Unsolicited Mail

It's 'Children in Bloody Need' time again - that night of the year when the BBC gives up completely on the concept of broadcasting entertainment and instead tries to subject its viewers to a parade of well-paid celebrities begging ordinary people to part with their money.  At least this year Russell Brand and David Walliams won't be involved, making appeals for underage girls, (allegedly).  But enough of this topical satirical banter, back to more mundane things.  I got another of those unsolicited e-mails offering to be a guest on my podcast.  This one was from some dude who seems to be involved in some sort of religious freakery.  He claims to have written books and apparently every podcast he appears on enjoys a boost in listenership.  It's so obviously a form letter that is sent out automatically to podcast creators whose shows have reached a certain number of episodes, that it's insulting.  Quite clearly, it isn't sent as a result of the sender having actually listened to the podcast in question.  Indeed, it's obvious they've never even read its description.  If they had, then they would know that 'After Hours' has a format that precludes the use of guests and is not one of those 'talky talky' egotistical podcasts featuring someone droning on about shit, while a sidekick politely laughs at the required intervals.

I strongly suspect that 'After Hours' main point of interest for this guy is the fact that it has notched up nine episodes so far.  Which, in the world of podcasting is, apparently, something of a milestone, as most, I'm informed, never make it to four episodes.  And they're lucky if anyone actually listens to those four.  Which doesn't necessarily reflect their quality, but rather the fact that there are just so many podcasts being put out there these days that it is virtually impossible to get any visibility, especially if your podcast isn't fronted by a celebrity, doesn't have celebrity guests or doesn't have some kind of corporate backing in order to buy publicity.  As an absolute nobody, I'm frankly amazed by the fact that 'After Hours' actually does seem to generate a meagre audience, particularly as it isn't advertised and seemingly has little visibility on social media (despite my best efforts).  I'm guessing that it has some sort of novelty value for some listeners because it doesn't conform to what has become the 'norm' for podcast formats.  There is part of me that sneakingly suspects that if it had been created by someone with 'celebrity' status of some kind, there'd be all sorts of 'influencers' and the like fawning over it.  But, as I said, I'm a nobody (and happy to be a nobody), so I'm happy to take what listenership I can.