Podfic

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Synonyms: audiofic, audio fan fiction, fanfiction podcast
See also: fanfic, Fan Fiction Audio Recording, Audiofic Archive
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Podfic is an audio recording of fanfic, read aloud by a fan (or several). The term is also used as a verb; someone may ask to podfic someone else's story, or spend an afternoon podficcing. A podfic of a slash story may be called podslash. Podfic is also known as audiofic.

A fan who produces podfics can be called a podficcer, a podfic reader, or a podfic artist. Some such people have strong feelings regarding this designation.

Sometimes fans podfic their own stories; however, most podficcers read stories by a variety of authors. It is customary to ask permission (though this topic has been debated in fandom) before podficcing someone's else's story, due to respect for other fans' works (or copyright law). Some podficcers also write and link to their Dear Author letter.

Some fanfic writers will post a blanket statement, stating that derivative or transformative works by other fans (such as a podfic, remix or translation into another language) have been pre-approved and there is no need to ask permission before creating such a work. See Blanket Permission to Podfic for a compiled list of fans who have pre-approved podfic.

Some fans use the term podfics and podcasts interchangeably;[1] while some podcasts include readings of fanfiction, they are not the same thing.

History of Podfic

Fans have been recording fanfiction for as long as they have had the means. However, the idea of recording fanfiction seems to have been reinvented several times, for each generation of technological development and sometimes simultaneously in different contemporary communities. Because the term "podfic" has become well known, it is sometimes applied broadly to all fanfiction audio past and present. It is not clear whether the podfic trend that started in the 2000s is an outgrowth of earlier fanfiction audio communities.

For recordings in the Zine era, see Fan Fiction Audio Recording.

The Merlin Drabble Anthology: Volume 1, podbook cover by sparksflyout. The 2010 screenshot is from an iPhone.

Xena audiofic was distributed on tapes (see Carol's Xena Fan Fiction Tape Consortium) as early as 1996[2] and later on burned CDs.[3] Femslash fan Tarae remembers first seeing WordWarrior's Xena fanfic recordings listed on a website in 1997, but was unable to acquire the tapes due to living in Europe.[4] Tarae also recalls Xena fans making "fanfic mix tapes" to give to other women they crushed on at conventions.[4] The recorded stories back then were called "audio fan fiction"[3] or "audio fiction",[4] although this may still be the Xena fandom term for podfic (as of 2009).[5]

The present podfic community, as well as the term itself, may only date back to the mid-2000s.[6][7][8][9] A few podficcers report that they were recording podfic in the early 2000s, but didn't call it by that name.[10] In October 2003, a group of Lotrips fans began the Fiction Aloud 2003 project on LJ.[11] Some podficcers point to the sbp_aloud project as the genesis of modern podfic, or at least their own introduction to recording fanfic.[12] sbp_aloud, a project on LiveJournal to record an audiobook of The Shoebox Project, was established in 2004; sbp_aloud was inspired by hpreadaloud, a fannish audiobook project for Harry Potter canon, and had no connections to earlier forms of fanfiction-on-tape.[13]

A number of LiveJournal communities began to appear, starting in August 2005 with podslash. Podslash uses the term "podcast" rather than "podfic", suggesting that the term, if not the practice, was as much inspired by the new non-fannish phenomenon of podcasting as previous fannish efforts to create audio recordings of fanfic. Alternatively, the pod in podfic may be derived from iPod, just as podcast is, but have no other connection to podcasting.

graph showing the monthly posting frequency at the LJ community Amplificathon

As of 2012, Amplificathon was the main hub of the multifannish podficcer community on LiveJournal and Dreamwidth, though podfic activity could be found in many other journal communities, as well as other places on the Internet.[14] Amplificathon is associated with the largest multifandom podfic archive, the Audiofic Archive, started in 2006. As LJ lost popularity, much of the conversation about podfic shifted to Twitter.[15][16] Certain megafandoms like Supernatural, Sherlock, and MCU also developed a podfic presence on Tumblr.

A lot of fandom twitter is locked, so podfic communities can be hard to find on twitter. As discord became a popular fandom platform, fans started at least one general podfic discord server. After the data loss at Audiofic Archive, Archive of Our Own is probably the largest public resource for podfic; as of January 2023, the Podfic tag contains over 50,000 works. In the late 2010s some podficcers also started hosting their works at the Internet Archive; as of December 2021 there are over 7,000 public items in the podfic tag. Podfic also exists on youtube, sound cloud, and elsewhere.

