Hello...?
Hello. My name is John David Booter. I've never made a podcast. The last few years have been full of ups and downs. I was savagely betrayed by my fiancee Lisa, gained 287 pounds and made an eight episode podcast.
To my surprise and delight, DONE DISAPPEARED, the documentary podcast investigative podcast I created with my bare hands, took off at lightning speed.
By Episode 2, we had won The Award for Best New Podcast and were given a key to the city of Davistown Pennsylvania. We also tripled our Patreon goal of zero dollars a month and got the incredible news that DONE DISAPPEARED was becoming a TV Show Starring me, John David Booter. And that was just the beginning.
Hundreds and hundreds of millions of listeners tuned into Season 1. The world was riveted and heartbroken by the disturbing case of Clara Pockets, a Pennsylvania woman who went missing in 1987. There were many twists and turns in the investigation and by the end of our podcast, thanks to you our listeners and to me John David Booter and my podcast Done Disappeared with me John David Booter... Clara Pockets was found. Also thanks to Davistown Police and everyone involved in the investigation over the last thirty years.
But Clara Pockets wasn't the only one who'd been found by the end of my investigation into her disappearance. There was someone else. Someone who had somehow slowly faded away into nothingness over the course of the last few brutal years. That someone was me, John David Booter. And with my podcast, DONE DISAPPEARED with me John David Booter, I, John David Booter, found myself, John David Booter.
And now? We still have lingering questions in the case of Clara Pockets. Such as: Why? Where did she go? Who took her? What happened to her? Is she doing okay? What's she been up to? Where is her family? Is there a God? and May we speak with him?
We intend to address these questions in the future. But for the most part, Season 2 will focus on a NEW CASE. Last Season, we covered the case of Clara Pockets and eventually caused her to be discovered. This season, we're doing something a little different. We're tackling a case that took place decades ago, in a time almost nobody knows anything about. A time before cell phones, before drones and just after the bicycle was invented. That's right.
Season 2 will cover a crime that took place in the 1980's!
We've already learned so much about the 1980's in our research for the upcoming season and cannot wait to appropriate the aesthetic of this magical decade for our true crime podcast.
But to do that? We need your help!!
.... What's this all about?
As I led the charge in the (successful) search for missing mother Clara Pockets I was haunted by the endless questions surrounding her mysterious life and disappearance. But I was also tormented by a question which until now had seemed unanswerable. The same question every truly great documentary filmmaker asks every day: How am I going to monetize my podcast?
With the white-hot success of Season 1, the answer seemed clear. Every podcast distributor from Confoundry to StereoBlam wanted a piece of the tiny DONE DISAPPEARED cake pie.
But I realized.. the only way to bring DONE DISAPPEARED back in its truest form... Would be to keep DONE DISAPPEARED a completely independent endeavor between ME, John David Booter, and YOU our listeners.
As you're surely aware, the first season of DONE DISAPPEARED was blessed with countless sponsors who were unaware of the podcast and we in no way profited from advertising them. It is our goal to keep our sponsors, advertisements and promo codes the same as long as possible. The same meaning: completely at our discretion. And you can bet a bundle of corn-feed that DONE DISAPPEARED SEASON 2 will feature EVEN MORE ADS from your favorite sponsors! Like Blue Apron, SquareSpace, Madison Reed and of course, Big Box of Shit.
Which reminds me, this campaign doesn't just benefit me, John David Booter, or my podcast, DONE DISAPPEARED with me John David Booter. This campaign benefits all of us. We're offering wonderful rewards to our donors, from a handwritten note with stickers to a BIG BOX OF SHIT sent directly to your doorstep as well as a BLUE APRON Skype date with me, John David Booter and many more exciting opportunities! Please check out our perks to see which one is right for you!
Also Why?
Not only will your contribution help keep Season 2 real-ad free, it will also ensure that it is able to be created at all.
By the end of Season 1, I suffered a crippling loss that will have a profound effect on my ability to move forward with this project. Namely, my 2010 Macbook Pro. The stress of completing hundreds of exports and the lack of an external drive has taken its toll, and the gentle humming of my laptop has crescendoed into a piercing shriek. Now, when powered on for more than fifteen minutes, my computer is hot to the touch. It has become clear to me that this computer will not be able to handle another season. BUT I KNOW WE CAN.
In addition, we would like to include MORE EPISODES in Season 2, but in order to do that we need to EXPAND OUR TEAM! Right now, the DONE DISAPPEARED team consists of me, John David Booter, and our eleven year old composer Johan Johannes Johannesburg. But what we desperately need for season 2 is a sound mixer. Since my background is NOT in podcasting, it took me days, sometimes weeks, and in one case several months to plunk out an edit of a single ten minute episode of DONE DISAPPEARED on Garageband. By hiring a sound mixer, we will be able to bring you more, better-quality episodes in the upcoming season.
I would also like to build a small recording shack in the backyard of my mother June's house. For this I would need: A microphone, a hammer, nails, a bunch of wood, rope? and of course my mother June's permission. Your contributions will help me achieve this daunting task.
Okay...
In a nutshell, this is an experiment to see if we can monetize our podcast in any way without compromising the product. If we are unsuccessful, we will continue to make DONE DISAPPEARED Season 2, it just may be a much longer road.
Any contribution, big or small, is hugely appreciated! If you love DONE DISAPPEARED but simply don't have the money to contribute or couldn't be bothered please know you're still one of the best friends we've ever had and the more you can help make sure that word gets out about Clara Pockets and DONE DISAPPEARED the better.
Thank you for listening and THANK YOU for reading. We hope you will consider supporting this fascinating piece.