, ideally your website is the first hit.

You should also put your website link in your social media bios, alongside a sentence description of your show. Check out Caravan’s twitter profile for a great example of this. Also, if you’re on twitter, consider pinning a tweet about the show to your profile. For a great example, check out Desperado’s pinned tweet. (On instagram, you can use the story highlights feature in a similar way). You want to make it so that newcomers to the show can see what it’s about from your profile alone. Make it easy to find and learn about your podcast. 

The more you use social media, the more your followers (and interaction) will grow. But don’t worry about posting every single day. Share when you have something interesting to share! What you post doesn’t have to be about your podcast, but it should be related to the topic of your podcast. 

Marketing can be a full time job, but it doesn’t have to be. If you’ve got multiple accounts for multiple shows (or even just one account for one show), it’s not usually feasible to post every day – and that’s alright! More often than not, numbers are a vanity metric. I’d suggest picking one thing that’s important to you (ex: I want 500 twitter followers before this season releases), and pushing for that. If you get overwhelmed on social media, consider making a spreadsheet to track posts, or schedule tweets ahead of time. 

Ultimately, share your show when you want to share it. If you need to hang up the marketing hat for a bit? I’m giving you permission. Your show is always growing by word of mouth, and that can happen while you take a break, too. 

You’ve got this. Good luck!

The post How to Audio Drama 202: Fiction Podcast Marketing appeared first on Discover the Best Podcasts | Discover Pods.

There are many aspects to crowdfunding, here we’re going to touch on the major ones in brief. Because there’s not a single correct way to crowdfund, I’m going to talk about what you should be thinking about in a more general sense instead of providing hard and fast answers – because there aren’t any.

Which crowdfunding platform should I use?

On Kickstarter, you need to hit your goal to keep your funding (called “fixed funding”). Kickstarter did some union busting two years ago, and as a result I can’t recommend them in good faith, but many shows have had success with them. 

IndieGoGo has the option of flexible funding. You can keep what you raise even if you don’t meet the goal. This is a great option for shows that will be happening regardless of how much is funded. IndieGoGo also offers the option to extend your campaign.

For Seed&Spark, you need to reach 80% of your goal to keep your funding. The benefit of this platform is that they review all campaigns before approval, giving you advice and feedback to make your campaign the most likely to succeed. Seed&Spark says that they have the highest success rate in crowdfunding for creative projects. 

iFundWomen is a lesser known platform for podcasts. They describe themselves as “the go-to funding marketplace for women-owned businesses and the people who want to support them,” and offer flexible funding as well as the option to extend your campaign. 

All these platforms take 5% of what you raise. There are other options for crowdfunding platforms, but this is what I’ve seen used in the past for audio drama!

When should I crowdfund?

The short answer for when you should crowdfund is: probably don’t do it in December, as people tend to be focused on holiday spending. Additionally, avoid crowdfunding during a panini at all costs. Summer is a popular time for audio drama crowdfunding, but it also comes at the risk of running your campaign alongside 10 other podcasts. But in general, the specific month(s) you run your crowdfunding campaign in does not directly correlate to its success.

How long should my crowdfunding campaign be?

Usually about 30 days is the go-to, though I’ve also seen some shows go for 50 days and I haven’t observed a significant difference in success between the two. Personally, I’ve chosen to do 30 day campaigns for the shows I’ve crowdfunded for solely because I didn’t want to manage a campaign for longer, and have not regretted it.

Some platforms will give you the option to extend a crowdfunding campaign, and if you think you need to do that, it’s okay! Multiple shows extended their Indiegogo campaigns in 2021, and they raised more at the end of the campaign than if they hadn’t extended it.

What should my goal amount be?

The lowest goal for an audio drama I’ve seen was $750, and the highest was $10,000. Unless you are one of the creators of Wolf 359, I would suggest not setting a goal higher than that. The average goal of 61 campaigns on this spreadsheet made by Anne Baird of Hug House Productions was $4258. Excluding Unseen, a spiders-georg style outlier, the average amount raised by 50 campaigns was $3624 – this data set accounts for both new shows and returning seasons. (Disclosure: Managing editor Wil Williams is the CEO of Hug House Productions.)

The goal you set should depend on if you are utilizing a platform with fixed or flexible funding. If you don’t need to reach 100% of your goal to keep your funds, you’re safe setting a higher one. If you need to reach your full goal, you might want to consider using stretch goals. An important question to think about is: “Will you be making this show regardless of if you hit your goal?” If the answer is yes, consider utilizing a platform with flexible funding and setting a goal that matches your budget. If the answer is no, consider utilizing fixed funding and setting a goal for what you need to make your show. Don’t forget to factor in the cost of platform feeds and physical reward. And showrunners – don’t forget to include a stipend for yourself! Your time is valuable too. 

Read more: How to Audio Drama 202: Creating Your Audio Drama’s Budget

How much of the show should be finished before crowdfunding? 

This is a complicated question. Shows funding a second (or later) season and shows being produced by a known podcaster always do better than crowdfunding campaigns for new shows and new creators. Having something to show for your work is always extraordinarily helpful when crowdfunding, be it a trailer, pilot episode, previous season, or different show. 

