We recently connected with David Ginsburg and have shared our conversation below.

David, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

The most meaningful project I’ve worked on is the Tales from the Fandom podcast that I host. We have three kids and after they were born, a lot of my personal hobbies and things I would normally do at nights or the weekend went away. As time went on, it became harder for me to meet people and talk to people about the things I enjoyed.

November of 2015, I figured that the best way to meet and talk to people about things that they liked was to start a podcast. It’d be a way to connect with people, get to know people, and maybe make a friend or two. So I bought a mic on Black Friday, and started to figure out all the things that went into making a podcast. I started to figure out I might have jumped into the deep end, but I’m glad for how everything turned out.

David, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is David Ginsburg and I am the host/editor/everything else of Tales from the Fandom. Tales from the Fandom is a podcast I created in 2016. Every week, I have a different guest on to talk about some of their favorite fandoms. We cover everything. From TV shows and movies, to comics, books, video games, and cosplay. Even things like gardening, knitting… if you are into it and willing to talk about it, then I’m here to listen! I do my best to keep the space positive, to promote and uplift those around me, and share their stories.

I am extremely proud that people voluntarily give their time freely to talk to me. Without them, there would be no podcast. And I am honored when I hear people say or comment that the podcast is a bright spot amongst the dark sides of fandom.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

The best thing society can do to support artists, creatives, and keep that creative ecosystem going is support. Support can be in a number of different ways.

One way to support is financial. Being an artist/creative, it costs money. My podcast costs money to create. Not only through the equipment or computer programs I’ve had to buy, but also having to pay monthly costs for web hosting for the episodes. It’s a lot more than people think. And then there’s an idea that because I’m making a podcast, that I’m making money. Which couldn’t be further from the truth. There’s never been a time that I’ve made more money than I’ve spent. So, if you enjoy something and are financially able to, support the creatives and what they do. Whether that’s donating money, or buying their work.

The other way to support is through social media. While I bang the drum daily about my podcast, it helps that much more when people share what I post. That way, more people may know about it. One of the things though is just having someone leave a comment or send an email/message about an episode I’ve done or a guest I’ve had on. It really provides a good mental boost when a lot of the time, it’s just us shouting into the void and not having any feedback. Take a moment and tell them that you like what they do.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

I first made sure to claim the username that lined up with the podcast name at the various social media sites. Do that first once you’ve decided on a name. Even if you sit on them for awhile.

I built my audience one person at a time. I share tidbits about the episodes as I’m promoting them, and making sure to tag the guest (and their photographers). I use hashtags that line up with the episodes and what we’re talking about.

The one thing I pride myself on more than anything else is being authentically myself. I comment on people’s work. I share people’s work. I make sure to read their captions and comment on what they’ve written to acknowledge that I’ve read it and not just saw their picture (this is more related to Instagram). I try to build authentic and true relationships with the people that are sharing their hard work. I weed out the bots and the fake profiles.

People who like my posts, I go to their social media and check out their work. I make sure to return the likes and comment where appropriate. We all know the algorithm is terrible, so anything helps.

So for me, I built my audience through just being me and hopefully being a person that people enjoy seeing those likes and comments on their work.

My advice for someone starting out on the social media side of things is to be patient. Take your time to follow and get to know people. Learn the differences and unwritten etiquette rules on the sites. Decide on how you’re going to present yourself online. Try and be a positive influence.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://talesfromthefandom.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/talesfromthefandom/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/talesfromthefandom
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@talesfromthefandom
• Other: https://www.threads.net/@talesfromthefandom https://bsky.app/profile/talesftfandom.bsky.social https://podfollow.com/tales-from-the-fandom