I did my own audiobook. It’s the one place in the writing journey where I was certain that spending LESS money added MORE value. Oh, and the audiobook (recorded in a closet under a blanket) won an award. 😊
I speak with a monotone, which I didn't realise until I listened to a recording of me reading an article I wrote. Luckily my husband is far more practiced at speaking, having done theatre and live streaming, so I strong armed him into narrating for me 🤣
Ironically I can’t buy the course because I spent this month’s money on a microphone to start recording voiceovers of my work with. 😂
Heartily agree with all the points raised here, particularly how recording can feed editing. One other reason I’ll be narrating my work myself is that most of my output at the moment is microfiction, and getting someone else to record such tiny works would add up to a lot of faff! Whereas if I do it, it’s perfect practice for my novel.
Great info and advice. Having worked as a professional voice talent, I'd like to add some thoughts. Audiobooks are performed as much as they are read. Practice helps A two-hour course is a great start, but that ideally needs to be followed by lots of practice and shared recordings you can get some response to. If you don't test, you don't truly know how effective your reading is. I have decided not to buy many books read by authors for a host of reasons. They simply were not good at it, and they just read the text, giving it no extra energy. Quality affects connection. I also recommend that if you want to perform/read your own books, listen to multiple authors doing a good job reading their work, such as Bill Bryson and Isabella Tree. I also recommend listening to British readers, because the way they handle consonants is instructive for Americans. Most of the audiobooks I return to are read by professional narrators. A Gentleman in Moscow shows how magnificent and connective a professional can make a book to its audience. Walking with Destiny, a biography of Churchill, in my opinion, may be in the top ten of audiobook performances in the English language. Narration is a craft. Like writing, it needs to be practiced and honed, and you need rehearsals where someone else hears you and can provide feedback. I've worked with audio and video production and publishing/editing for several decades. Taking this course, even if you don't decide to read your own audiobook, will help you know what to look for in a reader. The key is to do what's best for the sharing of your work, just as we do with our writing.
Absolutely!! As a voice actress, I completely agree that it is truly a craft. That said, I think we can get in our heads about being "good enough." Will Wheaton doesn't do performative narration and he's extremely popular. There are as many preferences as there are listeners, and we can find an audience (even if we aren't everyone's cup of tea). My goal with this course is to teach principles, give resources and a launching off point. My hope is that writers will find a new medium of storytelling and have narration inform their writing and vice versa! Thanks so much for weighing in!
This is fascinating and I'm very interested but curious of your thoughts for doing an audio book for a poetry collection. I am planning to self-publish and for a variety of reasons (Trump's hate for Canadians) I am contemplating avoiding Amazon. Would love your thoughts!
Psst! Fellow Canadian here! I live in the US now though, lol! Totally understand. Here's my thought: more formats can only mean more readers, and I'm passionate about accessibility (my husband's an Optometrist). So I would explore other distribution options. The Audible credit system encourages people to get longer books (same credit, more time), but more and more people are listening to their content as I mentioned in the article! Children's books are starting to do well on various audio platforms (same length as poetry). I would look at distributing through Chirp and Spotify (I know shorter audio is doing really well on there - just chatted with the Spotify team a few weeks ago!). Also, it could do well on YouTube! I have all my stuff on my YouTube channel, so you can check it out and see what I'm doing there! Hopefully those ideas help??
Love this. I've got a little bit of a performing background and have started narrating all my new articles (actually doing my next one right after this comment). I'm still not in love with my voice but I get less annoyed with it each time. Not sure how many people listen vs. just read but it's good practice any way.
I've been tempted to try narrating my own audiobooks several times, but am hindered by not having a great sound-proof set up and some apprehension about the tech.
Oh, 100%. I had the exact same reservations. That's why I decided to make this course. I recorded my first three books in my living room! I show you how to do everything from that all the way to making an affordable pop up studio. I also show you how to use the platforms for editing and mastering. All that info is available online, but it's a lot to sort through. I spent years of trial and error, so I hope this is a valuable resource for people to start out with a good set up from the start!
I think I'll give your course a go then! I've got over 50 books and only my 5 oldest in audio. It does kill me how much money I'm leaving on the table!!
I did my own audiobook. It’s the one place in the writing journey where I was certain that spending LESS money added MORE value. Oh, and the audiobook (recorded in a closet under a blanket) won an award. 😊
Of course it did, lol!! I love that you jumped in and did it!
I speak with a monotone, which I didn't realise until I listened to a recording of me reading an article I wrote. Luckily my husband is far more practiced at speaking, having done theatre and live streaming, so I strong armed him into narrating for me 🤣
Wow, so cool that you can have him jump in!!! That's amazing!
