Audio Books?

[Tristan Thinks]

Relatively recently I discovered I prefer audio books to reading text.

 

Mostly it is because after long days staring at PC screens it is nice to rest my eyes and still enjoy a good story. I also find it much nicer to go to bed and listen to an audio book and fall asleep as it continues than try to stay awake with tired eyes reading a book because it's so entralling.

It also means I can 'read' a book whilst travelling, walking, or of course, with my eyes closed!

 

It got me to thinking how nice it'd be to have some of the nifty/gayauthors/awesomedude and other books available in audio format too. I began thinking about launching a project to do that but I was wondering how many other people out there would like the opportunity to listen to these stories too?

 

My primary audio collection began with, and consists of, 36 or so Terry Pratchett Discworld novels. Recently I began downloading from several of the free audio book collections and building the multiple mp3 files into one m4b file that the iPod can bookmark automatically. I've got a script that converts from the 20-50 individual chapter mp3s to the one m4b which makes handling the books much easier.

[S.L. Lewis]

It would make things easier for those who don't want to stare at a computer screen more, but it's still a huge undertaking.

Also, you would have to get written permission from the writers to even think about doing it. Some writers won't want this to happen, while others wouldn't mind.

[Tiff]

I think converting stories into audio books would suck the fun out of reading. Even though it's tiring at times to be glued to your computer screen reading and reading, I'd have major trouble listening to the story and concentrating fully on it. I know my mind would wander, as the words washed over me, sort of like music. I like reading because I really zoom in on the words and can reread it over again and at my pace.

 

And, as it's already been said, you do have to check with authors beforehand.

[Graeme]

A lot will also depend on the quality of the recording. Most of us don't have access to professional studios to do the reading in, nor are many of us professional speakers.

 

Having said that, I've record three of my short stories which are available from my home site. They are the first three stories under the heading "Short Stories". In each of those stories, there's a "play" icon on the page to allow the story to be heard. However, I've had several people tell me that it's easier to read while listening, because of my accent.... There's another site, Codey's World, that also has the first two recordings available as MP3 downloads.

 

Having gone through that exercise, the idea of recording a novel, or even one of my longer short stories is... daunting. Even those short stories (not much more than a page in length) took me a long time to record, as I mispronouced words, stumbled with incorrect words, used the wrong emphasis, etc.

 

I don't listen to audio books, but I'll admit that maybe I'm missing out on something by not giving them ago. It would have to be a labour of love to create them, though, because it's a lot of effort.....

[Tiff]

That's one thing I forgot: ACCENTS! I was born in Queens, and although there are a variety of American accents, I've been told on one of my trips to California that I have a bit of an obvious East coast/NYC accent and naturally some words and syllables end up distorted. I have no doubt some people would be confused over what I was reading! And I tend to speak very fast, especially when I get excited.

 

And I agree with Graeme, creating them would be absolute torture! Long and tedious and aggravating, especially if you mess up and have to keep going over it again and again.

 

Is bribing/blackmailing/threatening/begging someone else to read it an option? lol!

 

Lazy Tiff

[Tristan Thinks]

I was more interested in how interested others might be in the option of listening to erotic stories as audio books. I was surprised when I first started listening to them at how good they are. I find the stories somehow gain an added dimension from the richness of the voice of the reader which surprised me since I'd always thought making up all the voices in my head as I read couldn't be bettered. I first got interested in them when I realised I was really enjoying listening to BBC Radio plays and book serialisations., something the 'Beeb' does so well.

 

I'm fully aware of the legal and technical mechanics required to produce the books, and I have the resources, technology, and access to a large number of people with a variety of accents across many countries who'd both be willing to do it, and would be able to deliver a quality result. The essence is to have a paced delivery rather than it being as fast as regular conversation.

 

There's also an accessibility issue of making stories available to people who have eyesight issues, whether blind or just with reading difficulties like a former boyfriend of mine who would suffer severe headaches after reading about a page of regular text and therefore hated reading anything, due to the pain, not a dislike of stories.

 

What I find strange is that when I ask people about audio books there's almost an automatic negative reaction, but when questioned most have never tried listening to good audio books and are just making a knee-jerk reaction. I tested it out on several friends once, during a sleep-over, leaving a book playing when we went to bed, and I was amazed that the next few days all of them were asking to borrow the audio book and then all of them, independently, went out and got their own recordings of various books.

