Friends! Lend me your ears! No really, I need your ears.
I’ve finally decided to get serious about turning my books into audiobooks, and after several years of being wishy-washy, I’ve decided to record them myself.
It has been a tough decision to make. In a way, I wanted to do it myself, but I struggled with the idea of it. There is something very personal about reading the words that I wrote, and it feels like it is not just my words that will be on trial, but my voice and everything else. And is my voice the right voice for the book? On the other side of things, it seems so expensive to hire someone to do it, and then I would be concerned whether they were reading it like I intend for it to be read.
I was looking into it again, and I came across an article that said just that: one benefit of the author reading it herself is that you get to hear the words and dialogue like they passed through the author’s mind. That convinced me.
So, I’ve set myself to work. I’ve decided to start with The Needle’s Eye.
There are a few reasons for this. It’s not as long as some of my other books, and I feel that the characters are manageable and limited.
And so, I’ve been recording A LOT recently. It’s been a little over a week, and I’m nearing the end of the book (but I still need to edit and re-record.) I’m happy with how quickly it’s going. It makes me believe I can get through this.
I tried to record The Needle’s Eye a couple of years ago, with real intentions to see it through. I had started recording, but the main reason I didn’t continue was because the computer I had at the time was so loud (the fan) and there was just too much noise in the recording. I tried to use an old laptop I had, but that thing was so slow and it didn’t work out.
Anyway, I’m back to it.
This is where you come in!
I’ve posted the first five chapters of The Needle’s Eye Audiobook on Soundcloud, and I’d love it if you would have a listen.
This is over 2 hours of audio, for your enjoyment (and scrutiny, I suppose).
If you do decide to give it a listen, there are a few specific things I’d like to know. There might still be a few blips in the audio, so it’s not finalized. I need to know if the pacing is good, if you can understand my voice clearly, and I’d like any constructive criticism about the overall quality of the recording.
This is a very personal thing for me, so be gentle. 🙂 I can write this stuff all day, but reading it aloud is different somehow. I’m enjoying it so far though, and I’m excited about it. It’s great to connect with these characters again, and I’ve already pulled up some of my old story files to play with recording. And I’m already plotting which book I’ll do next. I just hope it’s worthy.
The playlist is private, but you can get to it by clicking the image below. Please comment with your thoughts there or here or wherever. Thank you in advance!
Project Nevermor 
Hi there, I listened to the preview of the audio book and I liked it a lot! You’ve been a favourite author of mine for years so I was excited to see this development, and thought leaving a comment was the least I could do. I enjoyed the variation and personality behind the characters a lot, I thought the differences were subtle but recognizable and made it easy to follow. I liked your voice in general, it was soft and relaxing while helping to submerse me into the story, if I could leave one critique it would be that you sound rather serious as the narrator at times, but given the general somber tone of the story it seems to be the point. I also felt like there was a bit of a warm up period, since it seemed a little bit stiff at the beginning, either that or I was getting more use to your story telling as it progressed (I listened to the first 5 chapters in one sitting). It also seemed a bit slow at the beginning but picked up on pace shortly after the intro. I haven’t read this story of yours previously, so the plot was new to me and I really enjoyed the story itself as well.
I can’t wait to listen to the rest of it, thanks for all your hard work!
Thank you so much for your comments! It has been one of my concerns that I either don’t sound natural (because I’m trying so hard to enunciate), or that I read some parts too slow and some too fast. I’ve tried to keep it consistent throughout, but I think it’s okay to read faster when something intense is happening. I did want to present a serious tone for the atmosphere of the story, but I don’t want it to sound too forced. I know that on Audible, the audio can be sped up if I’m reading too slow for some people. You gave me some things to consider. Thank you!!!
Hi Lani, I’ve been following you for years now so I wanted to support as well. It sounds like a professionally done audiobook, your pace of reading is also super good. Loved the old man’s voice at the beginning. Can’t wait to see more of your books turned into audiobooks, good luck and keep us updated!
Wonderful! Thank you so much for giving me feedback!