It’s been a little over a decade since I started this blog. I always had a goal of surpassing 1,000,000 page views. I took pride in the many posts I made along the way. I hoped that at least a few people would enjoy what I had to say. Turns out, quite a few of you did. I always kept my eye towards that 1 Million. It was the summit of the mountain I scaled view by view. I didn’t know what I was doing at first, but I found my footing, and I found my rhythm. And at long last, I have planted my flag upon the summit.
It brings me great pride to announce that The Audiophile has officially surpassed 1 Million page views.
It still doesn’t feel real. My longstanding goal finally achieved. I suppose a look back is in order. I got my start writing for Alternate History Weekly Update and Amazing Stories. There were so many amazing stories being produced on podcasts like The Drabblecast, Lightspeed Magazine, and the Escape Artists. However, the search function was a bit shoddy. So, I decided to do something about that. Make curated lists of reviews to help highlight such stories. I also started reviewing books as well.
The Alternate History Weekly Update achieved its goal of 1 Million views in 2016. But it wasn’t long after that when site owner Matt Mitrovich decided to close it down. He wanted to focus on his YouTube channel. I’d already started The Audiophile by that point, but that really gave me the incentive to spread my wings and fly.
I continued the work I’d been doing, and I designed my own alternate history flags. Some of my flags even proved surprisingly popular. But my reviews just weren’t getting the traction I wanted. And it took a lot of investment, in time and focus, to make those lists. So, I shifted my focus towards novels and comic books. I steered clear of superheroes. Not because I disliked them. I’m quite fond of superheroes. But I’m also quite fond of stories with a clearly defined beginning, middle, and end. My focus, true to my roots, tended towards alternate history and historical fiction. I also highlighted a few European comics. Honestly, the European comic scene is filled with tons of underrated gems. Especially when it comes to historical fiction and science fiction. But I didn’t turn up my nose to American comics. Plenty of hidden gems there as well.
Then I joined Reddit. Before that, I’d been primarily sharing my reviews and flags on Facebook and Twitter. Reddit completely changed the game. I had access to a wider audience, and a very engaged one at that. I could share across different subreddits. In doing so, I introduced this blog, and the works I reviewed, to readers who might never have encountered them otherwise. My old reviews got a boost in views.
My first major spike in views happened when I decided to do a retrospective of the works of Rick Riordan. That meant Percy Jackson, its sequels, and its spin-offs. I shared it on the r/camphalfblood subreddit, and it was a major hit. I had intended to also do a retrospective of the works of DJ MacHale. That would mean Pendragon, The Morpheus Road, and The SYLO Chronicles. However, fate had other plans for me and my blog.
I had discovered the audio drama community. There were so many wonderful shows. Each one a new present to unwrap. I knew I had to review them, but I kept putting it off. Enter a fellow named Ivan Mirko S. He asked me to review his audio drama The Program. I would often make long, and very detailed, lists of recommendations on the r/audiodrama subreddit. I said yes, but I had to complete a few other reviews first. That, and I was writing a short story for a contest the Journey Into Podcast was holding. My story placed third, and got produced as an episode.
I knew exactly what my first audio drama review would be. A show that completely blew things out of the water. A show that is still very important to me. I’m talking, of course, about 1865. I quickly followed with reviews of The Soyuz Files, Zero Hours, and Lights Out. The Program was a bit like The Audiophile. A little rough at the start, and struggled to find its footing, but really took off when it hit its stride. IMS appreciated my honesty and insight.
Oh, and he was not the last person to ask me for a review. Far from it. I soon had creators from across Reddit, Facebook, and Twitter knocking on my door asking me to review their audio dramas. I discovered many wonderful audio dramas I might not have otherwise found. Poe Theatre on the Air, SPR: Superhuman Public Radio, The TEMP, and Human B-Gon just to name a few. Sometimes I’d see creators asking if people would give their shows a review, and I’d already have the presses fired up.
I’ve had readers tell me they notice I tend to ignore a lot of the really big shows of the audio drama world. But those same readers tell me that’s exactly why they love my reviews. I wasn’t consciously ignoring the big shows. I just go with what looks good to me. The whole reason I started reviewing was me thinking “This is absolutely fantastic, and I think more people should know about it.” But as I continued reviewing, I made a point of trying to seek out audio dramas that, in my view, didn’t get enough attention. I always hoped my reviews could help lift them up.
Sometimes my reviews attracted big names. S.M. Stirling himself left some lovely comments on my reviews of The Peshawar Lancers and On the Oceans of Eternity. I had a German games studio ask me to review their visual novel 1-800-SUPER. I even had a couple of guys from Canada physically mail me their indie comic for review.
But I haven’t just reviewed audio dramas. I’ve also started acting in them. I got to play Slenderman and Ratatoskr in Residents of Proserpina Park. I’m also working as one of the producers of Residents of Proserpina Park. I’ve also been cast in a very exciting historical audio drama. But you’ll hear more about that in the, hopefully, near future. And of course, I now have my own audio dramas, an anthology called The Books of Thoth. As of this writing, it is just shy of 7,000 Downloads.
I’ve come a long way in those ten years or so since I started this blog. I built a community and found my people. I don’t intend on stopping, but I have slowed a bit. I’m devoting my attention to making more episodes of The Books of Thoth. I’m also working with Residents of Proserpina Park. And I do have my day job as an edutainer at the Shreveport Aquarium.
But though my output has slowed, I’m not going anywhere. There’s plenty of audio dramas and audio books yet to review.
But how to commemorate this auspicious occasion? What can best represent how far I have come? I mulled this question over quite a bit. But I kept coming back to the idea of community and the friends I made along the way. So, here is a collage of audio dramas. This isn’t every audio drama I reviewed. I limited myself to the ones I enjoyed to varying degrees. I worried myself silly about the order. But in the end, I went with what felt right to me.
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