Our new story podcast is rather different from Storynory. It’s a political thriller by Juval Aviv, formally of the Mossad. The site and podcast is named after the hero of the novel (whose professional history has a lot in common with Juval). It’s called Sam Woolfman.

The first book in the series (called “Max”) is loosely based on the death of Robert Maxwell and was published last year by Century, a division of Random House. There will be more Sam Woolfman titles, and the plan is that the podcast will seed interest for future books.

Unlike most podcasts by major publishers, this does not involve JUST  background or chats with the author. We will have an interview with Juval at some stage, but the focus of the podcast is a reading of the text by a professional actor. In other words, it’s a quality production that people might spend time with, listen to in the car, on the train, and get to know and like. And it’s free.

What it does have in common with Storynory is a brand-building strategy.  The idea is that a really strong online presence - one that has valuable content and can travel with you on your iPod - will create an appetite for more books and spin-offs.

When I met Juval earlier this year, I found he was a fascinating character, and a gold-mine of conspiracy theories. Steven Spielberg based the central character of his movie, Munich, on him. One thing I can assure about Juval’s future as a thriller writer - he’s never going to run out of plots.

If you aren’t sure what MP3 player to buy you could try listening to some podcasts.