Somewhere Out in Space

My audiobook is finished.  You can’t purchase it yet, but it’s somewhere out in space.  I started working on it about three months ago, and I gave my approval to the product last Monday.  It’s making its way through Amazon’s process.  They’re in total control now.  They set the release date and price but once it’s released it will be available on Audible, Amazon and Apple Books.  I’ll let you know when.

I paid to record my own book.  I could have had a professional reader record it for me for the same price but I’m not a professional writer, so I didn’t want a professional reader.  I wrote the stories after hearing them told by my extended family or experiencing them myself.  I hope my reading brings more clarity to my words.  I know how I want them to be heard.

I read online that it takes anywhere from 4 to 8 hours to produce an hour of a finished product.  My book is about seven hours long. The stories average six and a half minutes of listening time.  The longest is a little over thirty and the shortest about two.  It should be easy to listen to one and another sometime later.  If you have a copy of my hardcover book, you know each one is an individual tale.

My producer and I are closer to the high end of the production time.  I may post a clip of an audio draft down the road.   He sent several instructional videos to help me with the process.  Most of those dealt with set up.  They showed me how to assemble the equipment and work with the microphone in a confined space.  I sat in my bedroom closet and read in forty-five-minute chunks most of the time. The closet helped shut out ambient noise.  We exchanged several “test reads”.  We were trying to get rid of my popping p and sizzling s.

One of the pieces of equipment was a hand-held clicker.  If I misread, or didn’t like the tone of my voice, I clicked it.  The click let the producer know that a new recording was coming.  Sometimes I coughed a bit or sneezed.  I clicked those parts out too.  I used the words “borrowed, blue blazer” in my first story.  I bumbled through the transition from “borrowed” to “blue” about two dozen times, so my clicker almost melted with the frustrated clicks I made.

One of my personal take-aways from the process is the value of earphones. I wore them during each recording session and wore them as I recorded my voiceovers.  Voiceovers were an essential part of the process.  I’ve worn them too as I listened to the final product.  I have a better understanding of the people I’ve seen wearing earphones while they walk or jog around town.  While they may not be able to hear a honking car, whatever they’re listening too is coming through loud and clear.

I’ll be offering some promotions as a part of my initial release.  I plan a couple give aways, but they’ll be a hitch.  I’ll ask you to do something for me, and in return I’ll give you a code, so you have the opportunity to retrieve one of my books from wherever it resides in space.  I never understood how a television program could squeeze its way through a wire to my television set or a voice through to my landline phone.  The wireless world has totally blown my mind.

Despite my occasional frustration, I’ve enjoyed the process. I think hearing and reading a story are two different experiences.  If you purchase an audiobook, I think you’ll find it to be worth your time.

Here’s a sample of what you’ll hear.