Fans began holding podfic-related panels and meetups at conventions, and in 2016 started the first podfic convention, Podfication (held in Minnesota, USA). Europodfriends (held in Berlin, Germany) then started up as an alternative for European podficcers. Fanworkscon (Michigan, USA) is a multimedia fanwork convention started in 2019 that has programming dedicated to podfic.

Formats

While audio fanfiction was once recorded on analogue technology (cassette tapes, CDs), podfic is now primarily digital.

Podfics at the Audiofic Archive generally consist of an mp3 file containing a reading of a single fanfic, although sometimes the file is converted into an m4b audiobook, called a podbook in fannish vernacular. (Podbooks are usually produced with cover art that will display on the screens of mp3 players and smart phones.) Collections of stories bundled together in a single file or in an "album" of files are somewhat less common.[17] Longer stories are sometimes divided into several files, depending on the podficcer's preference and the format of the original story.

Meanwhile, some fannish podcasters have been including fanfic readings in their podcast episodes, or producing podcasts that consist entirely of fanfic readings. For example, Amy Boatman read classic Xena stories in a weekly Xena Fanfiction Podcast in 2007. The Xena & Ubers podcast was started in 2008 and is still going as of 2014. In December 2013, a Willow/Tara fanfiction podcast called Under Your Spell [3] was started. More recently in December 2022, Danmei Podfics With Gem was created, covering multifandom danmei fics.

Technical Aspects of Creating Podfic

In the user info of the first podfic community on Livejournal, podslash, community mod oulangi states that "the equipment for [making podfics] can be as simple as the mic & bundled software that came with your computer to a high tech recording studio."[18] As smartphones became widespread, some fans began recording on their phones.[19]

While there are many available programs for audio recording, Audacity is one of the most popular within fandom as it is free, is fairly intuitive, and is available for PC, Mac, and Linux. Several podficcers have posted tips for recording successfully - including noise reduction and information on bit rates, along with other technical explanations.[20] Mac users have posted Garageband tutorials as well.[21][22]

The LiveJournal community podfic_tips, created in 2008, includes advice on many technical as well as artistic challenges to creating podfic.

Distributing Podfic

Distribution methods vary. Some podfic may circulate by email or through locked communities and forums, while other podficcers advertise, distribute, or link to their creations publicly. Publicly available podfic files are usually uploaded to a free file-hosting service, the podficcer's own website, very occasionally the author's website[23], an archive such as the Audiofic Archive, or all of the above. Once the file is uploaded, other fans can then download and listen to the podfic anywhere, any time (depending on their access to technology).

Over time, streaming has become more widely available, and more modern free file hosting allows for some form of streaming, unlike the earliest generation of sites used by podficcers (YouSendIt, MegaUpload, MediaFire, etc.). Although intended for video streaming, Youtube has always been used by some for audio streaming; other streaming options used by podficcers include SoundCloud, as well as file hosts like Dropbox, Box.com, Google Drive, etc. that that allow playback from the download page. Internet Archive is a noncommercial streaming option increasingly adopted since the late 2010s. paraka has provided noncommercial free podfic hosting to a number of fans for many years. The AO3 allows embedded audio players, but does not provide hosting. Historically, podfics hosted on the Audiofic Archive were zipped to prevent streaming, but when the site changed owners in 2021, the new owners indicated that streaming would become an option.

Streaming has a number of benefits, including allowing people to listen to the podfic on different computers, allowing listeners to "try before downloading" and making it easier to listen to more shorter podfics.[24] For listeners accessing podfic on their mobile devices, streaming is much easier than downloading.

In May 2024, text-to-speech app and website Lore.fm was launched. It advertised itself as "Audible for AO3" and was designed for use by fans, who could paste a link and the app would generate an audio stream within a few minutes for listening, as well as features like a recap of weekly listening.

Podficcers have posted documentation on hosting and streaming podfics.

Languages

Not all podficcers in the English-language podfic community are native English speakers, and some have produced podfic in other languages. The Audiofic Archive, an English-language site, hosts podfic in 13 other languages, including Elvish; the most popular language other than English is Spanish, with 29 podfics as of 2022.

