I recently wrote about looking ahead to next year. As I continue planning, I recently looked at the top 10 episodes of Not About Lumberjacks.
Not surprising, many of the episodes with the most listens are earlier episodes — even though recent stories are getting more attention than usual.
One thing that surprised me looking at the top 10 episodes: the second biggest story on the site is Fly Me to the Moon. It’s surprising to me because it’s not an episode I pushed much at all (not that I really push any of them…I tend to post once and then move on). It’s a rather sad story I wouldn’t imagine people would go to over others. And it’s not one of the first few episodes.
For those who follow the show and now wonder what the top ten episodes are, here you go (and a reminder, the easiest way to view all stories on the site is The Quick List):
- Episode 1 – Gutterball (An English bulldog named Gutterball (and the family who loves him) must contend with the dog’s bad habit of eating everything in sight.) [320 Unique Listens *]
- Episode 10 – Fly Me to the Moon (A homeless man who talks with birds is convinced he can talk with his dead wife on the moon…if only he can fix a broken radio he found in a dumpster.) [303 Unique Listens]
- Episode 4 – Horus (Sarah Nelson gets more than she bargained for when she answers a job for a writer’s assistant and must deal with the writer’s parrot, Horus.) [295 Unique Listens]
- Episode 12 – Purvis (In 1984, a Dungeon Master struggles with keeping the few friendships he has together, all while dealing with a vicious bully. [Still my favorite ending of any story on the site!]) [250 Unique Listens]
- Episode 7 – The Other Side (After a divorce and layoff, Daniel breaks into his childhood home to see if something in his closet all those years ago is still there…) [223 Unique Listens]
- Episode 9 – Standstill (When she was younger, Maddy’s grandfather gave her a pocket watch that does much more than simply telling time.) [221 Unique Listens]
- Episode 2 – Pride of the Red Card (A mechanic is happy to hear his son wants to sign up for football; that is, until he realizes what his son really means is soccer…) [215 Unique Listens]
- Episode 16 – Bobo (A kid’s party clown comes to grips with what he’s become.) [212 Unique Listens]
- Episode 13 – Strange Audio (A podcaster discovers some ghostly audio while editing an episode of his show.) [210 Unique Listens]
- Episode 3 – Mr. Knowitall (Jerry’s brother inherited the family business — his sister, the family fortune. All Jerry got was a toy Magic 8-ball that does more than expected.) [188 Unique Listens]
* It’s not really common for podcasters to share their download numbers…unless they are impressive. Still, these numbers mean people all around the world–most of whom I do not know–have listened to stories I’ve written.
I put 20 – 60 hours into each episode of Not About Lumberjacks (forty hours really is about the average). Many people might see the show as a loss when weighing time put into it vs. financial rewards or popularity (both of which are non-existent for Not About Lumberjacks), but it’s worth doing…and sharing the results.
Obviously, with a goal of promoting the show more in 2021, maybe this won’t be the case in a year’s time. But even if it is, I have no intention of stopping.
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Shop photo by Adam Patterson.
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