You should have enough of the show finished to share a proof of concept. Maybe this is a trailer. Maybe this is a pilot episode. Maybe it’s literally the whole show! Even if it’s not the final audio of the podcast, I’d recommend having something people can listen to. But it isn’t the end-all-be-all if you don’t! Shows that are written can release script excerpts. Shows with a cast can do cast announcements. You need enough of your audio drama finished for people to get excited about it, but this doesn’t mean you need to make the entire podcast for free first. 

What perks should I offer?

I think it’s really important to have some digital perks. This can be something like naming a character in the show, being thanked on the website or in the credits, or getting annotated scripts. You won’t have to pay for postage and you can get people these perks right away in a lot of cases. 

Don’t spend a lot of money on rewards, especially up front. For physical perks, I’d recommend having photos of the item on your page so that people know what they’re signing up to get. Getting product samples (or just ordering low quantities initially) can be a good way to do that. Stickers are a super popular physical perk, and as a bonus, they’re really easy to mail! Meteor City is crowdfunding its second season as this is being published, and they’re offering a sticker at every backer level.

The best advice I have is for you to have perks that you personally are excited about, and if you can tie them into the theme of the show, even better! I made a mission patch as a perk for my sci-fi show, and sewed one onto my jacket before the campaign even started. From an outsider perspective, I loved Twilight Over Midgard’s offering bottles, Descendant’s Baby Gorgon plushies, and Queer Pride and Prejudice’s tea party kits, all unique and very cool perks!

How do I promote a crowdfunding campaign?

Post about it on social media! Email your friends and family! Tell as many people about it as possible! If people don’t know about your podcast, they can’t help you fund it. If people know about your podcast but don’t know you’re crowdfunding, they still can’t help you fund it. 

Tell people about your show. Who’s making it? What are the characters in it? What is it about? I’d recommend posting on social media at least once a day about your campaign, if not more. I found it helpful to remember that not all posts are showing up on everyone’s timelines, and you often need to make multiple posts to beat the algorithm, even if it feels spammy at times. (But please do avoid actually spamming people. Don’t overuse tagging or bots!).

It’s also useful to make graphics – I love using Canva for this. They don’t need to be super professional, either – a silly meme can go a long way too! I liked having a mix of well worded tweets and shitposts coming from my twitter account. Having fun is great for your stress levels and your social media engagement!

How do I take care of myself while crowdfunding my audio drama?

You’re probably not thinking about this, but I’m sneaking this question in for you because you should be. Crowdfunding is hard work. You can’t just set up a campaign and expect free money to roll in – you need to promote it, and that’s exhausting!

My advice for you is to do as much as you can in advance. I made almost all of my graphics for the campaign the month before it went live, and I was so happy I did. You can also schedule posts on most social media platforms, which means you can even queue up posts ahead of time. You don’t have to be online 24/7, so take breaks! You will burn out before the month is over if you don’t. It’s always okay to ask for help.

Consider leaving a gap in your production schedule for crowdfunding if you’re doing both at the same time. It’s really hard to sound design an episode and coordinate a recording session and manage a crowdfunding campaign. I may be speaking from experience here… 

And most importantly: your worth is not tied to how successful your crowdfunding is. You can fall short of your goal and still make a wonderful show and be a fantastic showrunner. We’re all doing our best in a capitalist hellscape, and you are not a failure if your show isn’t fully funded. You’re making art, and that’s GREAT.

The post How to Audio Drama 202: Crowdfunding appeared first on Discover the Best Podcasts | Discover Pods.

I’ve included screenshots for some of these and while I’ve done my best to remove identifiable information, sometimes the podcast name and/or character names are visible. If you recognize a show, I implore you to not harass the creator in any way. We all make mistakes! My intention is not to publicly shame anyone, but merely to create a listicle of the wildest casting calls I’ve come across. With that out of the way, let’s take a dive into some nonsense.

As a note, the final three items in this list include transphobia, transmisogyny, and anti-Indigenous racism.

1. Starting casting calls with, “Well, this is gonna be awkward.”

You probably want to put your best foot forward when asking people to join your project, and that isn’t how to do it. If your casting call is gonna be awkward, then I simply won’t participate. I don’t like awkward! 

2. Requesting a “fit-sounding” voice.

What does this mean? Your guess is as good as mine.

3. Writing “She has been trained to use her body to seduce men, but not gay men” as part of the character information.

I’ll admit, I did laugh out loud at this one, but it’s not helpful character information. It says more about the writer than anything else.

Read more: Black History Month: Integrated Diversity in Podcasting

4. Looking for voice actors to participate in an unpaid project for “2 hours a day.”

That’s a really big ask for anything, and if you’re expecting people to put in 14 hours of work a week on your project you should consider paying them. 

5. Describing the entire plot of the project as “It’s a game.”

I’ll give the producer this – I usually only audition for audio dramas, so I knew to count this one out. But even if I wanted to audition for a game, I’d want to know a little more about it.

6. Making a “podcast series about kidnapping” where the first rule was “you can’t leave.”

It just seems a little suspicious. This call also required voice actors to use their full name when auditioning, and I’m still not fully convinced this was a fiction show. 