French-speaking fandom has also become interested in podfic, with at least one archive/forum started in 2009, audiofics. At the time it was opened, a post on the main forum noted that there wasn't much in the way of French podfic on the internet.[25]

In December 2011 the German multi-fandom archive Animexx.de site admin cato announced the implementation of a new subsection for the fanfiction archive on the site for "Fanfiction-Hörbücher und -spiele" (fanfiction audio books and audio dramas).[26] As of July 2014 the section has about 70 fanworks listed, among these mostly German podfic (many works for original stories), podcasts and other audio-based fanworks.[27]

As of 2022, AO3 has a few non-English podfics in several languages. The most popular language for podfic on the archive after English appears to be Russian (62 works).

Meta

Common meta discussion topics have included feedback, accents, permission, cover art, metadata, podfic's status as a creative work,[28][29][30][31] and whether or how to include music.[32][33][34] Pod Aware, a week-long celebration of podfic begun in November 2011 and repeated in 2012 and 2014, has featured a lot of discussions about some of the common meta topics.

A dreamwidth community, podficmeta, was created in January 2010 "to articulate and debate aesthetic theories about podfic."[35]

A few podfic-specific podcast series have been created that include meta discussions: Auralphonic (2014-2018) and Behind the Pod (2019-present).

Some challenges have been created as a direct result of conversations about issues in podficcing: for example, welovepodfic (to encourage feedback), multipodicity (to encourage repodding), and Pod Together (to "dispel some of the sense that podfic is nothing but a format shift for stories intended to be read on paper").

Specific Meta Essays and Posts

See also Timeline of Podfic Meta.

Listening to Podfic

A lot of podfic meta focuses on the listening experience. Depending on their preferences and the equipment available to them, fans listen to podfic in a variety of environments: at the home or office computer, in the car, on public transportation, at bedtime, or in the great outdoors. Many prefer to listen in situations where they would not otherwise be able to read fanfiction, such as during their daily commute. The listener's ability to multitask may restrict their choice of venue.

Podfic can be a useful service as well as an artistic endeavor for blind fans and fans who have difficulty reading onscreen. Accessibility issues are sometimes overlooked in podficcer discussions about the merits of podfic, though in non-podficcer spaces, accessibility issues are sometimes emphasized more than the artistic attributes. Sensory issues go both ways; some fans prefer to be able to listen instead of read, and others have reported more difficulty following audio than reading text.

Communities and Archives

See also Timeline of Podfic Communities.

