Graphene — Week 1 channel execution kit
Created: 2026-05-19 Status: ready-to-execute drafts. Not yet posted. Companion docs:
- 2026-05-19-icp-and-competitor-analysis.md — strategy foundation
- .claude/scheduled-prompts/2026-06-02-marketing-plan-revisit.md — fire date for next strategic revisit
The premise
Graphene's audio is good enough to ship at volume (Sandon's call, having listened). Friend-test isn't available; channel-test with cold strangers replaces it. Three free channels first (Reddit, TikTok, Apple ASO), 4-6 weeks before any paid acquisition layer is added.
This doc is the week-1 execution artifact — the actual posts/scripts/checklists you put in front of real audiences this week.
1. Reddit — r/audiodrama post
Why first. r/audiodrama is ~150K demanding fiction-podcast listeners. If Graphene lands here it'll land elsewhere. If it bounces, the feedback in the comments is gold.
Rules of engagement. Don't lie about AI involvement (the subreddit will crucify you). Don't sell — share. Don't list features. Be a person.
Posting cadence. One post. Watch it for 48 hours. Engage every comment, including critical ones. Don't immediately post a second show — let this one breathe.
Draft post
Title:
Built a fiction podcast network where AI writers each have their own MBTI, journal history, and continuity. Looking for honest feedback before I ship more.
Body:
Hi r/audiodrama,
I've been building Graphene (graphene.fm) for the last six months — a
network of serialized audio fiction where each show has an "AI writer"
persona that authored it. Not a single ChatGPT-prompts-itself thing.
Each writer has:
- Their own MBTI, backstory, journaling history (the writer themselves
"writes" a journal between chapters that shapes their next prose)
- A specific narrator voice and style
- A rotating production cadence so no one writer dominates the feed
- Human review on every show before it publishes (yes, including me;
no, this is not a slop-mill)
The wedge isn't the production pipeline — that's getting commodified
fast. What I think is actually interesting:
1. **Listener letters bend canon.** Subscribers can write to a
character; if the writer + I agree it's interesting, it shapes the
next chapter. Real influence on the show, not a gimmick.
2. **Shared universes across shows.** Deep Cut is meta-fictional — each
chapter zooms out to reveal it's a performance being watched. Hotel
Diaries is mystery in a single setting. They reference each other.
3. **Weekly chapter cadence** with text + audio + video versions all
available — listen in whatever lane suits you.
The honest reason I'm posting: I think the writing is good (I'm biased)
but I have no idea how a cold listener with no priors hears it. r/audiodrama
is the most demanding fiction-podcast audience on the internet — if it
lands here, it lands.
One show I'd love feedback on: **The Last Reflection** (mystery, hotel-set,
MC who sees alternate timelines in mirrors). Ch. 1 free, ~25 min:
[direct link to /seasons/<id> or graphene.fm landing]
What I'd love to hear:
- Does the first 5 minutes hook you, or do you bounce?
- Does it feel AI-generated in a way that breaks immersion?
- Anything that pulls you out of the story?
I'll take honest criticism — I'd rather hear it now than from a thousand
silent unsubscribes.
— Sandon (solo dev, building this in the open at graphene.fm)
Execution notes
- Pick the right show. "The Last Reflection" is the suggested one above — confirm it's the one that subjectively lands hardest in cold-listen for you. Could swap for whichever you're most confident in.
- Direct link to Ch.1, not the homepage. Friction kills cold listeners. If they click the homepage, they have to pick a show. If you give them Ch.1, they have to decide whether to keep listening.
- Be online for 4 hours after posting. Reddit's algorithm rewards early engagement. Reply to every comment in the first window, including the negative ones. Especially the negative ones.
- Don't link to graphene.fm in the title. Mods may auto-remove.
- If it gets removed: check the sub's self-promo rules (most subs require 9:1 participation:self-promo ratio). Build a real comment history in the sub for 1-2 weeks before reposting.
What to measure
- Upvote ratio (more important than vote count — 80%+ = community accepts the post)
- Comment count + sentiment
- Click-throughs to graphene.fm (set up a UTM-tagged short link:
graphene.fm/r/audiodramaredirects to the show page) - Subscriber conversions in the 48 hours after posting
- Anything mentioned 3+ times in critical comments = real signal
2. TikTok — 30s audio snippet
Why. Niche-but-real audio-fiction community on TikTok. Algorithm rewards content that gets watched-through. Audio snippets with dramatic moments + text overlay match the platform's "show me the hook" pattern.
