Recently in Audiobooks Category

When I hear the same thing in quick succession from 2 or more people who aren't related to each other and have no vested interest in the comments, I feel the Universe is giving me a sign to pay attention! 

Such was the case this week with the classic motivational book As A Man Thinketh by James Allen, originally published in 1902. I don't remember, but I think this work was referenced in The Secret. Since I am vitally interested in the power of our thoughts and words to create our reality, I recently downloaded the free audiobook of this work available from LearnOutLoud.com. 

I began listening to it on 13 July. Ten minutes after I started listening, I decided I had heard enough. The audiobook narrator included at least 3 stumbled words, several lipsmacks and an uninteresting method of delivery. With the availability of low-cost and free audio editing software, I am incredulous that someone would choose to leave the stumbles and extraneous noises in an audiobook, even one offered for free. An audiobook is a thing of permanence. I would like to think that people would seek out my audiobooks 100 years from now, just as I was seeking out Allen's book. 

I was showing my new business cards to a friend of mine this afternoon. She said she had a book that she wanted me to see. She and I have had many great discussions about the extreme power of our thoughts, and the book was on that subject. Which book do you think she recommended? Yep, that's right -- As A Man Thinketh by James Allen. Although I had abandoned the free audiobook, the Universe was telling me to give the book another try! I told my friend that I would get the book tonight. 

However, I wasn't the only person who made a special trip to the book store. The store was crowded with people waiting for midnight, when the last Harry Potter book goes on sale. Someone who has been living under a rock or totally new to the country might think that tonight was Halloween, given the number of young people dressed in costume at the mall. Of course, they were flocking to the book store. They were not looking for a title associated with the Law of Attraction to help them live their lives to the best potential. No, all of those young people and their parents were at the book store to buy the final installment about the boy who lived! 

I am not still at the store, waiting to get my copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I will, however, buy the audiobook version consisting of 17 CDs sometime over the weekend. (I doubt that I will be wearing a costume when I buy it, though!) I encourage anyone interested in performing audiobooks to listen to Jim Dale's masterful narration of any book in this series. You can download the previous 6 books and thousands of other audiobooks on iTunes. I would imagine that this final book will be loaded on ITunes in the near future. 

Also note the high level of production quality in one of these books. The series is so popular that the audiobook is published simultaneously with the hardback edition. Jim Dale didn't even have the opportunity to read the entire book before entering the recording studio. He read the book in segments of 100 pages. For a fascinating article about Jim Dale and his role as narrator of the Harry Potter series, you will want to read this feature story published 17 July in the New York Times.

Success leaves tracks,

We're finally replacing the windows in the kitchen so that all the windows in the house will be triple-pane. With the installer banging on the side of my house right now, it seems like a good time to post my pictures and news from my recent trip to New York for the Audio Publishers Association conference and BookExpo.

The Doubletree Guest Suites Time Square is my favorite hotel in New York. I was pleased to get a BookExpo rate and thrilled with my incredible view of Times Square from the 16th floor.

My view of Times Square

On my free day in the Big Apple (Wed., 30 May), I walked around and boosted the local economy as much as possible. Since Drew was unable to make the trip with me, I bought some presents for him. I first stopped at the Apple Store on Fifth Avenue.

The big APPLE in the Big Apple

I bought a Remote Radio for Drew to use with his iPod. He is delighted that he now can listen to FM radio while riding his motorcycle. I'm sure that Apple Store will be packed tomorrow with the first sale date of the iPhone. I'm going to get one....but not tomorrow!

Love was in the air in New York, but it was also on the ground. Somewhere on my walk, I came upon a sculpture of the Love logo associated with the 1970 film Love Story. In a web search, I learned that the sculpture was created by Robert Indiana and located on the corner of 6th Avenue and 55th Street in Manhattan. Just like I give a different read when voicing scripts, I look for the unusual shot when taking pictures.

Love in New York

The Audio Publishers Association conference was held at the Jacob Javits Convention Center on Thursday, 31 May. I like to attend sessions aimed at both audiobook publishers and their narrators, especially since I am planning to start my own audiobook production company. This year, I went to the sessions on alternatives to CDs, technology and a narrators' panel.

