Don’t freak out. This IS indeed the Roundtable Podcast website. It’s just… shinier. And there’s more of it. A lot more.

This make-over has been long overdue. The spirit of community, collaboration, and creative exploration has always been the heart of the Roundtable. While I hope the podcast embodies that spirit, I’ve always felt we could be doing more.

• More to help the writers who tune in looking for inspiration.
• More for the Guest Hosts who so generously donate their time sharing their insights and experience with us.
• More to foster the community that has slowly been growing around the podcast.

So, when the Christmas break opened up a chunk of time, I decided to do something about it.

New Content Areas

Guest Host Updates

The Guest Hosts we invite onto the podcast are remarkable individuals, committed not only to their craft, but the community. And they continue to be fabulous AFTER the podcast, sharing their discoveries and achievements on their own blogs. I wanted to make it easier to stay up to date on all their doings… and now you can. The “Guest Host Updates” section of the site will be updated daily with excerpts of their posts from their respective websites. If you’re pickin’ up what they’re layin’ down, then you can click the follow-through link and read the full post on their site.

Writing Tips

There are some AMAZING websites dedicated to the writerly arts. We all have our favorites, but I wanted to boost the signal a bit and open the door to new sources of inspiration. So I’ll be scouring over 20 writing sites and blogs for content focused on being a better writer and including what I find in “The Writer’s Craft“. Some you’ll recognize, but I’m hoping many will be new to you. Like the Guest Host feed, I’ll just include some excerpts and, if it sparks for you, the rest of the goodness is just a click away.

Creativity (coming soon)

I’ll be adding another feed soon that focuses on creativity and innovation. What it is, how it works, and how you can foster it in your life. It’s a squishy, nebulous subject but there are a LOT of people exploring the nuances of the creative process. I’ll do my best to make sure the gems they discover end up here.

New Forums

The previous incarnation of a Roundtable Forum had a hard time gaining momentum. That’s mostly my fault… I wasn’t as attentive to the community that was developing there. The new forum is baked right in to the website itself, so there’s no need to leave the place that inspired whatever discussion you wanted to have. It’s a very open format and I’m eager to hear any ideas you have for sub-forums or topics. Let’s keep the conversation alive!

RTP Merch!

Aw, yeah. How we managed to get by this long without a Roundtable Podcast Coffee Mug is totally beyond me. Thankfully, we won’t have to worry about that anymore.

I’ve set up a shop on Zazzle.com and populated it with a few relics of awesomeness. I’ll add more in the days ahead, but let’s be clear… this isn’t about the money. The podcast gets 10% of all sales, so it’s not like I’m looking to retire off the t-shirt revenue. This is about community… the RTP Tribe. I’m proud of the work we’ve done – and by “we” I mean all of us – and I want to be able to show it. I wanna strut, y’know? I figure some of you might feel the same way.

Zazzle is being slow in approving all the products I created, but stay tuned… there’s goodness in the works

A Quick Apology to Subscribers

Some of you (around 96 or so to be precise) got bombarded by a slew of post notifications over the weekend. That was me adding the Guest Host and Writing Tip posts. For those of you who are STILL subscribers after that egregious breach of etiquette and trust, I promise that won’t happen again. The only emails you’ll receive from now on will be for episodes and original content to the site.

Will ANYTHING Stay the Same!?

Yup. The podcast itself. That’s not going to change. We WILL be including more Roundtable Dialogues in the feed (starting Tuesday), and there may be a bit of narrated fiction appearing here and there as well. But the essence of the Roundtable – getting writers together to explore their craft and brainstorm ideas – will always be the heart of what we do.

So… what do you think?