Audiobooks

As recently as last month a new audiobook series came out on CD for audio listeners to enjoy. It was not an author that anyone really knew for his writing. We all knew him because he was once a famous general. Once? Well, I guess you never lose that distinction, do you? And so he decided to create some 44 stories about his life and career. And the kicker? He recorded them himself.

I am talking about General Colin Powell. His 7 CD set is called It Worked for Me, In Life and Leadership. And although I haven’t listened to it yet, I just know I will like it. It’s his whole approach.

And I am here to tell you, YOU should be doing likewise.

Why? Because there is a whole market of readers out there who prefer audio to the written text. They want to consume their media in a different way. They want it read TO them. And also, I am one who will listen to all of an audio book that is put out on Youtube, and it whets my appetite for the movie or book. Why wouldn’t YOU as an author want to do any less?

Here are a couple of things to think about when deciding on recording an audiobook or if you are going to do a series of podcasts of it.

1.  Consider if you want to do it yourself, or hire a voiceover person to do it for you. A voiceover actor will have fees they charge for their services. If you go through a company such as Amazon’s audio division, you may be able to split the profits instead.

2. Read it out loud to yourself and see if you think the work is read-worthy. This likely should be number one. If you as the author don’t think the book would make a good read-out-loud work, then it probably won’t fly.

3. Talk to others who have gone this route and get their take. Sometimes a new venture is a great idea until you actually begin the work on it. For instance, I would not like to get into a book being podcasted and after three chapters the author or person doing the work quits. Make sure you are going to FINISH what you start.

Finally, I really believe in this method of producing our work. It’s innovative and different and could open up a whole new world of readers to it. I have actually heard people say they are audiobook fiends. Haven’t heard many physical book readers say that lately.

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