I saw a post on another blog a few minutes ago that compelled me to respond. Someone else had commented that they were wary of authors reading their own books for the audio version because reading aloud is hard to do properly. The podiobooks blog author asserted that reading aloud for audiobooks could not be difficult since that person's mother read to him/her when s/he was a child. Before I answered, I guess I should have noticed that the post was filed under Rants. Anyway, I'm including my comments about the difficulty imposed by audiobook narration here on my blog for your comments and discussion.

As an audiobook narrator, I agree with the original post and Tim's reply to this message. Reading aloud is not hard in the sense that lives aren't hanging in the outcome or the balance of world power won't shift with every utterance. However, lifting sentences off the printed page and breathing life into them so that they flow effortlessly while maintaining the author's perspective is an acquired skill.

I know how to write words. I can use a pen and paper to form words, or I can type very fast on my computer in a word processing program. I constantly use this ability to write in order to produce a variety of things: proposals for voice-over projects, blog posts, letters to friends and family, etc.

Yet I would say that writing a novel is hard. (There's that word again.) Writing a novel that becomes a published work of material seems even more difficult. How many people say they would like to write a novel, and how many people actually DO it? To become a published novelist such as Mr. Gaiman, one must have tremendous energy and focus. One must be able to take an ordinary skill that most people possess, like the ability to write words, and be able to string those words together in a fashion that would interest other people enough to want to pay to read them. I haven't been able to do it. Writing a novel therefore seems like hard work to me.

I can understand the original poster's view about being wary of audiobooks performed by the author. Audiobook narration is a performance, that, like the printed book, will last forever. It's not like a child's mother reading a bedtime story where the main goal is to lull the listener to sleep. Neither the child nor the mother care about the quality of the reading.

Audiobook listeners, on the other hand, DO care about the quality of the narration. Audiobooks are an intimate medium. The reason people enjoy reading so much is because their imagination is running the movie of the words in their head. A good audiobook narrator can make the audio version of a book seem like a movie, where someone who is not as adept at this type of performance can ruin the experience for the listener.

A good narrator will make the performance transparent and SEEM like the easiest thing on earth....just like talking. However, good narrators usually have completed professional training in voice-over and also have thoroughly prepared the material they are reading by researching pronunciations and determining characterizations before they ever walked into the recording studio.

Whether you are just beginning or a professional, I cannot recommend too highly my voice-over coach Susan Berkley for training classes. Susan is the voice of AT&T, Citibank and other companies. She holds teleclasses, voice-over bootcamps and specialized workshops throughout the year to meet the needs of voice-over students.

I am a member of Susan's inner circle coaching program and have taken several classes that she sponsored. One reason I like the Inner Circle so much is because we have a monthly teleclass. We usually speak with someone in the voice-over industry, but we also have branched out and talked with experts in business areas like marketing. I was excited last night because we spoke with my friend and teacher Hillary Huber about audiobooks.

Hillary was just nominated for an Audie Award by the Audio Publishers Association (I linked to the complete list of finalists). The Grammys only have 2 categories for spoken word, so the Audie awards were established to recognize excellence within the audiobook industry. Hillary's nomination for this prestigious award was in the mystery category for the book A Field of Darkness by Cornelia Reed.

Hillary talked with us about her process of researching the book prior to recording it. It's not enough for her to simply look up pronunciations of words. Whenever possible, she contacts the author to glean insights about the characters.

She also talked about how she obtained the work. The audiobook industry is burgeoning, and voice talent can independently obtain work without an agent.

Next month, Susan is sponsoring a very specialized workshop in NY on obtaining work in audiobooks. The class will be taught by Pat Fraley and Hillary Huber, and it will be limited to 12 attendees. Special guests in this upcoming class will be multiple Audie-award winner Barbara Rosenblat (who is once again nominated this year) and Grammy-winning producer Paul Ruben, who will direct you in the studio. You will produce your audiobook demo while you're in the workshop.

I took this class with Pat and Hillary in LA. They are lovely people and fantastic teachers. You can read about my experiences in that class on my blog. As marvelous as the LA class was, I think this upcoming New York class will be even better due to the presence of these particular guests. I almost wish I could go again!

On-going training is a necessity in this business. If you call Susan's offices, please tell them that I referred you. You will always receive excellent value for the money with her programs.

