Conlangery Podcast

The Future of Conlangery

I want to talk to y'all about the future of this channel.

I had wanted to start a YouTube channel for Conlangery for a long time before I actually did it. I ran the podcast as an audio show for about ten years and always wanted to make some kind of instructional videos or showcases.

Eventually, I landed on two things for the channel. I would create a video version of the podcast, and a livestreaming series inspired by David and Jessie Peterson's LangTime Studio. The video podcast was just another format for something I was already doing, and the livestreams gave me something I could do every week without so much effort on the backend.

Later, I experiemented with dedicated videos and shorts, and my feelings on the channel changed, and that's what I want to put out for you today.

You may have noticed that there are sometimes long lags between podcast episodes. There are a lot of reasons for that. For one, video editing just takes longer than audio editing. There are more things to consider when you have to factor in camera switching and disguising cuts.

Also, you may know that I have a full time job and three kids. I have limited time to handle all the things I need to do for this channel. That's why the Tongues and Runes livestreams are at a rather odd time.

But there were also other things that sapped my motivation. I no longer have a regular cohost, which I originally took as an opportunity to develop rotating hosts or turn the podcast into an interview show. And I've had a lot of interesting people on the show, but doing that means I have to go seek out people to bring on, book a time to record, and deal with whatever audio or connection issues may crop up on their end.

There's also a structural issue with doing this on YouTube. When I interview someone on the podcast, the performance of the episode depends a lot on the person I'm talking to. If they have a big YouTube presence, I get lots of views. If they're unknown -- or even well-known but not on YouTube -- I get less. This is frustrating, because if I'm doing interviews, I'd like the channel to be a vehicle to showcase the work of other people. But I end up just not getting the same traction for smaller guests, especially since the channel itself is not that big.

Meanwhile, videos where it's just me looking at the camera telling you a thing seem to be more consistent. Not explosive, not tiny, just sort of consistently growing. Now, these do take a lot of effort to make. I edit them more closely than podcasts, in addition to writing a script and taking multiple takes. But I can do the recording whenever I want without having to schedule with someone else.

So I've decided that, at least for a while, I'm going to stop doing the podcast. It may come back some day in the future, but I'm going to stop putting time into booking guests and money into video conferencing platforms, and try to spend more time on… well… this format, talking head videos where I talk to you about a conlanging thing.

Again, the podcast might come back in the future, perhaps on a separate channel, but not for a while.

Tongues and Runes will continue. I love streaming. Even with just a few watchers, it's fun to interact with people. I may eventually split Tongues and Runes to a separate channel, but for now you can just keep coming here Saturdays at 8 AM Central Time. I don't plan to end that project anytime soon.

Also, I will still do collaborations. In fact, as I write this, I am very close to starting the next YouTube conlang relay! The actual relay will probably be underway around the time I post the video. That collaboration seems to do well for promoting smaller conlanging creators, since it mixes up large and small accounts into one place.

I'm also thinking of having something more open. The YouTube Conlang Relay kind of has to be invite-only because of the nature of the beast, but I could do some kind of public challenge similar to the Cursed Conlang Circus. I'm still thinking what shape that would take for me.

What I really want to do, down the line, is start a series teaching an introduction to conlanging. The working name is Your First Conlang, and I already have a draft outline and a couple draft scripts written.

In any case, the main thing I want to announce here is stepping away from the podcast and focusing more on simple direct-to-camera explanation videos. If you're into that, go like the video and hit the subscribe button, and hit the bell if you want notified of future videos.

Also, thanks to all the people who support me on Patreon. I truly appreciate everything you give.