Dec 6
A great and diverse list from Sue Arnold of The Guardian:
This is obviously a bit British-heavy, but there a lot of things you might not have noticed on this side of the pond. Most of them are looooong, so perhaps not stocking stuffers, more like door stops 
Nov 7
We had a lovely turnout at the first ever APA mid-west mixer! A little over a dozen people from all areas of the industry turned out to visit, eat great food, and talk about audio books. Hopefully we’ll have many more!
Yes, finally, the day I was waiting for has come….Kindle eBooks are now able to be checked out from public libraries via Overdrive:
Also in audio book news, I ran across this interesting comment thread from Yahoo Answers: Why are audio books not as popular as regular books? I find it fascinating because these are “regular” people giving their opinions – not people in the industry.
Feb 9
I posted this originally on the Audio Book Community site, but thought I’d re-post here to spread it around:
I ran across a great site featuring a map of the U.S. that delineates dialects and regionalisms spoken:
Lots of people shared other resources in the thread, so check it out!
Dec 13
Interesting news from the Association of American Publishers (AAP), reflecting the trend of increased downloaded audio books vs. physical copies:
Downloaded Audio Books also saw an increase of 20.7 percent over last year, with sales of $6.3 million this October; and the category was also up 38.6 percent year-to-date. Physical Audio Book sales decreased 20.5 percent in October with sales totaling $14.7 million; sales for the year to date are down 13.5 percent.
With the increase of e-book readers capable of playing mp3 files, and portable computers like the iPad and netbooks – my bet is this trend will only continue!
Nov 9
Interesting article out from the Independent on the 75th anniversary of audio books.
A few fascinating tidbits here. Did you know, for example, that audio books:
“started as an aid for battle casualties and elderly people with failing eyesight.”
I poked around a bit online and can’t find a reference for “first audio book ever.” It sounds like it would be something from the 1930s intended for veterans…I suppose it’s too much to hope that one of those got digitized along the way?
Oct 4
Well, here’s interesting news. The Prince of Wales will be narrating his first audio book, Harmony: A New Way of Looking at the World.
According to this article, Prince Charles recorded the book at his home and his Scottish residence. Hmm…hope that audio matches up! Knowing people’s first audio book efforts usually have room for improvement (especially mine), it’d be interesting to see his results. I couldn’t find a sample online, but if anyone has one let me know!
Recently I had the chance at attend a master class on audio book technique with the renowned Barbara Rosenblat. The class was held at the excellent Acting Studio Chicago and moderated by Darren Stephens. The only downside to the whole affair was that it was only two hours long
For those who are unaware, Barbara has been called “the Meryl Streep of the audio book world,” and this year alone is nominated for five Audies. She’s truly a master of the industry with more than 20 years under her audio book belt.
Barbara Rosenblat
She started off her introduction with a quote about actors in general: “you start off in the biz because you’re a show off…I’m still one.” Her class contained many good nuggets and quotes that I’ll try to pass along here in some vaguely organized fashion.
Barbara started by giving us a short history of her performing experience and what led her to (and keeps her in) audio books. As I’ve heard elsewhere and experienced myself, she reiterated the passion needed to pursue audio books – they’re simply too difficult and poorly paid otherwise. I’ve been told ever since I started acting: “if you CAN do absolutely anything else, do it, only pursue acting if you are driven, if you don’t have a choice.” The same can be said of the audio book niche in the voice over world: “Only pursue this niche if you HAVE to.”
Barbara’s first book was a Harlequin romance entitled Yet Will I Love Her, which, she claims, is “still bad.” If you’re terribly interested, you can still buy it on audio cassette on Amazon here.
Here are some points and quotes I pulled out of her section on technique:
(note, these are her opinion or her specific way of working)
Near the end of the session, Barbara closed with a wonderful quote from Ben Brantley’s review of Martin McDonagh’s new play on Broadway, A Behanding in Spokane. The quote describes Christopher Walken’s use of language, in a way Barbara thinks audio book narrators could be inspired by:
“Pauses pop up when you least expect them, entirely shifting the weight of the words around them. Inflections rise upward when normally they would curve down. A single clause can slalom from ennui to anger. These idiosyncrasies of delivery surprise you into close attention and, ultimately, into feeling you can trace the thoughts of the man speaking.”
Overall the experience with Barbara was wonderful, and I’m glad I got to meet her. As we were talking, she said to me: “our paths will cross again, you know,” so here’s hoping she’s right!
Feb 11
It’s not every day that I get to meet the author of one of the audio books I’ve narrated…okay, it’s never happened. Kevin DeYoung, author of Just Do Something, was speaking here in Chicago, so I got to meet him and say hi! I told him it was an honor to work on his book, and I hope he writes many more.
Kevin DeYoung
Jan 12
So recently I was interviewed for an article in Craine’s Chicago – a business publication online. I fear the article makes it sound as if I’m way more successful than I truly am – but I’m still thankful!