 

Tiff: You may be surprised, but recording them can actually be a hell of a lot of fun, really!

[Tristan Thinks]

You know what, I guess it'd help for those who want to try audio books, to publish a few links to free web sites where they are available. There are several projects around the world dedicated to producing them, staffed by enthusiastic and talented volunteers, and many of the voice actors are really good.

 

Free Classic Audio Books

 

Librivox

 

Project Gutenberg:The Audio Books Project

 

AudioBooks

 

Audio Books for Free

 

Literal Systems

 

And, of course, if you want recent books and don't object to spending some money, there's Audible for thousands of professionally produced books.

[Tristan Thinks]

Having said that, I've record three of my short stories which are available from my home site. They are the first three stories under the heading "Short Stories". In each of those stories, there's a "play" icon on the page to allow the story to be heard.

 

Oh Graeme, they are fabulous!

 

By the last one, An Email to my Dad, I was literally rocking back and forth in my chair laughing until I had tears - the humour of the situation at the wedding and the misunderstandings that Dad had about the wedding and the 'wife' from the start is just... hilarious

 

Your accent was no problem for me but then again maybe my ears are more attuned to the antipodean drawl than them-there yankies

 

I love your intonation and stress that really high-lights how funny it is 'scuse me while I dry my eyes!

 

My only advice, if you should choose to record others, is to do some tests by recording the first four paragraphs at different paces, with appropriate silences between paragraphs and changes of scene. Think about how news-readers take it slowly, or really good orators talk. See which of your tests you prefer and use that pace in your main recording - or ask friends to listen to the tests and recommend their favourite.

 

But please, if you have the inclination, do continue to record or get others to do so, because it is great to listen to

[Graeme]

My only advice, if you should choose to record others, is to do some tests by recording the first four paragraphs at different paces, with appropriate silences between paragraphs and changes of scene. Think about how news-readers take it slowly, or really good orators talk. See which of your tests you prefer and use that pace in your main recording - or ask friends to listen to the tests and recommend their favourite.

Thanks for the advice It's one of those things I've thought about a few times, but my opportunities to do it are limited. I have to do it when there's no one else around, or you'll hear, "Daddy, what are you doing?" interrupting the story at various times....

 

Just on a technical note, for anyone else who is thinking of doing this, I just used Microsoft's Sound Recorder and a cheap headset and microphone. Nothing fancy. I then converted the WAV files produced into MP3's using a downloaded WAV to MP3 converter. I haven't found one I like yet, though -- the one I've used has a limited number of "free" conversions before I have to buy it. I'm sure there is a lot better software out there to do this.

 

If someone knows of a free download that makes MP3's off a sound device, I'd be interested

[Tristan Thinks]

Thanks for the advice It's one of those things I've thought about a few times, but my opportunities to do it are limited. I have to do it when there's no one else around, or you'll hear, "Daddy, what are you doing?" interrupting the story at various times....

LOL yeah. I did some at the farm during daytime once, and despite the double-glazing I was interrupted several times by tractors and lorries turning into the drive!

 

Just on a technical note, for anyone else who is thinking of doing this, I just used Microsoft's Sound Recorder and a cheap headset and microphone. Nothing fancy. I then converted the WAV files produced into MP3's using a downloaded WAV to MP3 converter. I haven't found one I like yet, though -- the one I've used has a limited number of "free" conversions before I have to buy it. I'm sure there is a lot better software out there to do this.

 

If someone knows of a free download that makes MP3's off a sound device, I'd be interested

This, I can help you with. I'm a GNU/Linux guru and so I use things such as the free open-source ffmpeg which can convert audio and video between almost all formats. There are a couple of sites that provide the Windows binaries ready-built, such as Unofficial FFmpeg Win32 Builds, but I suspect you'd get lost with the command line options.

 

I could help you with that so you had a batch file or simple template, but I'd highly recommend you give the Windows Shareware package, Goldwave, a try out.

 

When I was a Windows user this was my premiere audio editor and processor. It is immensely powerful and yet easy to use, allowing you to easily apply advanced filtering and processing to the raw audio files to make them sparkle. I used to use a Goldwave script to process recordings of my father's vast vinyl record collection. With five operations it'd remove the scratches and hiss, adjust the loudness, apply fade-in and fade-out, and boost some frequencies.

Goldwave can save as MP3 if you also install the lame MP3 codec.

