Fun First
- Lynda
- Aug 11
- 4 min read
by Jennifer Lott
About the Story Thing (2025) - 06
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"About the Story Things" is a thematic series of articles, sponsored by Reality Skimming Press. Pieces will appear every other Monday Jun 2 through to the end of 2025. Query us about contributing at https://facebook.com/relskim or Lisa.RealitySkimming@proton.me (we'll be moving the email soon).
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As a novelist holding out for a literary agent, I struggle with the concept of building an online author presence before I have a book published. What kind of writing can I use to attract a readership without giving away my “good stuff”? At first, this was how I thought of it, and the only creations I would put on my website were my poems, exactly because I considered them my weakest work. You can see how this is not a reader magnet, but rather a meal of unusable scraps from a chef.
Without any significant traffic to my website, I don’t fear I’ve built my reputation on it. In fact, I’ve stopped thinking about my online content as an author platform. Rather, it is my creative outlet that helps me wait out a long process for other works. There’s not a whole lot of instant gratification in the world of traditional publishing. For me, the world of audio entertainment burst brightly into my priorities with the idea that “I could do that now.” It started the same way as any online consideration – how will this show the world that I’m a writer? I listened to enough writer education podcasts to decide that I had nothing new to contribute to those discussion or interview formats, especially for a sustainable series.
Then audio dramas hit me – shows like Alba Salix and The Amelia Project. I was awestruck to realize I could build a podcast with made-up people, instead of getting real people to talk to me. So, my goofiest fantasy ideas found their place in a story for the ears. My audio series, Wilzerlott, is all the fun of script writing, voice acting and producing a story without the barrier of approval from even a single industry professional. Much as I’d love for it to be discovered by a large audience, my attempts to make this happen are only allowed to take up about 10% of my writing time and energy. I promised myself when I started that fun was the main point. Three seasons in, with a small audience, I still believe in that goal.
The story I build with sounds is a fictional documentary of a magic kingdom that thrived a million years before cavepeople. Immersive and family friendly, Wilzerlott bursts with magical calamities and hilarious situations. As well as creative satisfaction, my audio drama has given me a way to share my writing with people in my life who might not necessarily read my novels. The characters of Wilzerlott are voiced by my husband, my mother, my sister, my children and my friends. My cast contributes their enthusiasm and occasional improv lines to every episode. They are a joy to direct.
My children especially take interest in what their characters will do to steer the plot. My daughter, for instance, would prefer that the dragons in my series were more akin to the How to Train Your Dragon variety, but alas, I have written them as people-eating monsters. Her love for dragons is stretching my story evolution muscles to the point that there may well be a good baby dragon raised to cherish humans in future episodes.
Writing can be lonely. Some writers bring a social aspect to their journey through critique groups or workshops. For the most part, I am filling my void with a microphone and lots of laughs.
So far, I have limited author-to-listener interactions. In fact, my best audience participation feature asks people to address their questions directly to a princess and a time traveler, who will answer them without any acknowledgment that they are fictional characters (email wilzerlott@gmail.com to get your question into the next Q&A episode).
For anyone out there trying to come up with their own online presence, take a moment to consider if fun can be your motivator. Especially if you’re among the day job majority, you need your creative time to recharge you. I’ve known many authors who complain about social media expectations because they’d “rather be writing.” So would I! Who knows how much “just do it” force behind your self-promotion really makes a difference to your visibility? The noise out there is disheartening, and if you dutifully post every day with content that gives you no pleasure, you are relying on the outside world to make your efforts count. Make it matter to you first.
And hey, who’s to say a literary agent won’t see Wilzerlott as an impressive part of my resume someday? So long as that idea is a potential bonus and not the reason that I make audio dramas – I’m all for it.
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Links for Author Jennifer Lott
Wilzerlott Podcast - https://www.buzzsprout.com/1911976
Author's Website - https://jenniferlott.com/
Published Works - https://jenniferlott.com/published-works/
Alternate Ending of Animorphs - https://www.buzzsprout.com/1911976
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References
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