7. Also, just saying “you can’t quit!!” for unpaid projects in general.

I see this a lot on casting calls for Casting Call Club for some reason. If you’re not paying people, you can’t stop them from quitting a project. (Even if you are paying people, you still can’t really stop them!)

8. Requiring all voice actors to submit their audition by putting it in a public google drive folder and writing out their contact information on a publicly editable google sheet.

In addition to being inefficient (a google form is a better way to get this information), it’s also bad practice for privacy reasons. Additionally, anyone could edit anyone else’s contact information or delete their auditions. Seems like a bad idea.

9. Providing audition information via a 3-part video series.

I’m not going to watch three different videos to get the information I need to audition for a podcast. I’m a big fan of respecting people’s time, and I felt like this was asking a lot.

10. Describing a character as “homosexual, but it is not obvious.”

What is this? Unhelpful and rather homophobic character information, that’s what. 

11. Including 5 characters on casting calls with only 1 line in the whole show.

For each character, the information provided was two or three times the length of the line, and the last two pages of the call were dedicated entirely to these characters. This felt like an unnecessary level of specificity, as well as asking for a lot of work up front for the chance to say a single line in an unpaid podcast. 

12. Listing the weight of each character in casting calls for an audio drama.

I don’t care if a character is slim or average weight or overweight, and reading build notes for each character of this podcast just made me uncomfortable. 

13. Looking for “masculine voices” or “feminine voices” or “androgynous voices.”

Voices don’t have a gender. There are men with high voices, women with low voices, and people who sit outside the gender binary with all different pitches. If you want characters to have a specific voice pitch, then say so.

14. Describing a LGBTQ+ character as “hetero-centric” in the casting call.

This is a very bizarre way to describe a queer character, and furthermore is a meaningless and thus unhelpful term. Don’t get me started on xenophobic as a descriptor either.

15. Saying a character has a “slang-heavy” voice.

What does this mean? I know not. The whole thing felt like a bad stereotype.

16. Having a “fashionable and effeminate” character, with another “flamboyant” character that has “a sweet spot” for him.

Just call them gay! It’s okay, I promise. You can avoid stereotypes and get the character information across.

17. Having one trans character of color on the call and describing them as a “scumbag.”

Now, I love playing terrible characters as much as the next voice actor, but it’s important to look at your cast as a whole and see if you’re playing into negative stereotypes of marginalized groups.

The next three items in this list include transphobia, transmisogyny, and anti-Indigenous racism.

18. Providing the deadname of a trans character on a casting call.

Deadnaming should never be done lightly, and II don’t ever need to know the deadname of a character in a casting call. This shows either ignorance or intentional disrespect to trans people, and I don’t want to work with a creator who does something like that.

Read more: How to Audio Drama 202: Writing Trans Characters

19. Saying a trans woman character as a “male” voice.

We’ve already covered that voices don’t have genders, but this goes the extra mile into being outright terrible.

20. Requesting a “Native American Accent” for a character.

The character was also named a literal slur. Please don’t make me describe how awful this is; it should be obvious. The editor won’t even include the screenshot.

Thanks for joining me on this ride! If you’re planning casting calls in the near future, please don’t do any of this. We’re begging you.

The post 20 of the Weirdest and Worst Things I’ve Seen on Casting Calls appeared first on Discover the Best Podcasts | Discover Pods.

The next year, I came out to all my friends as asexual (often shortened to “ace”).

This is probably not a coincidence. 

In the same way it hides in the back of the LGTBTQIA+ acronym, asexuality is not an obvious orientation. It’s frequently disregarded by those who aren’t queer, often overlooked by the community it’s a part of, and even purposefully excluded on occasion. Aces joke about needing a PowerPoint to come out because so many people don’t know about Asexuality, even the well meaning.

Mainstream media is not well known for its queer representation in general, but the count of canonically ace characters across TV shows is low. Across movies it is, as far as I can tell, zero. Even when the source material has an asexual-identifying character, the adaptation is likely to ignore that (I’m looking at you, Riverdale). While novels are almost certainly the best form of mainstream media if you’re looking for ace rep, the count is also not high. In 2016, it was small enough that despite being an avid reader, I had yet to come across asexuality in fiction.

In fact, I was 21 when I first came across a canonically ace character. Not in a book, movie, or tv show, though. In a podcast.

I nearly dropped my phone listening to “Patient #13 (Chloe) + Friend” when Dr. Bright said, “Some people find asexuality a difficult concept to grasp.” It was the first time I’d heard the term said outside of certain corners of the internet or my school’s Safe Space training, and it meant so much to me. 

This was the first time I considered that possibly, my ace-ness was a part of me I wouldn’t have to hide. I’m not exaggerating when I say I was prepared to have everyone except my closest friends assume I was straight until the end of time. But it was at this moment – sitting at my desk, listening to an audio drama – where I started to see that maybe, just maybe, I could be proud of who I was. 

