I've now written some books and narrated many more. I'll be telling you about some of those that I feel are interesting and worth a good listen. All these are on Amazon and they cover a wide range of genre.
The beauty of audio books is that you can listen anywhere anytime. You can use almost any device. All you have to do is download the Audible app. So suddenly dead time becomes leisure time. Time to listen to a book. And you don't even need a light. I often listen in bed in the dark.I hope you will follow me. You can sign up for my newsletter or this blog. I would appreciate either. I'm planning some free stories for my followers and you'll also know about new releases.
Narrating like any work gets better with experience and after 18 months and some 8 books I think I've cracked it. I hope so. I'll tell you a little about the process. I have the manuscript and make a hard copy as I find this is the easiest way forward. Then I read through the story to get a feel for the genre and characters. I then record the story in my home recording studio to remove background noises. Sit down quietly and listen. Even in a quiet place you will hear "sounds" such as fluorescent lights, air conditioning, fridges and freezers and passing traffic.
I try and narrate as much as I can in one sitting so that my voice sounds the same, but if not I definitely record complete chapters. Often I read a passage and repeat it slightly altering the way I speak or intonation, to get the meaning and feeling just right. Sometimes I realise I have mispronounced a word and have to say it again, usually within the sentence. So it can take time and a half to read.
Then it's time to edit. Removing words where they are repeated. Removing my noises such as coughs. I had a habit of having money in my pocket and jingling it when I was concentrating. Now I put the money on the table. Other noises are the manuscript, moving on to the next page, digs barking, aircraft flying by and so on. No matter how good my studio is there will always be noises to cut out.
Sometimes I try to cut out the breathing totally but I feel it is normal so I try to reduce it. I've listened to so many stories, many on the BBC and each narrator differs. Some have no breathing at all, whilst others have. You may be surprised to know it can take up to 3 hours to edit every hour recorded.
Finally I have added music to some stories. This is the authors choice and I do what they want. Some want sound effects and I do that for them. And then the narration is processed to give an easy listening level.
Then the MP3 is uploaded and soon ready for publishing. This is the exciting stage, waiting to see the book on Amazon or other publisher. Then it's a waiting game, telling as many people as possible about the book, waiting for sales and hoping that your work is liked and that you might even get testimonials.
So I do hope you will read my posts and find something that you like. I'd also appreciate any ideas and comments you may have.
kind regards and thanks for reading.
Mike Leahy