Cadence. One per day if possible, M-F. Most will be ignored. You're looking for ONE that over-performs and gives you a signal about which moment / show / framing works.
Account. @graphene.fm or @graphenenetwork — pick whichever is available + memorable.
Three variants to test (Week 1)
Variant A — Interactive mechanic (recommended to lead with)
Hook (0-3s):
- Black screen, white serif text: "What if you could write to a character in a podcast..."
Middle (3-25s):
- Cut to a screenshot of a real listener letter (anonymized name)
- Voice-over (yours, or an AI voice) reads the letter aloud
- Cut to a 10s audio clip of the chapter where that listener's letter shaped the canon
- Text overlay: "...and the next chapter responded."
End (25-30s):
- Hex-mark logo
- Text: "graphene.fm — audio fiction that listens back"
Why this variant first. Listener-letters-bend-canon is the most differentiated feature you have. Most podcast TikToks are "here's a clip"; this one says "here's a clip that exists because a listener asked for it." Different.
Variant B — Dramatic clip + reveal
Hook (0-3s):
- Black screen, white text: "Every chapter ends with the director yelling 'cut.' Until..."
Middle (3-30s):
- Audio clip of the dramatic cut moment from Deep Cut Ch.3
- Text overlay during the clip: "...you realize you're in the wrong story."
End:
- "Deep Cut. Free on graphene.fm."
Variant C — Meta / writer-fleet reveal
Hook (0-3s):
- Text: "I built an AI writer fleet. Here's what it actually does."
Middle (3-25s):
- Quick-cut through the writer roster (PersonaPoseManager renders or just headshots)
- Each writer has their name, MBTI, current show appearing on-screen
- Voice-over: "Each writer has their own voice, history, journaling style. They write their own shows on a rotating cadence."
End:
- "Listen at graphene.fm."
Execution notes
- First 3 seconds matter more than the next 27. If the hook doesn't land, no one watches the rest. Test the hooks ruthlessly.
- Caption every video. Many TikTok users watch with sound off until something interesting happens.
- Use trending audio sparingly. A clip from your show as the audio is more useful than a trending sound for this content type — but a trending sound for the OPENING 3 seconds (before the audio cut) can boost reach.
- Post 3 variants in week 1. Don't optimize for week-1 perfection. Optimize for variance — which variant shape over-performs tells you what to lean into for the next 20 videos.
- Don't engagement-bait. "Comment if X" feels desperate. Let the content carry.
What to measure
- Completion rate (watch %) — the single most important metric
- Comments asking "where can I find this?" (= you hooked them)
- Profile visits + follows
- Click-through to graphene.fm (set up
graphene.fm/ttshort link)
A video that gets 100K views with 30% completion is a bigger signal than a video that gets 5K views with 80% completion — both matter but completion proves the hook.
3. Apple Podcasts ASO checklist
Why. Every show on Apple gets a free shot at category-ranking discovery. ASO is the single longest-lasting marketing investment per hour spent — keywords compound forever.
Cadence. Sweep every show on the slate this week. Re-audit every 60 days.
Show-level checklist (apply to every show)
| Field | Optimization rule | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Show name | Front-load the most-searched keyword. Examples: "Deep Cut · Serialized Audio Fiction" beats "Deep Cut". Apple search heavily weights the show name. | First 30 chars matter most. |
| Author name | Always "Graphene" — single brand name across the network. | Cross-show discovery. Listener searching "Graphene" should find all shows. |
| Show description (first 100 chars) | Lead with the wedge phrase. Example: "Interactive audio fiction. Listener letters shape the story. Weekly chapters across connected universes." | Apple search indexes the first 100 chars heavily. Avoid wasting them on backstory. |
| Show description (full body) | 200-400 chars. Lead with what + cadence + hook. End with cross-show recommendation ("Also on Graphene: [other show]"). | Discovery + cross-promotion in one. |
| Category — primary | Fiction > Drama for most. Fiction > Science Fiction for sci-fi-heavy. Fiction > Comedy Fiction if applicable. | Subcategory ranking is easier to win than top-level. |
| Category — secondary | Fiction > Stories for Kids if appropriate for the show, OR Society & Culture to bridge non-fiction listeners. | Discovery in adjacent searches. |
| Cover art | 3000×3000 RGB JPEG/PNG. No transparency. No tiny text. Must be readable at 60×60 (the smallest size Apple displays). | Every cover art is also a thumbnail — test legibility at small size. |
Episode-level checklist (apply to every chapter)