Read more: The Bright Sessions Wraps Up While Birthing New Projects

This is what representation does for us. It reminds us that we’re not alone in the world. It reassures us that we’re allowed to exist. Out of a whole world of media, it was this tiny corner of indie audio drama that looked me in the eyes and told me I was allowed to exist. Because while I found representation in The Bright Sessions first, I’ve been finding it again and again across independent audio drama.

I maintain a list of audio fiction shows with ace characters, and at the time of writing, it’s at 43 different shows, 25 of which have in-episode confirmation by characters in the show. There is quite possibly more ace representation in indie audio drama than every other form of media combined.

There is The Beacon, a fantasy audio drama about magic powers, giant monsters, and the importance of making friends. In the first episode of season two, main character Bee mentions not understanding why her friend is interested in someone, attributing it by saying, “Maybe it’s just me being asexual.” As someone who’s been in that exact situation, I found the scene incredibly relatable. 

There is Love & Luck, a slice of life queer romance story with a touch of magic, told via voicemails. In episode 55, CJ mentions “bonding over asexuality stuff” with Ricardo. I love that their ace identity is not a disruption to possible romance, but actually helps it form. This episode was really inspirational for me, and in a way that is entirely too difficult to explain, it also gave me hope. 

There is Inkwyrm, a sci-fi podcast about fashion, aliens, and the indeterminately fabulous future. Robert so boldly states in episode 7, “I’m aromantic asexual. You know that.” He says this like it’s no big deal, channeling the precise confidence I wanted to have myself some day.

Read more: Reimagining 5 podcasts on old audio formats

And more recently:

There’s season 2, episode 7 of Arden, “Rosalind and Pamela are Dead,” where Rosalind gives an extraordinarily relatable rant about her friendship being viewed as a compromise. This is something I’ve personally encountered, and her monologue about the situation hit close to home. Never has this particular sensation been so thoroughly captured in a piece of media for me.

There is Less is Morgue, where Riley brings up being Asexual a number of times, often to fairly unpleasant guests on the show. I love that even the most evil of guests don’t give them a hard time about it, and if any of them come close, Riley shuts them down swiftly. I need to start taking notes.

There is episode 5 of The Godshed Incidental, “In the Dark,” in which protagonist Em questions, “You know I’m ace, right? Ace and aro and undateable?” and is met with a simple “Yes, it’s in your file.” This right here is the ideal response I want to receive when coming out to someone. It’s the dream, and it was so refreshing to hear.

Again and again and again, these shows tell me that it’s okay to be me. They tell others that it’s okay for me to be me. Bee can be at college and trying to fight a monster and also be asexual. CJ and Ricardo can be falling in love and be Asexual. Robert can have an adorable kid and be a doctor and also be asexual. 

Maybe I can be a podcaster and engineer and whatever else it is that I am – and also be asexual? Maybe that’s okay? 

When society as a whole says the opposite, the message these shows give is incredibly meaningful. Through the simple inclusion of asexual characters, they make me feel that I don’t need to prove I have a right to exist as ace. 

Here in 2021, I’m both confident in and proud of my identity. I don’t need this message – but, that wasn’t the case in 2016. Would I have gotten here without these shows? Yes. Am I extremely grateful for the push they gave me to accept who I am? Also yes.

Perhaps it would be slightly more accurate to say this in broader terms:

In 2016, I started listening to indie audio dramas.

The next year, I came out to the world as asexual.

This is, definitely, not a coincidence. 

The post PRIDE: Finding Asexual Representation in Indie Audio Drama appeared first on Discover the Best Podcasts | Discover Pods.

Founded in 2015 by Michael Mignano and Nir Zicherman, Anchor was initially launched as a social audio service for short-form content. The platform was updated in 2018 for the making and publishing of podcasts, and in 2019, Anchor was acquired by Spotify for a sweet $150 million. Not too shabby.

Anchor was made on the principle of democratizing audio, believing that everyone should have the option of a free podcast service without upload limits. This podcast host allows you to create an unlimited number of episodes without paying and has built in ad integration to help you earn income from your show. Anchor also offers an episode-builder function, allowing you to record and edit your podcast through their mobile app or desktop website. Their slogan is “Anchor – The easiest way to make a podcast,” and they provide a handful of additional features to aid in podcast creation, not just hosting.

Related reading: the best podcast hosting platforms, free podcast hosting reviews

Creating a Podcast in Anchor

It’s simple to get started on Anchor, and they provide you a roadmap for doing it. After you’ve made your account, you can create and upload a first episode before deciding on a title, description, and/or art, or go straight to finalizing the details of your show. They also offer the option to import your RSS feed if you’re switching to Anchor from a different hosting service. Currently, podcasts in Anchor currently can’t be private or password protected.  

When uploading your cover art, Anchor gives you the option of having the anchor icon in the upper right hand side of your cover art. This can be toggled on and off. If you don’t have cover art already made, Anchor will help you make one; you can upload a background or have one selected for you from Unsplash and add the text of your title on top of it. 

