Study Hall Subscriber Spotlight: Rebecca Leib

Rebecca Leib is a comedian, TV writer, and podcaster whose writing has been featured in Reductress, VICE and KCRW. She’s written for shows on Netflix, NatGeo, Disney, Investigation Discovery, The History Channel, and iHeartRadio, and co-hosts two podcasts: “Ghost Town,” which explores paranormal events and “Vanderpodcalypse Now,” a Vanderpump Rules recap show. She also wrote and produced season two of true crime docuseries, Oxygen’s Final Moments. On February 23, she hosted an AMA answering subscribers’ questions about venturing into podcasting.

We have synthesized the exchange for subscribers who weren’t able to attend. 

If you’re interested in volunteering to host an AMA, please reach out to [email protected]. 

This AMA has been edited for length and clarity. 

Can you tell us a bit about your professional background, and how you got into podcasting?

I went to grad school in Chicago, and like many people loved “This American Life.” That was my first foray into podcast storytelling. I became an avid listener. When I moved to Los Angeles, I was working in TV, and a lot of my comedian friends were doing podcasts, and for a while I had a podcast about women in history. That petered out (as many podcasts do) and was a lot of work.

But then a friend of mine (a fellow comedian) really wanted to tap into our mutual love for weird history [and we started “Ghost Town”]. I was reluctant but we got a lot of traction very quickly. It felt like the perfect combination of our interests, what we did for a living (TV, research, storytelling, true crime writing). It still feels like it checks a lot of boxes that I don’t tackle every day in my TV writing day job.

Now I freelance a bit in the podcasting world, but “Ghost Town” has been going strong for about seven years. We put out two episodes a week, which feels crazy when I say (type) it, but it’s been a lot of fun and incredibly fulfilling. It’s also fairly lucrative (wild to say).

What kind of equipment do you use for recording?

For our higher tech episodes that we do in the field, we have an engineer come in and I can’t speak to that. But for our everyday [episodes]], we have a Scarlet Pro DAW and Samsung mics. Pretty simple. We record on Audacity and use an Audio equalizer called Auphonic after it’s edited. It sounds pretty good. I think you don’t need super expensive equipment to sound great!

How long did it take before the podcast became lucrative? Also, did you have any launch/distribution partners when it first went live to help with audience building? 

We started making money after about two years. First we started with ad revenue. Then, our Patreon started moving. A couple things bumped us up/got us noticed, like shout-outs from Bustle, The AV Club, and some fun guest spots. That all really helped!

Can you share more about your research methods for episodes? Do you have researchers behind the scenes or is it entirely on you and your co host? 

It’s maybe 90% me, honestly. But I love research and do it a lot for my TV work, too. I’ve also been hired to research for others, which is a great way to get fresh ideas if you have a little money to spend. I have a document where I just put episode ideas in as I encounter them— it’s 25 pages long at this point. I also get a lot of comped things from the pod: tours, talks, which helps with ideas (and then you can shout them out/plug them if you cover the subject matter they introduced you to.Everybody wins)!

What’s the landscape like for scripted podcasts? I see there are a lot of non-fiction podcasts, but not as many fiction podcasts. I am writing a 10-part scripted series. Do you have any tips on approaching production companies? 

I don’t have a ton of experience with fiction pods, but it’s very hard unless you sell the pitch to a network. So yes, your inclination is correct to go to a production company or network. IHeartRadio is always looking, but I would say approach companies that you really know well or what their offerings are, unless you have an in. Then go to their coordinator with your bio and make a low pressure request for a meeting,making sure they know how you’re connected with the story you’re trying to tell.  Always good to have an in with anybody (of course), but I’ve seen this work before!

How did you first get ads? How much did you charge and for what length of ad?

Our network (Studio71) runs the ads. We reached out to people a ton to ad swap (and will still do that), that’s been super helpful (there are lots of Reddit and Facebook spots to do calls for ad swaps, if you’re into that sort of thing). An ad swap is when you play someone else’s promo on your pod, and they do the same for yours. 

Often you’ll shout them out on the pod too. It’s a super simple and low effort way to advertise. In the beginning, we had some pods (Swindled and Watch What Crappens, for example) who had much larger listenerships (and honestly, prob still do) give us a shout-out and that really helped. 

But I also know sometimes we’ll pay to have our promo played on other pods, [for instance, theBetches podcast.]

Can you talk about fact-checking for pods and how a prospective fact-checker or researcher can find work with podcasts?

A good fact checker or researcher is GOLD I would get on Staff Me Up [a group for script coordinators] because podcast networks and TV production companies are on there looking for researchers. That’s a really good way to have an in, but I’m sure you can reach out directly, too. I know the podcast Casefile has looked for writers/researchers there in the past.

Are there any resources or tips you’d give for developing a podcast proposal?

There are some great [sample] podcast proposals on the ScriptCoord Google group. But honestly, [what people want]  seems to really vary right now. I’ve always used my TV pitch docs and formatted them for podcasts, though I’m not sure if that’s the right move. (I’ve only sold one podcast concept to a network, which was never made). Also, you can check out “I Need A Producer” Facebook group.