Spots Galore!

In January 2024, we optimized our Website, Appaloosa Radio Online, for the iPhone and Android. As I write this, it hosts 167 audio stories created by 16 different writers. We believe that most of our audio stories are experienced on mobile devices. Last year, we had about 4,000 listeners.
While 4,000 listeners in twelve months is not phenomenal by current YouTube standards, it represents, I believe, an audience significantly larger than what I probably would have gotten by publishing print stories on Amazon Kindle.
This week, I researched what other advantages publishing audio stories has over printed publications.
The first advantage to audio stories is the immediacy of the connection between the storyteller and the listener. Audio stories create a tight personal connection between the two. Sometimes when reading a great book, you become so involved that you just can’t put it down. However, that (in my experience) is a rare experience. On the other hand, I have found that a well-constructed audio story nearly always creates both intimacy and intense involvement. I believe there is a unique magic in the spoken word. Hearing a story engages our minds, brings us back to when listening by the campfire was an essential form of human communication.
A second advantage, I believe, is the ability to enhance the story telling with music and sound effects. Listening to a well-crafted audio story is an immersive experience. You are in the moment; in the place. And the experience is in real time. It is happening now.

Now, we seek to open Appaloosa Radio Online to an even wider array of writers.
We remain not-for-profit and non-commercial. We are not currently charging writers to publish their audio stories on Appaloosa Radio, and we hope to continue to be able to do so.
As I write this blog post, Appaloosa Radio Online has been optimized for the iPhone and for Android, and we have published 167 audio stories written by 16 different authors. And we are very proud of the quality of our audio and of our stories.
Additionally, our podcast had about 4,000 downloads during 2023.
However, it is time to move beyond just creating excellent works of fiction. We need to increase our audience, adding both more writers and more listeners.
To do so, we need to focus on marketing, and the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) has many excellent resources that we now have access to. Our application for IBPA membership was approved in mid-February.
As I reviewed their directory of 3,400 independent publishers, I found that we are the only exclusively audio publisher.
We seem to occupy a unique niche.