Once you’ve uploaded your first episode, Anchor will submit your feed to several listening platforms, which are: Apple Podcasts, Breaker, Google Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Radio Public, and Spotify. It’s important to note that when Anchor submits your show to Apple Podcasts, it’s under Anchor’s own account. If you want to access your Apple Podcasts analytics, you’ll have to do a few extra steps, which include contacting Apple to transfer ownership of the podcast to your Apple account. If you want to distribute your podcast to other platforms (such as Stitcher), you can still manually submit your RSS feed through their site.

Anchor provides a public website to go with your podcast. Episodes can be listened to on this website, and it gives links to other listening platforms (and an external website, if listed on the account). I especially like that one of the provided links is the RSS feed, which is often hard to find as a listener but often needed when a show isn’t coming up in search results.

However, this website is not particularly customizable. You can’t add information about the show beyond its standard description. If you wanted to display crew information, attach a press kit, or link to transcripts, the anchor-provided website is not sufficient.

The Anchor App

One thing that sets Anchor apart from most hosting services is that you can download the Anchor App and use it to record and produce your podcast. The interface is surprisingly easy to use. You hit a button to record, and you’re good to go, while a timer keeps track of the length and a simple waveform tells you if it’s picking up sound. You can also add a flag to mark instances in recording you want to go back to for editing later. The mobile app supports a recording time of 120 minutes. You can’t pause while recording your audio directly with Anchor, but you can record multiple segments and edit them together.

I tested out this mobile recording, and I found that the audio quality was best when holding my phone up to the side of my face as if I was on a phone call. Holding it out in front (like one might do when on speakerphone) allowed me to keep an eye on the length and flag moments faster, but the mic picked up more plosives. The audio quality is about what you’d expect for a phone mic – it’s not the best thing out there, but the speaker is clear and the words are discernable.

The Anchor App also supports smartphone mics and bluetooth podcast equipment for recording, though they note that they don’t recommend using headsets to record, “as they are typically for phone calls and might not work well when using Anchor.” 

Once you’ve recorded, the clips go into the library, and you can modify the start/end time of them as well as split them up into smaller clips from here. Splitting a clip will introduce two new files into the library (before the split and after the split). You can build an episode right on your phone using the clips you’ve recorded, in addition to transition music and a handful of SFX that Anchor provides. This takes place in an “episode builder” window, where each clip becomes a segment of your show. There is also the option to import audio from outside the app, though depending on what type of mobile phone you have, this can be difficult. 

The episode builder (left) and the library (right)

What editing a clip on mobile looks like. 

The episode builder is not a DAW. You can’t layer clips, which means putting your own music or SFX under dialogue isn’t an option. You don’t have the ability to modify clip volume, fade in or out of clips, or run noise reduction (though, Anchor does offer some background music you can select to run under segments). Using the Anchor episode builder means you’ve got what you got – but for a phone app, it isn’t bad. You can also save your episode as a draft and come back to it later, so you don’t have to create your entire episode in one sitting. 

Not only can you publish an episode from your phone, you can also create your whole podcast in the app, including making cover art and submitting your show to directories. And when not actively podcasting, you can also use the app to check your podcasts stats. 

This app is unlike anything I’ve seen for other podcasts hosts, and I think it’s great for accessibility. If your laptop can’t run Audacity? No problem! All you need to make a podcast is a smartphone. This is a great tool for beginners who aren’t set on investing in equipment or software, and want to dip their toes into podcasting.

The Anchor Website

Logging into your account on Anchor’s desktop site gives you the same options as the phone app. You can record directly through the website and build an episode using provided transitions and SFX, though you don’t have the same clip editing abilities. (You cannot trim audio outside of iOS and Android, so you’re limited to splitting it into a new clip and going from there). The maximum amount of recording time on the web is 30 minutes on Google Chrome and 5 minutes on Safari, different from the two hour limit on the mobile app. If this is a problem, Anchor suggests using an alternative program for recording (may I recommend Audacity?)

The podcast creator view on desktop.

What editing a clip on a desktop looks like.

If you upload an audio clip recorded outside of Anchor, you can still add their transitions; imported clips are treated as just another segment. You also don’t need to add anything to what you upload – you can make a single segment your entire episode without any issue. Though it should be noted, if you want to have an Anchor-integrated midroll ad, you’ll have to split your clip where you want that ad to go, making it into two segments (so that you can put a sponsored segment in the middle). 

A view of an incorporated sponsored segment in the episode builder. 

There is a 250 MB upload limit to each clip imported into Anchor. If your file is larger, you can split it and upload it in segments – the size of your final episode is not limited, and you can have as many clips and segments as you want. Anchor also suggests compressing your clips if they’re too large, using mp3 files instead of wavs.

Your Anchor Account

Clips recorded on a phone are still accessible from the website, and vice versa, as your library is the same across devices. You can also access episode drafts from one device to another, meaning that you can start building an episode on desktop and continue it on your phone.

You’re limited to one podcast feed per account. With different emails, you can have multiple shows, though I wouldn’t recommend this – if you’re planning multiple shows, it would be a good idea to use a hosting service compatible with more than one feed instead of juggling a handful of emails. However, it’s not a violation of Anchor’s terms and conditions to sign up multiple times with different emails. You can do so and even make money as one person running multiple shows. 

