thiefpodcast

[thiefpodcast]

Why aren’t you subscribed to and listening to “THE THIEF” yet?

You listen to full-cast audio originals, right? You like Downton Abbey, right? You like roguish low fantasy, right? You like antihero assassin heroines, right?

#audio drama #actual play #dungeons and dragons #podcast fiction #fantasy podcast #audiodrama #low fantasy #science fiction #d&d

[thiefpodcast]

The path to 1,000 downloads per episode

The goal is 1,000 listeners by year’s end, and I will blog my progress.

Season two progress began in earnest this last week. It’s going a little slow, deliberately, (read my 2023 annual reflection), but I am well in to the initial arrangement of Chapter 5. Remember, The Thief starts out as a recording from a Dungeons & Dragons game, so “initial arrangement” is the step where I edit down the two or three-hour session into the main story. Follow The Thief on Patreon for free for more behind-the-scenes progress updates.

In my 2023 Annual Reflection, I wrote that The Thief’s slow-to-emerge product/market fit demanded attention. As a slow-to-produce and expensive story, I must choose how much time and money to spend to produce a podcast that will likely never be in the black.

And what might that look like? While I share actual numbers with my wittan on Patreon, in an advertising-only model where the average advertisement CPM is $25, we would need something like 20,000 downloads per episode to break even. So, I think I will just hand-wave that out of my mind.

But that is a target, and — I don’t know — Saturday-morning me loves a game.

Traction

In “The Phases of Podcast Growth”, 

Jeremy Enns names the trough of growth between 100 and 1,000 downloads per episode the “traction phase.” There is some validation that The Thief’s audience is out there — award nods, glowing reviews, consistent charting in niche genres — but

To move past the thousand-download-per-episode milestone, you’re going to need to get savvier with your marketing, both in the way you position and create your show, as well as how you get it in front of new potential listeners. … While the core idea might have been validated, there’s a lot of work to be done to refine it into a show makes the most of your marketing.

Jeremy’s advice rings true.

Walk before running

I have paid for a lot of advertisements but some axioms need some real research and qualification:

Does my pitch work?

Is The Thief even findable if sought

Is my audience who I even think they are?

This is pretty interesting.

I’ve already been experimenting with my answer to “What is this show?” My latest iteration is

A fully cast, low-fantasy mystery podcast, starting with the catalytic arrest of a City Watchman, leaving all to the only person he trusts: an undermarket draw-latch named "Symphony."

I don’t call The Thief an actual play — which it is — nor do I call it an audio drama. I don’t mention Dungeons and Dragons because some early anecdotal observations were that, well, people who listen to actual plays may prefer the table-relationship to the story, and The Thief all but strips out the former.

But this is more gut-feel than science, although I do have some data from prior ads that I mean to investigate.

Rough plan

I may write about this later but I’ve largely written off the value of organic social media marketing to [my] podcast growth. The CAC — or cost of new listener acquisition — is poor unless you hit the virality lotto. A good ad has exponentially more listener conversion than a good TikTok.

But I’m not doing myself any favors if I don’t question the - ah - “goodness" of that ad. I need to do the work.

The assets — the logo, the copy — resonate with the audience I want

The audience can find the show if they look it up

They can discover the show by looking up certain keywords

Ads mean I must trust the algorithm to deliver to the right people. But, there are other strategies for finding that audience. Namely, collaborate with folks who already have an audience that would like the Thief.

More on that, later.

#Audio drama #actual play #dungeons and dragons #D&D #podcast growth #growth marketing #audiodrama #science fiction #podcast fiction #fantasy podcast #mystery podcast #full cast and fully immersive

[thiefpodcast]

This is the story about how Isabela Duffles and I figured out what "Plague Rat" looked like. A bunch of sketches and behind-the-scenes chatter around the design of the hero of Swán

This was a lot of fun to dig up.

If you want to support original art for and by humans, comics for and by humans, and stories for and by humans, subscribe to our newsletter.

his is our first comic. Help us usher this thing to a successful launch.

#oc art #original art #comic art #character art #Plague Rat #swancomic #Swan #Swán #comic book #comic writing #writing community #low fantasy #please subscribe to our thing

[thiefpodcast]

I promised new episodes come Spring, which means there’s no more time to dilly dally. Work begins. It’s time to pull up the cowl.

