Immersive Stories

Have you heard about the White Tapes? VHS tapes that are in a white casing instead of the old, normal black casing. They started showing up in the mid-90s and became collectors items. Not because they were white or because they were ultra-rare but because viewing the white tapes would rewire your brain.

This story isn’t true.

But, it is a great example of immersive entertainment. In the world of video games and Netflix binges, the entertainment ratchet is tightened again as Podcasts, reading platforms like Kindle Vella, and Youtube enter the daily media consumption diet.

Video Palace is a podcast that follows the main character, Marc, as he explores the White Tapes. The tale is told like found footage where he records himself and his girlfriend narrating their adventure into finding the origin of these White Tapes. The podcast is good but what struck me much harder than the story was the end of the podcast. No, not the thrilling conclusion but the transition from podcast to book.

At the end of Video Palace, you are told about a book that continues the story. That’s free podcast to pay book. Interesting to me. To further entice sales of the book, the book is told in the same structure as the found footage but it is a new protagonist continuing Marc’s quest.

I’m betting there will be more media coming to further the Video Palace story. What started as a Podcast, grew into a multimedia experience designed to engage the consumer with stories, reddit threads, websites, and more to come. This reminds me of the marketing efforts surrounding LOST and Blair Witch Project. Immersive media creates loyal & engaged fans.

Why does this matter?

What I find interesting about this is how it takes a different approach to podcasts. Often I see podcasts as stories and then Patreon subscribers get new benefits. I also hear from these same podcasts companies that Patreon subscriptions are a fickle beast and often fluctuate wildly leading to unpredictable income.

Podcast to Book, is really interesting to me. The story continues and can branch in so many ways. I’d layer the Patreon into this as well for some unique/premium content and now you have a media empire :)

As writers, we’re up against all kinds of media. Your book is competing against video games, movies, podcasts, other books, doing nothing, work, and so many more activities. Video Palace made it easy for me to engage them. Low commitment to start with the podcast and then pivoting right into the audio book. And I liked it so I bought the paperback as well. If there was a game, I’d buy that too (just like I did with Old Gods of Appalachia).

Now What?

Well, I was thinking about what I could do to support [dis]connection coming soon. Did you miss last week’s post where I announced that? Go check out that post because I talk about a surprise secret book that I just released. You’re going to want to see it :)

So, I’m going to use some AI narration to build out a story to accompany & promote [dis]connection. That will be fun! Stay tuned. Here’s an example of the AI narration I’ve done so far. I hope you enjoy.

The point to me is a challenge, how can I explore other mediums to surround the stories in a more immersive experience. How can I compete with Stranger Things? Easy answer: make a better story that is more immersive. Easy…as in the answer is easy but the accomplishment of that answer is not.

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Winter Wishes

I miss winter days.
Summer, too hot, too sticky
to cuddle with you.

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That’s a haiku (haiku have been on my mind lately) for my family (pets included). The heat just isn’t for me. I’m a fall/winter person. I hope you enjoy it.

Thank you to Janice Scully for hosting Poetry Friday this week! Check out her blog at http://janicescully.com/. See you next week!