Unlike most free podcast hosting platforms, Anchor offers unlimited storage for your feed for an unlimited time. You can upload as many episodes as you want in any time frame. Additionally, published episodes can be edited – new segments can be added and individual clips can also be modified.   

Anchor also provides a healthy amount of stats: a chart of the number of plays each day (and what episodes they came from), a breakdown of your top episodes, the geographic location (what percentage of listeners are from which country), a pie chart of listening platforms, the gender breakdown of your listeners (sourced from Spotify, and includes Female, Male, Non-binary, and Not Specificed), and the age breakdown of your listeners (also sourced from Spotify). You can see these stats for any date range of your choosing. For a free service, these offerings aren’t bad at all. 

If you want to move to a different hosting platform, Anchor makes it easy with a “Redirect URL” at the bottom of the distribution page, where you can paste your new RSS feed in and have your show redirect. If, for example, you want hosting with more specific statistics, you’re not stuck where you started. 

Monetization – Ad Integration and Listener Support

For users within the US, Anchor has built in ad integration. You are matched with sponsors (as a new show, your first sponsor is Anchor) to record your own ads for. Anchor helps you with your ad read – when testing ad creation for myself, I was given a script with suggested talking points and a mandatory call to action to read out at the end. Anchor says that “New sponsors are first matched with shows who have a growing audience base and whose ads have performed well in the past — we currently aren’t able to guarantee you a sponsor at all times, and we recommend continuing to grow your show to qualify for new sponsors in the future.” You control where the ads show up in your show by placing them yourself, which means you don’t have to worry about being interrupted mid-sentence.

Anchor takes a 30% cut of revenue generated from sponsorships arranged via Ad Integration. If a sponsor offers a $20CPM (cost per thousand impressions) and you get 1000 impressions, $6 will be deducted for the Anchor fee. Users in the US can also activate Listener Support, which allows you to accept monthly donations from your audience. Anchor takes a 4.5% fee from donations through this feature. 

All payment is processed through Stripe. You need to have made at least $10 before cashing out, and there is a $0.25 processing fee to do so. If you leave a balance for more than 90 days, it will be automatically cashed out for you. 

Record with Friends

Record With Friends is a feature that lets you remotely record your podcast audio with up to five others. Guests can use the Anchor app or go to the Anchor website to join in on the call, which must be initiated via the app. You invite friends  from the recording page of the app, which allows you to send them a link to join. Audio is recorded locally, so the quality of the remote guests does not sound like a typical phone call.  There is a two hour recording limit when recording with friends, and Anchor recommends not using external podcast microphones when using this feature on the app. Currently there is no option to mute guests or pause recording. 

Related reading: detailed breakdown and reviews of podcast microphones, podcast headphones.

I think this is a really helpful feature for new shows that want to have guests on. It can be tricky working out how to record a phone call, and difficult to have a good quality remote recording. While there are certainly better options for having remote guests on your podcast, this is a free and relatively easy way to facilitate remote recording, and I think that’s great.

Spotify Music

Anchor allows you to create an episode using music from Spotify, though episodes that do so need to be reviewed and will only be available to Spotify listeners. Music tracks cannot be altered or talked over, and they are shown as separate segments in the episode builder. Additionally, only Spotify Premium users will hear the full-length versions of the songs (Spotify Free users will hear a 30 second preview). 

I think this feature might be useful for talk shows that reference or talk about specific songs and want their audience to be able to hear the music without the liscensing issues that usually come with sticking a song into your podcast. However, since including music makes an episode become Spotify exclusive, there are some pretty big downsides to this. Still, it’s a good option to have, and no one is being required to include Spotify Music in their podcasts. 

How Free is Free?

Having used Anchor myself, I can confirm that there’s no surprise fees hidden within Anchor, no special pay-to-play features down the line. It is truly a free hosting platform, monetarily speaking. But there’s that saying – if you’re not paying for something, then you’re the product (the 30% fee Anchor takes on sponsorship deals is perhaps indicative of this).

In 2018 Anchor fell under criticism for a section of their terms and conditions which implied that Anchor might own what you produce on the platform. Mignano tweeted in response, on June 21 2018, “First and foremost, when using Anchor, creators have, and always will, own their content. We’ve made this really explicit so there isn’t any confusion.” The terms and conditions were clarified to indicate a license to distribute (but not own) your content. The “Rights you grant to us” section of these terms now starts with “You retain ownership of your User Content. Using Anchor does not cause you to lose ownership of your content.” 

I spoke to Gavin Gaddis, podcast creator and critic, who said, “There’s a little bit in the ToS that gives Anchor permission to use your IP however they want. Functionally it means nothing to small podcasters, but if someone is serious about their creation and intends on going the distance, using Anchor might mean that some day they’ll turn on Spotify and hear an ad that cuts clips of their show in a quirky way to make it sound like the podcast is directly endorsing Anchor, all without having paid that podcast a cent or signed any sort of exclusivity deal. Anchor hasn’t done that and made efforts to clarify their ToS after getting in social media hot water a while back, but that little bit still sits there. Other hosts like Pinecast don’t have anything in their ToS reserving the right to use someone’s podcast IP however they see fit.”