#audio drama #thethief #actual play #the thief #audio fiction #dungeons and dragons #fiction podcast #podcast fiction #audiodrama #fantasy podcast

[thiefpodcast]

I don’t know what’s going on in the Netherlands but I’m in spitting distance of #1 in #sciencefiction 👀.

Can I ask, if you’ve listened to #TheThief, for an honest review or rating on your podcatcher of choice?

#audio drama #thethief #actual play #the thief #audio fiction #dungeons and dragons #fiction podcast #podcast fiction #audiodrama #fantasy podcast #netherlands #science fiction #reviews help a lot

[thiefpodcast]

Fans of Worlds Beyond Number and other actual plays who like when story and audience experience is put first will dig The Thief.

#audio drama #thethief #actual play #the thief #audio fiction #dungeons and dragons #fiction podcast #podcast fiction #audiodrama #fantasy podcast #worlds beyond number #dimension 20 #critical role #midst podcast

[thiefpodcast]

What really happened to Asta?

#audio drama #thethief #actual play #the thief #audio fiction #dungeons and dragons #fiction podcast #podcast fiction #audiodrama #fantasy podcast #crime junkie #mystery

[thiefpodcast]

A shadow that is no shadow.

#rogues #honor among thieves #thethief #audio drama #actual play #the thief #audio fiction #dungeons and dragons #fiction podcast #podcast fiction #audiodrama #fantasy podcast

[thiefpodcast]

Eleanor's love letters hidden in a false drawer.

#romance #ttrpg #actual play #audiodrama #audio drama #The Thief #dungeons and dragons #regency #jane austen #audio verse wards

[thiefpodcast]

Awards are driven by the economy of impostor syndrome.

[thiefpodcast]

Listen early to the intense midseason finale of #TheThief, the fully immersive, low-fantasy mystery #actualplay with a full cast. Latest Apple review: "This is the kind of podcast that I look for constantly but seldom find."

#audio drama #thethief #actual play #the thief #audio fiction #dungeons and dragons #fiction podcast #podcast fiction #fantasy podcast #audiodrama

[thiefpodcast]

Me: Hmm, I can't think of a good transition between scenes.

Devil: How about thundercrack.wav

Me: I've already used that like 5 times.

Devil: No one will be able to tell ....

-- 4 weeks later --

#Open door? THUNDERCRACK. Walk to the fireplace? THUNDERCRACK #The Thief #TheThief #Audio Drama #Audio Fiction #Fantasy Podcast #Tired of Hashtags #Cats of Tumblr #Vote for The Thief for an Audio Verse Semifinalist #TTRPG #Actual play

[thiefpodcast]

Progress report.

#audio drama #thethief #actual play #the thief #audiodrama #podcast fiction #audio fiction #dungeons and dragons #fiction podcast #fantasy podcast #sound design

[thiefpodcast]

A snippet in which Symphony encounters a new threat, who I'm excited to introduce. 

You can subscribe for totally free on Patreon. It's better than a newsletter to stay tuned.

#TheThief #audiofiction #actualplay #audiodrama #indiefiction #ttrpg #dungeonsanddragons

#audio drama #thethief #actual play #the thief #audio fiction #dungeons and dragons #fiction podcast #podcast fiction #audiodrama #fantasy podcast

[thiefpodcast]

Social's fragmenting and it's hard to follow stuff you want to see more of because there's no guarantee updates will make it into your feed.

The Thief doesn't have a website, but a Patreon, and now they've made it so you can just follow for free. You won't miss an update. It won't cost you a time.

#The Thief #TheThief #Audio Fiction #podcast fiction #audiodrama #ttrpg #dungeons and dragons #actual play #downton abbey

[thiefpodcast]

"The Thief" is #98 on the Goodpods' "All-time Best Indie Science Fiction Podcasts" 💃

#audio drama #audiodrama #fiction podcast #audio fiction #science fiction #goodpods

[thiefpodcast]

Previously, on The Thief …

#the thief #thethief #actual play #audio drama #audio fiction #dungeons and dragons #fiction podcast #podcast fiction #fantasy podcast #audiodrama #trailer #book trailer #podcast trailer