I was shocked and saddened to open my e-mail this evening and find this message from Michele Cobb, president of the Audio Publishers Association:

I was privileged to meet Kate at an APA conference a few years ago. I remember her as a smart, kind and funny person who generously shared her knowledge with others. She impressed me that day with her precision in pronunciation, and I frantically took note of the various dictionaries that she mentioned using in her work. She was a shining role model to me as she excelled as both a narrator and a producer. Words are inadequate to describe her loss not only to the audiobook industry but to the world.

I found an article in the Seattle Times that provides more details about Kate Fleming's illustrious background and this tragedy, which actually occurred on Thursday, 14 December.

I have experienced loss in my life, and I send my deepest empathy to Kate's partner, family and friends during this dark time.

The Audio Publishers Association reports that many people get audiobooks when they are traveling. With Thanksgiving a couple days away, you may be thinking of picking up an audiobook for your trip, and, as an audiobook narrator, I applaud your wisdom! :)

If you would like some help in making your selection, you will enjoy reading Stephen King's recent column in Entertainment Weekly titled Hail to the Spoken Word in which he listed his top 10 audiobook recommendations. The discussion from readers is equally lively.

While I record in my studio, a fascinating post on Sarah Weinman's GalleyCat blog titled An Audiobook In the Making described the audiobook recording process to the world. Sarah takes us all behind-the-scenes with her to a studio session of Jonathan Lethem recording part of the audiobook version of his new novel YOU DON'T LOVE ME YET.

By the way, if you're interested in audiobook work, I cannot recommend too highly Pat Fraley's audiobook class. He has another session scheduled in Los Angeles on 2-3 December. If you contact him about it, please let him know that I referred you.

If you're an American, I hope you enjoy your Thanksgiving on Thursday. I give thanks that I am married to the love of my life, live in this great country and can do voice-over work for clients around the world from my home!

My plane may have touched down in Atlanta, but I’m still flying high following my fantastic Sunday audiobook master class in Los Angeles with my incredible instructors Pat Fraley, Hillary Huber and Kimberly Breault. We had just the right mix of instruction and recording during our 8 hours together. The workshop was extremely well-organized, relaxed and loads of FUN!

The class actually started on 24 May, when Pat sent the participants an e-mail in which he outlined the top 8 categories for audiobooks. For each type of book, Pat indicated the skills (e.g., storytelling, dialogue with character separation, energy) necessary to be successful with that type of read. He also attached a 10-minute .mp3 to that message so that we could hear various styles of audiobook performance. He encouraged us to start thinking of our possibilities in the industry.

The following week, we received another e-mail from Pat with instructions about selecting excerpts for the demo that we would create during the workshop. We were to choose 4 pieces of copy tailored to our interests and talent with the knowledge that we would record 3 of them. He attached Hillary’s audiobook demo so we could listen to a finished product.

Last month, I was privileged to participate in a Women in Animation masterclass in New York City with Pat Fraley and Hillary Huber. Tomorrow, I'm jetting off to the other coast for their audiobook masterclass in Los Angeles!

The Saturday class filled so quickly when Pat announced it that he opened a session on Sunday. I am grateful to have snagged one of the 12 spots in the Sunday class.

While I've completed 2 commercial audiobooks in my studio, I am very excited at this opportunity to learn better audiobook performance and marketing techniques from Pat, Hillary and their guest instructors. In addition, we will be creating a new demo! In preparation for the class, Pat sent an .mp3 which demonstrated numerous styles of audiobook reads, and he gave us guidelines about selecting copy for our demo.

Check back here for the complete updates on this story from your roving reporter, who will soon be on the streets of LA! :)

Last week, I was on vacation with Drew in Ft. Lauderdale. Otherwise, I would have liked to attend the annual Audio Publishers Association (APA) meeting and Book Expo America conference, held this year in Washington, DC.

The Audie Awards are juried awards in the audiobook and spoken word industry for the finest work in numerous categories, similar to the Grammy, Oscar and Emmy awards given in other mediums. The APA and Audiofile Magazine created a wonderful multimedia presentation that contains sound clips and reviews for all of the finalists in this year's Audie competition. I'm thrilled to see that my friends Barbara Rosenblat and Mel Foster were the narrators of award-winning titles, while another friend Alan Sklar scored 3 nominations.

Producing quality audiobooks is a major undertaking, and I congratulate all of the people who participated in creating the books nominated for the 2006 Audie Awards. I hope to be with all of you next year in New York!