In Conclusion

I’d recommend Anchor for those who are just starting out in podcasting. It’s an incredibly accessible service – you get a lot for the low price of completely free. However, as a free platform, it lacks some of the features more serious podcasters might want: multiple feeds, more thorough stats, dynamic ads, and no connection to Spotify (and possible IP use thereof). Users who desire these features should host their podcast elsewhere, but if your priorities for a podcast host are low cost and ease of interface, Anchor will likely work great for you! 

The post Podcast Host Review: Anchor is a Good Choice for New Podcasters appeared first on Discover the Best Podcasts | Discover Pods.

As someone who never sees themself in mainstream media, this is what draws me to audio drama. Creating the representation I want to exist in the stories I consume is one of the joys of writing, but it’s important to do it right. In this open expanse, questions come up: When is it okay to create a character from a demographic you don’t share? How does one avoid common pitfalls? What should and shouldn’t I do? 

I am often asked these questions about writing good trans characters, and in an effort to answer them, I’ve enlisted the help of several trans and nonbinary podcasters to help break it down. If you’re confused by any of the terms I use, I recommend looking them up in the Trans Language Primer, a fantastic resource for the language around gender. It should be noted that “trans” and “nonbinary” are not the same thing, but for the purpose of this article I am considering nonbinary to be under the trans umbrella, both meeting the definition of “not cis.” 

This article cannot be a thorough guide covering all aspects of writing a trans character. It is very important to me that you don’t take “I read Tal’s article!” as a blanket excuse to do what you want in your show. The trans experience is wide and varied, and while I have made an effort to capture some of that depth, this article can’t possibly cover every aspect of transness–it is a starting place. What I will be covering is basic dos and don’ts. We’ll touch on what a trans and nonbinary audience wants to see as well as what some glaring red flags in scripts and shows are.  

Read more: 14 Audio Drama Podcasts to Get You Hooked on Fiction

No deadnames

First and foremost, nearly everyone I interviewed said don’t deadname or misgender your character. I cannot overstate this enough. “Unless it is plot relevant, you really don’t need to mention that they’ve got a deadname,” said Cole Burkhardt, creator of Null/Void and contributor to Discover Pods. “If you do have a situation that requires it, it should be treated/remarked upon in the same way that calling someone a slur would. It is a bad thing to deadname/misgender someone, and the narration should reflect that.”

A deadname is a name used by a person before their transition, sometimes called a “legal name” or “birth name.” It is an enormous red flag for a deadname to be dropped casually; just like using the wrong pronouns, deadnaming is invalidating, disrespectful, and should not be done lightly in a story. It’s almost never relevant to the plot, and unless you are directly and deliberately addressing transphobia you shouldn’t include it. 

Cast trans characters accordingly

The second thing almost everyone said was to cast trans actors in trans roles.

“It always makes me uncomfortable and upset when cis folks are cast in trans roles–especially when a cis woman is cast to play a trans man or a cis man is cast to play a trans woman,” said Rue Dickey, voice actor and sensitivity reader. “Just like this problem in TV and film, it adds to the stereotype that trans folx are just cis people ‘pretending’ to be a different gender.”

Erin Kyan, co-creator of Love & Luck, is of the same opinion. He said, “If you do have an explicitly trans character and you are a cis showrunner, you should only have trans actors in those roles,” and breaks down why in three parts:

1. Trans actors do not get as many roles as no one wants to cast them as cis characters, so they should be given priority for trans roles.
2. Trans actors are the only ones that can bring authenticity to that performance.
3. Trans audiences deserve the comfort and safety of knowing they will be listening to a performance of a trans character by a trans actor.

When it comes to casting, I was also told by a nonbinary voice actor (who requested to be anonymous), “If a character is trans, make that evident in the casting call. Tell prospective voice actors so they can judge whether or not they fit the right demographics before auditioning.” I’d recommend taking this a step further and explicitly restricting auditions for trans characters to only trans voice actors. Go beyond having a preference for trans actors in your trans roles. Explicitly require it.

Caroline Mincks, creator of Seen and Not Heard, provided an example of what not to do in your casting calls: “When I was new on the scene I saw one asking specifically for a cis woman to play a trans man because he hadn’t transitioned yet, and then they planned to cast a cis man to be his post-transition voice.” This is insulting to trans voice actors, implying that they can’t be the voice of a character who is also trans.

Don’t gender voices based on sound

Furthermore, you should also not say in your casting call that your trans woman character has a male voice, or vice versa. Tuesday Ilbert, co-creator of Transmission Folklore, sums this up succinctly:  “A trans man’s voice is a man’s voice, a trans woman’s voice is a woman’s voice, and a nonbinary person’s voice is a nonbinary voice regardless of vocal transition.” Estrogen does not affect one’s vocal register, and while testosterone does, not every transmasculine person is taking it.

Kyan said, “uncouple gender and voice expectations,” and this holds true for your trans roles and your cis roles. “Cis is not and shouldn’t be the deafult,” said Dickey. Some men have high voices, and some women have low voices, and you don’t have to constrain your casting to gendered expectations.

