Nath Jones's Blog - Posts Tagged "audiobooks"
It Happened in a Strip Mall at Wellington & Clark
I don't know when exactly it was that I first thought maybe we should do audio versions of these books. A few years back? Likely.
There were some false starts with the idea. I micromanaged at least one budding actor. A friend gave the recording a shot but editing proved daunting. A few proposals were left to the dust.
Anyway. So. I think it was during Read an Ebook Week 2012. I was at the UPS store, talking with the guys there. They're a great crew. There's this guy Travis, with curly hair. A tall guy named Mike (who's since moved on.) And Ryan, officious, effective, competent.
So. Travis and I were chatting about Read an Ebook Week because he's been with me through the entirety of this endeavor. He's sent most of the submissions to literary journals, weighed out the contest entries, and has made promotional materials.
We're friends, really. Because when I'm at my most vulnerable, handing the work over to the world, he takes it--offers a little assurance.
So. I brought up the idea of audio-books. He has some training in broadcasting, which was a surprise to me. More than that, Mike--who was standing right there, if I recall--is an audio engineer who's recorded such people as Bela Fleck.
Well. Okay. Now we're talking.
I got Mike's card, contacted him, read his thing on LinkedIN, and floated the idea to him--that we might really pursue it. Showed him the ACX website, where producers, narrators, and publishers put audiobooks together. And. That was it. We were off~!
I gave him a budget (completely arbitrary, having no idea what such a thing might cost) and he asked whether a man or a woman should do the voicework.
Well. I don't know. You know? Who knows? There's the case to be made for a female voice. And. There's the contrarian view as well.
Basically, he knew a guy who would do it.
That guy?
Was Ryan.
So. There you go. Thank God for store #0857.
When the work was done, I asked Mike if I should drop a check off for him at the store. Well. Guess what? He's been doing so well with the freelance audio work that he left the UPS store, has his own business now.
I remember hearing Kurt Vonnegut speak once. He said you should get out and go to the post office, buy your own stamps, talk to people.
He was right.
Here's what we came up with. The War is Language audiobook: http://www.audible.com/pd/Fiction/The...
There were some false starts with the idea. I micromanaged at least one budding actor. A friend gave the recording a shot but editing proved daunting. A few proposals were left to the dust.
Anyway. So. I think it was during Read an Ebook Week 2012. I was at the UPS store, talking with the guys there. They're a great crew. There's this guy Travis, with curly hair. A tall guy named Mike (who's since moved on.) And Ryan, officious, effective, competent.
So. Travis and I were chatting about Read an Ebook Week because he's been with me through the entirety of this endeavor. He's sent most of the submissions to literary journals, weighed out the contest entries, and has made promotional materials.
We're friends, really. Because when I'm at my most vulnerable, handing the work over to the world, he takes it--offers a little assurance.
So. I brought up the idea of audio-books. He has some training in broadcasting, which was a surprise to me. More than that, Mike--who was standing right there, if I recall--is an audio engineer who's recorded such people as Bela Fleck.
Well. Okay. Now we're talking.
I got Mike's card, contacted him, read his thing on LinkedIN, and floated the idea to him--that we might really pursue it. Showed him the ACX website, where producers, narrators, and publishers put audiobooks together. And. That was it. We were off~!
I gave him a budget (completely arbitrary, having no idea what such a thing might cost) and he asked whether a man or a woman should do the voicework.
Well. I don't know. You know? Who knows? There's the case to be made for a female voice. And. There's the contrarian view as well.
Basically, he knew a guy who would do it.
That guy?
Was Ryan.
So. There you go. Thank God for store #0857.
When the work was done, I asked Mike if I should drop a check off for him at the store. Well. Guess what? He's been doing so well with the freelance audio work that he left the UPS store, has his own business now.
I remember hearing Kurt Vonnegut speak once. He said you should get out and go to the post office, buy your own stamps, talk to people.
He was right.
Here's what we came up with. The War is Language audiobook: http://www.audible.com/pd/Fiction/The...
Audiobook recording session 2
Mike and I have put a dent in the recording work for Love & Darts. There are twenty-four stories. We've recorded fifteen of them.
I tell you what, voice work is not easy. S's and P's are everywhere. Then with these long sentences? Omg. I definitely understand why voice actors get paid what they do. It was all lovely and lyrical when I was writing this stuff. But you would not believe how difficult it is to articulate some of this stuff out loud. It took us forty minutes to record one fifteen-minute track. I just kept stumbling over the phrases, tangling them up.
But, we're getting through it.
I still think it would be better to have a professional do this stuff. But Mike's going to Europe in a couple weeks. We want to have the project finished before he leaves. We didn't really have time to find another voice actor after Ryan moved on.
I've had a few requests that I do the voice work anyway. So. Whatever. It'll be what it is. I'm grateful for Mike's patience with my inexperience.
We should have the product online for you in the next few weeks.
I tell you what, voice work is not easy. S's and P's are everywhere. Then with these long sentences? Omg. I definitely understand why voice actors get paid what they do. It was all lovely and lyrical when I was writing this stuff. But you would not believe how difficult it is to articulate some of this stuff out loud. It took us forty minutes to record one fifteen-minute track. I just kept stumbling over the phrases, tangling them up.
But, we're getting through it.
I still think it would be better to have a professional do this stuff. But Mike's going to Europe in a couple weeks. We want to have the project finished before he leaves. We didn't really have time to find another voice actor after Ryan moved on.
I've had a few requests that I do the voice work anyway. So. Whatever. It'll be what it is. I'm grateful for Mike's patience with my inexperience.
We should have the product online for you in the next few weeks.
Love & Darts - Audio
We had an audience of one in mind for this project: an opal miner in Australia. I don't know how much it matters, what changes in the delivery or the voice--likely nothing.
But while we were recording Love & Darts, I thought of him, that man in a red tee shirt, tan suede steel-toed boots, and jorts. In my mind he kept drilling, chipping away, shoving hopeful pieces into his pocket, and then he'd lean back, in some floodlit hole, to rest for a moment and listen.
I would love to say that we've conquered the new publishing model, these home computers and Amazonian websites. However, I will not. What has happened is that Mike and I gutted our way through to the end of the thing. He dealt with most of it: the editing, the ACX stuff. My friend Gin made a cover from the original ebook cover designed by Ryan Bradley. We all kind of foundered our way from one thing to the next until all the little tasks were finished.
So. It's ready.
But while we were recording Love & Darts, I thought of him, that man in a red tee shirt, tan suede steel-toed boots, and jorts. In my mind he kept drilling, chipping away, shoving hopeful pieces into his pocket, and then he'd lean back, in some floodlit hole, to rest for a moment and listen.
I would love to say that we've conquered the new publishing model, these home computers and Amazonian websites. However, I will not. What has happened is that Mike and I gutted our way through to the end of the thing. He dealt with most of it: the editing, the ACX stuff. My friend Gin made a cover from the original ebook cover designed by Ryan Bradley. We all kind of foundered our way from one thing to the next until all the little tasks were finished.
So. It's ready.
