The Just One More Book children’s book podcast will publish its 400th episode this evening, and on Tuesday will celebrate its second anniversary.

How is it possible that a hobby podcast has the momentum to hit these milestones in such a short time? It’s not just because Andrea and I publish four shows a week.

There are two magic ingredients: passion and partnership. Andrea and I are both very passionate about children’s books, promoting great books and literacy in general. Some might say we’re obsessed about the cause. We may be. And, while passion alone may be enough to drive the momentum of Just One More Book, the show would never succeed if it weren’t for the way Andrea and I share the funload and activities that go into each show. We’re very invested in the project and can’t imagine giving up what we do.

Most important, we have fun doing it.

What drives your velocity?

(tip of the hat to Neil Gorman for the post title)

Today’s Ottawa Citizen features an article by Kate Heartfield about Just One More Book!!, a children’s book podcast I produce with my wife, Andrea. It’s a great article with only one minor mistake — it was actually Andrea’s idea to merge our two passions of podcasting (me) and children’s books (Andrea) to create what has turned out to be an amazingly fun project we do together.

You can read the online version of the article at Books go global from Glebe Cafe. The print version is in the City section, page D5 D4.

Just One More Book!! has also been interviewed recently for the Kerrville Daily Times (Texas) and Parenting Magazine (article expected in July), and has an interview date with the Canadian Parents magazine podcast in May.

Photo: Pat McGrath, The Ottawa Citizen

Today, I put together a podcast using a piece of audio received in mail and a voice over I recorded in a train station.  I edited the five minute show together on the train, uploaded it using a wi-fi service on the train and published it before the snack cart went by.  (Click here for the result)

By the way… ping me if you’re on VIA train 648 en route to Ottawa.

Four days ago I was on the InterCityExpress (ICE) train racing across the German countryside. It was green outside and, thinking back (as I stare at the snow from the window of my Toronto-bound train), it’s surreal that it even happened.

This trip to Toronto is a short one. The Just One More Book!! children’s book podcast has been invited to cover the launch of Before Green Gables — the prequel of the Canadian literary classic Anne of Green Gables — alongside media organizations such as the CBC, Global News, Southam News, etc… It’s a major event that coincides with the one hundredth anniversary of the first book in the Anne Shirley series penned by Lucy Maud Montgomery. This newest book was written by Canadian author Budge Wilson with much care to ensure consistency with the events of the original books and, more importantly, the character of Anne herself. The list of acknowledgments is long and notes the contributions of Anne Shirley experts and the endorsement of Ms. Montgomery’s heirs.

My day is packed with interviews, a press reception and the launch event itself before I set myself up in my hotel room to produce the podcast. If all goes well it will be published by our usual 1:00am and I’ll be able to get a good night’s sleep.

Andrea and I like to monitor the stats of Just One More Book!! It’s like going outside in the summer to see how our vines are doing and how many Morning Glories have bloomed — we like to watch it grow.

Today we served our 250,000th download of 2007. Unfortunately I lost most of our 2006 stats so I don’t know what our overall total is. No matter. It’s nice to know that so many people value our podcast and that our reviews and interviews have an impact in people’s book shopping and reading experiences.

Lee Edward Fodi is about to release his latest children’s book, Kendra Kandlestar and the Door to Unger. Before embarking on an interview recording session that Lee called our Vancouver children’s book pilgrimage, yesterday afternoon, Lee gave me an advanced copy of the book which features a testimonial on the back cover.

In the Box of Whispers, Kendra Kandlestar helped us understand the magic of facing ourselves. Now she’s back — older, wiser and full of spunk — to share with us the incredible power of resisting negativity and being gatekeepers of our own truth.

~Andrea Ross and Mark Blevis, JustOneMoreBook.com

This is another great example of how podcasting can lead to unexpected achievements and lasting connections.

The print edition of Canadian Living magazine’s June issue includes a brief write-up about the Just One More Book! children’s book podcast.

I will be in Toronto to cover the International Reading Association’s (IRA) 52nd annual conference for the Just One More Book!! podcast.

I hope to interview as many authors, illustrators, publishers, editors, publicists, literacy experts and others as I can possibly handle and I will release audio podcasts throughout the conference. I’m also hoping to find a few interested parties to participate in round table discussions for our podcast.

If you are going to be at the IRA conference and would like to be part of the Just One More Book podcast community, be sure to contact us.

In a few weeks, I’ll be celebrating my second anniversary as a podcaster. Through most of that time, I have been evangelizing the power and reach of podcasting. While I have experienced and observed a lot of that power first hand through a number of podcasting projects, our children’s book podcast, Just One More Book!, has served as a renewed education and has validated a lot of what I have been speaking about.

At the beginning of the year, Just One More Book was downloaded 1000 times per week; last week it was downloaded 1000 times each day. Each week we receive more comments and emails, more interview requests, more review copies of books and offers of more free books, and now invitations to speak at and cover book and literacy-related events.

If you are passionate about something, Podcasting is one of the most accessible ways to share that passion with a large audience, and invite others to join you in that passion. It’s not about credentials, its about passion, authenticity and commitment.

I will be speaking as part of the Parent Coffee Talk series of the Association for Bright Children (ABC) of Ontario, Ottawa Chapter, on April 14th. The talk will focus on the Just One More Book!! Podcast as both a resource and community, and promoting literacy using new media.

The session is open to the public. Details can be found at the ABC Coming Events page.