Ironically I can’t buy the course because I spent this month’s money on a microphone to start recording voiceovers of my work with. 😂
Heartily agree with all the points raised here, particularly how recording can feed editing. One other reason I’ll be narrating my work myself is that most of my output at the moment is microfiction, and getting someone else to record such tiny works would add up to a lot of faff! Whereas if I do it, it’s perfect practice for my novel.
YES!! This is so awesome, good for you! The course isn't going anywhere, and big congrats on the microphone! That's such an exciting purchase!
I’ll definitely take a look at the course before starting on my novel. 😄
It’s just a Blue Yeti, I’m starting basic due to having a super low budget. Hopefully it will do the job.
totally makes sense! I talk about different mic options in the course at varioius price points with pros and cons. I have a Blue Yeti for podcasting!
Do you recommend audio narration for fiction as well as non fiction?
Absolutely!! I think non fiction is even more popular in the self narration space. Fiction feels intimidating to many, but I hope to change that :)
Great info and advice. Having worked as a professional voice talent, I'd like to add some thoughts. Audiobooks are performed as much as they are read. Practice helps A two-hour course is a great start, but that ideally needs to be followed by lots of practice and shared recordings you can get some response to. If you don't test, you don't truly know how effective your reading is. I have decided not to buy many books read by authors for a host of reasons. They simply were not good at it, and they just read the text, giving it no extra energy. Quality affects connection. I also recommend that if you want to perform/read your own books, listen to multiple authors doing a good job reading their work, such as Bill Bryson and Isabella Tree. I also recommend listening to British readers, because the way they handle consonants is instructive for Americans. Most of the audiobooks I return to are read by professional narrators. A Gentleman in Moscow shows how magnificent and connective a professional can make a book to its audience. Walking with Destiny, a biography of Churchill, in my opinion, may be in the top ten of audiobook performances in the English language. Narration is a craft. Like writing, it needs to be practiced and honed, and you need rehearsals where someone else hears you and can provide feedback. I've worked with audio and video production and publishing/editing for several decades. Taking this course, even if you don't decide to read your own audiobook, will help you know what to look for in a reader. The key is to do what's best for the sharing of your work, just as we do with our writing.
Absolutely!! As a voice actress, I completely agree that it is truly a craft. That said, I think we can get in our heads about being "good enough." Will Wheaton doesn't do performative narration and he's extremely popular. There are as many preferences as there are listeners, and we can find an audience (even if we aren't everyone's cup of tea). My goal with this course is to teach principles, give resources and a launching off point. My hope is that writers will find a new medium of storytelling and have narration inform their writing and vice versa! Thanks so much for weighing in!
This is fascinating and I'm very interested but curious of your thoughts for doing an audio book for a poetry collection. I am planning to self-publish and for a variety of reasons (Trump's hate for Canadians) I am contemplating avoiding Amazon. Would love your thoughts!
Psst! Fellow Canadian here! I live in the US now though, lol! Totally understand. Here's my thought: more formats can only mean more readers, and I'm passionate about accessibility (my husband's an Optometrist). So I would explore other distribution options. The Audible credit system encourages people to get longer books (same credit, more time), but more and more people are listening to their content as I mentioned in the article! Children's books are starting to do well on various audio platforms (same length as poetry). I would look at distributing through Chirp and Spotify (I know shorter audio is doing really well on there - just chatted with the Spotify team a few weeks ago!). Also, it could do well on YouTube! I have all my stuff on my YouTube channel, so you can check it out and see what I'm doing there! Hopefully those ideas help??
This sounds absolutely amazing! I’m concentrating on getting my first books out now but will circle back to this course SOON. 😍
LOVE!! Congrats!! And yes, come back when you're ready!!
Love this. I've got a little bit of a performing background and have started narrating all my new articles (actually doing my next one right after this comment). I'm still not in love with my voice but I get less annoyed with it each time. Not sure how many people listen vs. just read but it's good practice any way.
YES!! So many benefits! Love that you're doing this.
An inspiring read, thank you.
My self-narrated memoir goes live here on Substack on March 6th.
I couldn’t imagine having an actor doing it.
Thank you, and LOVE THIS! Congrats!!
I’m so excited.
I've been tempted to try narrating my own audiobooks several times, but am hindered by not having a great sound-proof set up and some apprehension about the tech.
Oh, 100%. I had the exact same reservations. That's why I decided to make this course. I recorded my first three books in my living room! I show you how to do everything from that all the way to making an affordable pop up studio. I also show you how to use the platforms for editing and mastering. All that info is available online, but it's a lot to sort through. I spent years of trial and error, so I hope this is a valuable resource for people to start out with a good set up from the start!
I think I'll give your course a go then! I've got over 50 books and only my 5 oldest in audio. It does kill me how much money I'm leaving on the table!!
Oh, girl, you have SO much IP!! This is awesome. I can't wait to see what you do with this!!!