About The End
The End highlights an overlooked segment of audio fiction: completed stories.
Fiction podcasters are often quite good at making noise for their fiction podcasts—audiodramas, radio plays, audio fiction, or, sure, even audiobooks released in podcast form—when they launch the show. It seems the entirety of podcast marketing is obsessed with the launch, building momentum, and getting people hooked on the idea of waiting with breathless anticipation for the next episode in a podcast to drop.
Yet that misses a large segment of the population, and one I'm a member of. A portion of fans of fiction who, for whatever reason, don't like to wait. Like me, they're happy (or at least prefer) to wait until a story—or season—is complete until they listen, allowing them to listen at their discretion and on their timeline.
So that's what we've focused on here at The End since 2022. Our directory is filled only with completed audio fiction, mostly in podcast form. Some shows are fully complete at the season level. Some have reached a season finale. Others have already finished one or more seasons and will soon to start a new season. And we keep those listings updated so that you, the audio fiction listener, has a trusted source to keep you informed as well.
Explore our directory and subscribe to our weekly update newsletter, and you'll have a practically unending slate of shows to keep you entertained for a lifetime.
– Evo
Our Curator's History With Audio Fiction
I've long been fascinated with audio. I learned to produce audio with 1/4" 4 track reel-to-reel machines back in the '80s. So when I say I've cut tape, I mean it literally.
In the early '00s, I was co-hosting a talk radio radio show where our guests were science fiction authors. That now-defunct show became a podcast in October of 2004, and I started evangelizing podcasting to every author I spoke with during our interview.
In 2005, after I'd co-authored the first edition of Podcasting for Dummies, I started Podiobooks.com, an early "directory," if you will, populated by early fiction podcasts, which at the time typically meant self-recorded audiobooks distributed in podcast form. We helped several hundred authors reach brand new audiences with this edge-cast application of podcasting.
But a lot has changed since those early days, and fiction podcasts now number in the tens of thousands, and the quality has gotten so good that they can now take their place among other forms of audio fiction, audiobooks, radio plays, audiodramas, and more.
I curate The End because it's something I want to see exist in the world. And I love that many listeners also want it to exist as well, so they've become supporters of The End to make sure I can keep doing it... forever.
If you're a fan of audio fiction, I know you'll love The End.
How The End Works With Audio Fiction Creators
While The End's primary audience is and always will be listeners of audio fiction, we work hand-in-hand with audio fiction creators in a few ways.
Free Directory Listing
If you create an audio fiction show and have reached the end of at least a season or the entire series, we'll list your show and share with with our readers. This form takes less than 2 minutes to complete.
Packaging Help
I've helped over 1,000 creators package their fiction podcasts in a way that maximizes the listener experience. Before you spend any money on marketing, make sure you're show is ready for it!
Strategic Consulting
You've made a great audio fiction show. Now what? Tap into my +20 years of fiction podcasting expertise to put you or your production studio on the path to success! Get in touch.
Free Fiction Podcast Audit
COMING SOON!
The End is supported by...
These Supporting Creatives