 

If you like Goldwave let me know because I have a now unused license for it and can probably arrange to transfer it.

 

If that's not comfortable, I can set up a service on one of my servers where you could upload the raw WAV file and have the server process it and then give you a download link for the MP3, but I suspect you'll get the hang of Goldwave really easily.

 

Tris.

[Graeme]

This, I can help you with. I'm a GNU/Linux guru and so I use things such as the free open-source ffmpeg which can convert audio and video between almost all formats. There are a couple of sites that provide the Windows binaries ready-built, such as Unofficial FFmpeg Win32 Builds, but I suspect you'd get lost with the command line options.

 

I could help you with that so you had a batch file or simple template, but I'd highly recommend you give the Windows Shareware package, Goldwave, a try out.

I'm a Unix user since the 80s I learnt Unix well before I ever saw an x86 OS. Command line arguments hold no fear for me

 

I'll have a look at these later, when I get a chance. Thanks!

[Tiff]

Tiff: You may be surprised, but recording them can actually be a hell of a lot of fun, really!

You're funny Tristan, and probably right! I can only imagine how funny it would be to record a story. I imagine during the sex scenes, I'd use my bedroom narrator voice! lol. You know, the quiet, breathy, dramatic voice. I mean, it would suck to record it in a monotone. Totally lose any sense of intimacy or whatever.

 

That brings another issue: I'm not really any good at putting any kind of acting into my reading. Seriously, in class, you should hear me read passages of something. I'm kinda blah in that sense.

 

Even if it can be fun, I'd doubt I'd record or listen to anything audio. I just have audio ADD or something. BUt then again, you keep talking about how good they are....so maybe one day I'll bite the bullet and give it a try!

[rich_e]

A lot will also depend on the quality of the recording. Most of us don't have access to professional studios to do the reading in, nor are many of us professional speakers.

 

Having said that, I've record three of my short stories which are available from my home site. They are the first three stories under the heading "Short Stories". In each of those stories, there's a "play" icon on the page to allow the story to be heard. However, I've had several people tell me that it's easier to read while listening, because of my accent.... There's another site, Codey's World, that also has the first two recordings available as MP3 downloads.

 

Having gone through that exercise, the idea of recording a novel, or even one of my longer short stories is... daunting. Even those short stories (not much more than a page in length) took me a long time to record, as I mispronouced words, stumbled with incorrect words, used the wrong emphasis, etc.

 

I don't listen to audio books, but I'll admit that maybe I'm missing out on something by not giving them ago. It would have to be a labour of love to create them, though, because it's a lot of effort.....

 

 

Of course, after reading this I just had to head on over and take a listen. I was totally expecting a really deep voice, and for some odd reason, it didn't occur to me that you would have an australian accent, even though you are from australia.

 

I quite enjoyed it, your voice is full of expression, and I love your accent!

[Tiff]

Of course, after reading this I just had to head on over and take a listen. I was totally expecting a really deep voice, and for some odd reason, it didn't occur to me that you would have an australian accent, even though you are from australia.

 

I quite enjoyed it, your voice is full of expression, and I love your accent!

Ooh, I think I will listen to it, too If a person can read well and have expression/animations/emotions when reading a story, it's great. Not everyone can do that. Well, now I must listen to Graeme's audio works.

[Tristan Thinks]

Yay! People finally intrigued enough to give it a try

[Lugh]

actually -- we use a lot of audio books because my son is dyslexic and we get them from the library (not that they have like erotica there or anything) but I can see a market within a market...

 

the biggest problem I would have is like with my stories... the names are not easily pronounced or someone may pronounce them differently than I do. This is especially true for made up names.

[GaryK]

Tristan, I love listening to audiobooks. I subscribe to audible.com and listen to several books a month. I know their stuff has DRM on it, but my subscription also helps benefit my favorite podcasting network so I'm alright with it.

 

Anyway, a lot depends on what type of story I'm listening to.

 

Murder on the Orient Express was an awful listen even though the narrator was superb. The book was much better.

 

A Brief History of Nearly Everything was a wonderful listen. Same thing for The Night Listener. Both were perfect for listening to and the narration was superb. Armistead Maupin himself did the narration for The Night Listener.

 

Graeme, I'm going to try listening to one of your stories on my iPod and see how it goes. Thanks for making this possible.

 

Tris, what you're proposing would indeed be a huge undertaking. If not done well it would be a failure. To do it right would be expensive what with the professional recording studio, good quality narrator(s), and mostly lots of time and even more bandwidth. I don't see how something like this could be done without charging for it.