Multifandom

Fandom-specific

Other Resources

How-to Guides

Notable & Popular Works

References

  1. ^ "Podcasts! Fanfiction isn’t for print anymore: Where to find fanfic podcasts, as well as other favorite podcasts on the web." -- from the 2015 MediaWest*Con program book.
  2. ^ general_jinjur. comment on a podficmeta post by user:aethel, 2011-12-29. (Accessed 30 December 2011)
  3. ^ a b the Xenamultimedia Page - Audio Fan Fiction (MP3 CD's). (Accessed 14 October 2012)
  4. ^ a b c tarae. Pod Aware - Day 1, posted to Dreamwidth 16 November 2014.
  5. ^ See Xena Fanfiction Audio, last updated in 2009
  6. ^ In a Pod Aware podcast discussion between klb, bessyboo, and paraka, 2005-2006 was mentioned as the period when the podfic phenomenon started gaining momentum. See Day 1 - Podfic 101/Why We Podfic, 6 November 2011. (Accessed 30 December 2011)
  7. ^ In a 2010 Amplificathon post, cookiemom6067 comments that "2007 was pretty much the year EVERYONE discovered podfic". Amplirecathon For January 30th - Greatest Hits of 2007, 30 January 2010. (Accessed 30 December 2011)
  8. ^ According to Cybel, in 2007 "podficcing started to come into its own, largely due to two prolific readers, Dodificus and Zabira." See Classic Recs From the Summer Of 2007, posted 27 January 2010. (Accessed 30 December 2011)
  9. ^ The Audiofic Archive, a major multifandom resource for finding podfic, was started in 2006 and contains no podfic made earlier than 2004. See general_jinjur's 29 December 2011 comment on a podficmeta post by user:aethel.
  10. ^ anatsuno says that her first podfic dates to December 2002. comment on a podficmeta post by user:aethel, 2011-12-29. (Accessed 30 December 2011)
  11. ^ In the introductory post to fictionaloud: "What originally started out as PornAloud 2003, has expanded to include slash fiction of the non-pr0ny variety. Join, post, listen, and enjoy. Currently, we're after Lord Of The Rings fiction (RPS and CS), and Harry Potter fiction (CS, and only RPS if it's involving cast members who are over 18." The last community post is dated May 2, 2004; WebCite.
  12. ^ See Day 1 - Podfic 101/Why We Podfic, 6 November 2011. (Accessed 30 December 2011)
  13. ^ bessyboo. comment on a podficmeta post by user:aethel, 2011-12-28. (Accessed 30 December 2011)
  14. ^ In a podcast for Pod Aware 2012, paraka says, "Amplificathon, if you're in journalling communities, is really the nucleus of podfic fandom." See Day 2 - Podfic Fandom, posted 12 November 2012 to Dreamwidth.
  15. ^ bessyboo remarked in the same podcast that LiveJournal podfic fandom hangs out on Twitter. See Day 2 - Podfic Fandom, posted 12 November 2012 to Dreamwidth.
  16. ^ An anon on Fail_Fandomanon observed that podficcers would magically appear if you utter the word "podfic" in a tweet. Re: Ｐｏｄｆｉｃ　ｒｅｃｓ, posted 21 March 2013.
  17. ^ single reader anthologies and the rarer multiple reader anthologies at the Audiofic Archive.
  18. ^ oulangi USER INFO First posted August 04, 2005. Last accessed November 19, 2008.
  19. ^ In a 2019 episode of Behind the Pod, arkadyevna commented, "There are quite a few people I know who just record straight on their phone, edit on their phone, post on their phone." "Behind the Pod S1, Episode 4: New(ish) & Old(ish)". Archived from the original on 2019-12-08., posted to AO3 2019-12-08. Timestamp 16:59. (Accessed 2019-12-08.)
  20. ^ isiscolo."Quality, filesize, and Audacity/Lame settings". Archived from the original on 2017-04-07., posted in podfic_tips, 1 February 2008. Last accessed November 19, 2008.
  21. ^ "GarageBand Tutorial". {{cite web}}: |archive-url= requires |archive-date= (help), posted by happyhanabi to podfic_tips, 16 February 2016. Last accessed December 29, 2020.
  22. ^ "Podfic-ing with Garageband - #01 The Basics". {{cite web}}: |archive-url= requires |archive-date= (help), youtube video posted by lunchee, January 23, 2011. Last accessed December 29, 2020.
  23. ^ Speranza hosts some podfic of her work: Podfic Index, Archived version
  24. ^ See Streaming Podfic by paraka, dated August 23, 2011; WebCite.
  25. ^ Audiofics ou comment découvrir les fanfictions autrement. 23 July 2009 post at Fanfic Fr. Accessed 17 January 2014.
  26. ^ Fanfiction-Hörbücher und -spiele 16 December 2011 post at Das Animexx-Weblog. Accessed 2 July 2014.
  27. ^ Fanfiction-Hörbücher Accessed 2 July 2014.
  28. ^ general jinjur, (no subject), posted June 15, 2010.
  29. ^ podcath. Podfic as transformative works--Let me count the ways, posted to month_of_meta on Dreamwidth 11 March 2012. (Accessed 24 March 2012)
  30. ^ See this failfandom_anon thread for examples of arguments against the creativity of podfic.
  31. ^ Podficcers have noted the similarity between anti-fanfic arguments by non-fans and other fans' arguments that podfic isn't creative/doesn't count as a fanwork/isn't as creative as fanfic. See fuckyeahpodficplatypus's October 4, 2012 Tumblr post.
  32. ^ zvi, Podfic grumblings, Nov. 7th, 2009.
  33. ^ cofax7, an open letter to podfic recorders/readers[1], 2009-12-06
  34. ^ zvi, If music be the food of love, play on, posted in podficmeta, 2010-01-14
  35. ^ "podficmeta profile". Archived from the original on 2021-11-26.
  36. ^ WebCite for Newbie guide to podfic on livejournal accessed July 31, 2012.
  37. ^ As of 2 September 2013, this podfic is the most kudosed podfic without accompanying text on the Archive of Our Own. (91 kudos) Derived by sorting works with the Podfic tag. Since fanfic is far more popular than podfic, all works that included the text of the story (including pod_together collaborations) were disqualified. To compare, the most kudosed fanfic on the archive -- DILF, a Teen Wolf Sterek story by twentysomething -- has 8596 kudos.[2] (I am discounting one fic that got 9000+ anonymous kudos as it looks like a bug or spamming attempt).
  38. ^ As of 2 September 2013, this podfic is the second most kudosed podfic on the AO3. (82 kudos)
  39. ^ As of 2 September 2013, this podfic has the most comments on the AO3. (77 comments)
  40. ^ As of 2 September 2013, this podfic has the most hits on the AO3. (10112 hits)
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