Along this line, I also invite you to consider casting trans actors as cis characters. Trans voice actors are incredibly versatile, and when you cast them solely in roles where they play trans characters, you vastly underestimate their capabilities. Emily VanDerWerff, co-creator of Arden, said, “I never see cis people casting trans people in cis roles, and I want to [see that happen].” 

Make trans characters real characters

Nearly everyone said to make sure there is more to your trans character than simply being transgender. You should be able to describe any character’s personality beyond their gender identity, whether they’re cis or transgender. JV Hampton-VanSant, creator of RedWing, said, “Don’t feel like you need to make being trans the entire storyline.” Similarly, David Orión Pena, creator of Dos: After You, encouraged writers to “have a trans character whose arc doesn’t depend on being trans.” Dickey explains this in more depth, describing some of the best representation they’ve seen as “[a trans character who is] just as well rounded and meaningful as every cis character – and their transness is important but their story isn’t JUST about being trans.” 

Evan Tess Murray, co-creator of This Planet Needs A Name, tells creators “please write in casual queer representation – queer characters whose identities are not the focus of the story. Let us exist in your world! Let us thrive!” People’s gender identity does not need to be plot-relevant. Trans folks exist without a reason to be trans – they just are, and you should reflect that in your stories. You don’t need a reason to have a trans character, and you don’t need to justify their inclusion in the story as any sort of plot point. Tau Zaman, creator of CARAVAN, said “When trans characters can be flawed and mediocre at things and occasionally slip into the background while offering a value to the world of the story simply for existing, I will say we have good trans rep.” 

Do research–then, do more

However, a word of caution: “Go VERY carefully if you plan to make the fact that they’re trans, or parts of their personal journey, a plotline in your story,” said DJ Sylvis, creator of Moonbase Theta Out. “At that point you should at the least use sensitivity readers and ask for help… don’t assume you can write about what makes them trans without their input.” Cis writers should hire sensitivity consultants and pay for them if the trans experience of their character is key to the story. Mincks said, “There’s no one ‘correct’ way to be trans, so if you want to create trans characters, you have to do more research than you think.” The entire trans experience can’t be captured in a single google search. 

When writing trans characters, you should also consider your own relationship towards gender, especially if you approach it from a western perspective. Zaman said, “Trans people are not monolithic and it is crucial that we expand our understanding of transness outside of the occidental concept of it. People in the Global South and their conceptions of gender are routinely dismissed as regressive notions — when their perspectives are noted at all, which is almost never.”  

VanDerWerff said that creators must “be aware of the minefield that is years and years and years of bad trans representation.” In the same way you can’t capture the entirety of the trans experience in a google search, you can’t find every example of bad representation by looking it up. This is why you should seek out trans sensitivity readers when you’re writing about being trans. As a cis person, you won’t be able to fully capture that experience, and your missteps are more likely to create bad representation. Even with the aid of a sensitivity reader, there are still topics you should avoid. Murray says to cis creators, “Please don’t write coming-out narratives, and really don’t write trans pain or other forms of queer suffering. Those stories are ours; cis people almost always do them very badly.”

There are also more subtle things you might not consider when writing trans characters. “Avoid making your trans characters hypersexual or lacking any sort of sexuality.” said Burkhardt. Both of these extremes are stereotypical. Zaman said, “[Avoid] thinking that making someone a badass/supercool/evil-in-a-hot-way character is radical. It’s easy to think that ‘power’ in a story is ample substitute for good representation, but it’s not.” An example of this: a villainous trans woman who disguises herself by wearing stolen skin is transmisogynistic. There are also tropes you should avoid when writing about a character who is not canonically trans – for example, someone having gender reassignment surgery solely for revenge (especially as a part of a comical episode) is insensitive. 

Read more: Stop Making People Out Themselves for Art

Listen to trans people

A final word of advice – if you mess up, don’t dig a deeper hole. What matters is taking corrections in stride and listening to the people who want you to do better. Mincks says to see being called out “as an opportunity, not just to do better yourself, but to set an example for others for how to gracefully accept corrections and improve in the future.” In my experience of calling people out for bad representation, what’s mattered to me is how they respond. I remember the people who listened when I messaged them far more fondly than I remember the people who engaged in a multi-hour debate with me. The first group are people I’d be happy to work with, the second group are people whose actions have shown they don’t value who I am.

Ultimately, you should listen to trans people. That’s the most important takeaway from this article. There’s a lot to be said about writing trans characters, but at the end of the day, what matters is listening to those who live the experience you want to portray. VanDerWerff said, “I don’t want to discourage cis people from wriitng stories about trans people because there are so many cis people writing stories [compared to trans people writing stories].” It’s good that you want to write trans characters into your stories! You should definitely do it! But please, be invested in doing it right.

How to Audio Drama is our column documenting every piece of information you’d need to start your own audio drama (aka fiction podcast). The series can be read in full, or read volume by volume. You can use our table of contents to find each How to Audio Drama installment, and you can submit questions to our monthly How to Audio Drama advice column.

The post How to Audio Drama 202: Writing Trans Characters appeared first on Discover the Best Podcasts | Discover Pods.