[Tristan Thinks]

Tris, what you're proposing would indeed be a huge undertaking. If not done well it would be a failure. To do it right would be expensive what with the professional recording studio, good quality narrator(s), and mostly lots of time and even more bandwidth. I don't see how something like this could be done without charging for it.

Actually it isn't that expensive and it doesn't need a 'professional' recording studio, if you have some familiarity with the technologies and techniques. Provided the narrator has a quiet location and a reasonable microphone the quality of the final result can be gauranteed through pretty standard post-production processing.

 

There a lot of a good amateur voice actors as well as enthusiasts who (can) do real justice to the stories.

 

In terms of costs my approach would be to include it as a small value-added and unique part of a membership and subscription community centered around live broadcast and pre-recorded video and 'radio' that makes a good profit already, so the additional costs of producing the audio books would be marginal. Bandwidth would be a non-issue and a very fractional cost.

Within a community the 'payment' to narrators could be 'in kind', such as reward points, access to additional services, reduced subscriptions, per-play royalties, or whatever works. The same scenario would allow the authors to earn small royalties too.

[GaryK]

Actually it isn't that expensive and it doesn't need a 'professional' recording studio, if you have some familiarity with the technologies and techniques. Provided the narrator has a quiet location and a reasonable microphone the quality of the final result can be gauranteed through pretty standard post-production processing.

 

There a lot of a good amateur voice actors as well as enthusiasts who (can) do real justice to the stories.

 

In terms of costs my approach would be to include it as a small value-added and unique part of a membership and subscription community centered around live broadcast and pre-recorded video and 'radio' that makes a good profit already, so the additional costs of producing the audio books would be marginal. Bandwidth would be a non-issue and a very fractional cost.

Within a community the 'payment' to narrators could be 'in kind', such as reward points, access to additional services, reduced subscriptions, per-play royalties, or whatever works. The same scenario would allow the authors to earn small royalties too.

By radio do you mean something like what AD does? Whatever you decide my programming talents might be of some help. I've already written software for one online radio station where u could listen and/or buy. That was for Badpuppy. And it was so successful the bandwidth costs killed the project. Not enough people made purchases to make the ROI worth it.

 

Count me in on this project if you go ahead with it. I'm sure I can find something useful to contribute.

Edited March 3, 2008 by GaryInMiami

[qclassics]

Hi Tristan

 

It was lovely to read your homage to the audiobook. My name is Richard and I too feel passionately about audiobooks.

Mostly because back in the eighties when so many gay men were going blind/dying/getting very ill from HIV related illness, I saw for myself how an audibook can provide a last escape from pain, even when the head is unable to lift from the pillow for tele etc. In those days I read for the blind and I begged the RNIB to be allowed to read gay texts but it was a somewhat narrow minded organisation and I was told "the committee who chooses the books are somewhat staid in their choices." It was very disheartening and I made a vow that somehow, someday, I would find a way to record texts of interest to gay people. High retail and distribution costs made that impossible to achieve but with the advent of the new technologies came new possibilities and I have set up a small website from which people can pay and download texts. I had to start with out of copyright texts and this limited my options and to be honest after a year or so it would seem the market is not there.

Perhaps happily because we are no longer getting so sick. Although as you say an audiobook is great for the eyes and of course I would add for those working with their hands or on long journeys. I would love it if you took a look at the site and gave me your feedback. It is at www.qclassics.com. I have used professional actors and voice studios and am very proud of the product. Anyone wanting to help spread the word about the site can use the free e-card service which sends a free audio poem to the one you love. Nice for a birthday or a thankyou.Visit My Website

 

With best wishes

Richard

[hh5]

Audiobooks is definitely an offshoot of radio days without the advertisements.

 

Radio stations like RKO Radio and NBC and CBS

 

Radio programs were beneficial to children because it gave them two things

* Story time

* It got them to listen

* Use their imagination

* share their imagination with their friends

* it brighten their day

* it was ultra-portable compared to TV

 

I suspect in time gay-audiobooks will catch on but it depends if the audience is beyond the orgasms of porn.

Given this bad economic times - one would be concern if opening such a business be a drawback to moving forward.

The catch 22 is having the inventory when the demand is there or not and you have a delayed launch affect.

Edited December 1, 2008 by hh5