Landis Wade has a way of making things happen, and Charlotte’s community of readers and writers is the better for it. In 2018 Wade founded his Charlotte Readers Podcast, and since then his podcast has become a cultural fixture in Charlotte. With the release of his 300th episode this week, Landis has decided to revamp his podcast. He is bringing aboard two new co-hosts and making some format changes. But that is not all that Landis has been up to lately. He has recently published his novel titled Deadly Declarations: An Indie Retirement Mystery. Also, he and I have recently launched the Charlotte Readers Book Club. Our next book club meeting will take place on June 29, 2022. Keeping up with Landis is a challenge, but fortunately he has a website that covers much of his news: https://landiswade.com
There is a lot going on with Landis this month, but I’ll start with the latest news about the Charlotte Readers Podcast (http://www.charlottereaderspodcast.com). I contacted Landis and asked him for more information about the 300th episode of the Charlotte Readers Podcast and his plans for the future of the podcast. Here is what he sent to me:
It’s been a technology learning curve and a lot of work over the past three and a half years but a definite honor and privilege to reach the 300 podcast episode milestone. The experience gave me the opportunity to meet and interview authors in 30 states and four countries about their books, stories and poems, and it energized my own writing to learn about their writing and marketing practices and discover that even bestselling authors have been rejected and have feelings too.
Reaching 300 episodes seemed like a good time to stop, or pivot. After much thought, I chose to pivot and I am very pleased I did because I have two wonderful co-hosts who are joining me in this venture. Hannah Larrew has been the podcast publicist, a book lover, and a bundle of energy. She represents traditionally and independently published authors and other artists across the creative spectrum and is going to bring that book whisperer knowledge to the show. Sarah Archer is a very talented novelist and screenwriter who has traveled widely and knows her stuff. She’s taught about writing and is very engaged in the writing community. With her knowledge about traditional publishing and my experience with independent publishing, we hope to provide helpful tips to our audience of writers, and Hannah will weigh in on the marketing front and her own writing.
So what’s going to be different about Beyond 300? No longer will this podcast be a one author interview show. No longer will it release weekly. We plan to do more in each show and because the show will be much longer, we are going to offer the audience two episodes a month that are more in depth and can be consumed in bites. Each episode will feature more authors in a variety of formats. There will be short interviews. We will use something called SpeakPipe to have authors provide us with audio content. And we will feature authors who write for our community blog on writing and book marketing topics. The three hosts will talk about what they are reading and we will have community experts weigh in with their suggestions, including a contribution in each episode by Storied Charlotte Blog. The three hosts will tackle a writing and marketing topic in each episode and we are going to open up SpeakPipe to listeners who can leave us messages to be played on the show, whether it be comments about a past show, questions for the hosts, or their own book recommendations or writing and marketing tips. Plus, it will be fun for the hosts, and hopefully, engaging for the guests to hear from more just me and one guest at a time.
Here is a link to a short YouTube video we just uploaded talking about reaching 300 episodes, introducing the new co-hosts for Beyond 300 and talking about the new format. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7VlURWdIag
We hope Charlotte Readers Podcast – Beyond 300, will be a place where readers and writers can be entertained, learn about good books, and engage with us about writing and book marketing practices. Thanks for helping us spread the word as we continue to help authors give voice to their own written words.
Landis also has great news about Deadly Declarations. In his “Author’s Newsletter” that he sent out on June 7, Landis wrote, “I was very honored to learn over the weekend that Deadly Declarations was selected as one of the Finalists in the 2022 International Book Awards in the Thriller/Adventure category.” I congratulate Landis on this recognition.
Readers who would like to talk with Landis about Deadly Declarations are in luck, for Landis is one of the featured authors at our next Charlotte Readers Book Club event. For our second Charlotte Readers Book Club, Charlotte Readers Podcast and Storied Charlotte are partnering with That’s Novel Books at Hygge at Camp North End. This event will take place at Lokal/That’s Novel Books, 330 Camp Road, on Wednesday, June 29, 2022, from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm. We will feature Deadly Declarations and Avery Caswell’s recently published Salvation, a novel based on Earthell Latta’s personal story of her abduction by a traveling preacher in 1971. Earthell Latta will also be joining our book club discussion. You are not required to have read the books to participate in our book club. This will be an open discussion with authors, and I will be moderating the discussion. You’ll have the opportunity to ask the authors questions, purchase their books and meet other Charlotte book lovers. Here is the Eventbrite link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/charlotte-readers-book-club-tickets-367897008857
I enjoy collaborating with Landis on our Charlotte Readers Book Club, and I appreciate his many and varied contributions to Storied Charlotte.