| Field | Optimization rule |
|---|---|
| Episode title | "Ch. N: Title" pattern, NOT "Episode N". Cleaner, more series-like. |
| Episode description (first 100 chars) | A hook sentence from THIS chapter, not generic show context. Lead with intrigue. |
| Episode description (full body) | 1 sentence chapter teaser + cross-link to graphene.fm/seasons/[id] for full transcript + listener-letter inbox. |
| Episode chapter markers | Apple supports per-segment chapters within an episode. Use them — they appear in the Apple Podcasts player as a list. Adds polish + accessibility. |
Cross-show discoverability
- Add
<itunes:keywords>to every show's RSS with:audio drama,serialized fiction,fiction podcast,interactive podcast,listener-driven story, + 2-3 show-specific genre keywords - Show's
<itunes:subtitle>should match the show's hero subhead from the website — same wedge phrasing across surfaces - Use Apple's URL scheme
itms-pcast://for cross-show links in episode notes — opens directly in the listener's Apple Podcasts app
What to measure
- Show's rank within its category subcategory (check weekly)
- Search position for target keywords (
audio drama,serialized fiction, etc.) — Apple doesn't expose this directly, but you can search manually + screenshot - Conversion from "show page view" → subscribe (Apple Podcast Connect shows this)
- Episode-level completion rate (catches whether listeners finish what they start)
How the three channels work together
| Channel | Speed | Signal type | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hours | Qualitative (comments) + quantitative (votes, clicks) | $0, ~3h of engagement time | |
| TikTok | Days | Viral upside, completion-rate signal | $0, ~30min/day to film + post |
| Apple ASO | Weeks → months | Passive, compounding | $0, ~4h one-time sweep |
Reddit gives you fast WHY signal — what do real listeners say is good or bad? TikTok gives you scale signal — does the wedge translate to a cold thumb-scroll context? Apple ASO gives you compound signal — does the long tail of search traffic find you?
Do all three. Don't conclude anything for at least 14 days.
After 14 days — decision tree
If Reddit lands (upvote ratio > 80%, 5+ thoughtful comments, click-throughs measurable):
- Repeat with a different show in r/podcasts and r/audiodrama (different show, not same one)
- Start engaging in adjacent subs (r/Severance, r/RussianDoll, r/horrorlit) without posting yet
If Reddit bounces (downvoted, removed, ignored):
- Read the comments carefully — what specifically pulled people out?
- If "feels AI-generated" appears 3+ times: this is a quality issue. Worth investigating before pushing harder.
- If "AI shouldn't write fiction" appears 3+ times: this is a positioning issue. Lean harder into the writer-fleet-with-MBTI-persona angle, less into the "AI-narrated" angle.
If TikTok lands (any video > 50K views with > 20% completion):
- That variant is the format. Double down — 20 more videos in that shape.
- Watch the comments for the "where do I find this?" pattern. If it appears, you have a real hook.
If TikTok bounces (all videos < 5K views, < 10% completion):
- Hook isn't working. Try Variant C (writer fleet) as the next 3 videos.
- If still flat after 10 videos total: TikTok may not be the right channel for this audience. Move budget/time to YouTube Shorts instead.
If Apple ASO lands (show ranks top-100 in subcategory within 60 days):
- The keywords are working. Iterate on cover art and episode descriptions next.
- Submit to Apple Podcasts editorial team for featured-show consideration.
If Apple ASO bounces:
- Likely a category-saturation issue, not an optimization one. The category is competitive.
- Try secondary category change or new subcategory.
What's NOT in this doc (intentionally)
- Paid acquisition — not yet. Wait 4-6 weeks for organic signal first.
- PR / podcast critics — premature without organic traction.
- Influencer / sponsorship swaps — premature.
- Email list / newsletter — separate workstream, worth its own doc.
- Lovio + write.cafe Pro channel work — separate surfaces, separate docs once Graphene velocity is established.
These come AFTER the three free channels prove signal.
Time budget for this week
- Reddit: 4-6 hours (1h to post, 3-5h engaging in comments over 48 hours)
- TikTok: 3-5 hours (3 videos × ~1h each including edit/upload)
- Apple ASO sweep: 3-4 hours (every show on the slate, plus episode descriptions for the most recent 5 episodes per show)
Total: ~12-15 hours over the week. Compatible with everything else you're doing.
If you only have 4 hours, prioritize: Apple ASO sweep > Reddit post > TikTok. ASO compounds longest; Reddit gives the fastest qualitative signal; TikTok is the highest-variance bet.