Manners' words coming to an ear near you

I am thrilled to announce that “Manners” will be an audiobook.  Should be available late November 2021.  The whole journey to audio was fascinating!

I was approached out of the blue by Tantor Media out of Connecticut who proposed to buy the rights to produce the audio version of Manners Will Take You Where Brains and Money Won’t.  After some back and forth contractually we came to an agreement.

I then “auditioned” to be the narrator.  Since Tantor now owned the rights, it was up to them to decide if they preferred a professional voice actor or the author. I had learned there were pro’s and con’s to either way, but in hindsight I am very glad they agreed to “hire me” to narrate.

I have listened to, and enjoy audiobooks, but I knew nothing about how to prepare to narrate or how the recording process works.  For starters, I needed to be in a professional recording studio.  My lavalier mic and iPhone weren’t going to do the trick.  It turns out Tantor had a few designated studios I had to use.  The closest to me is in Burbank, CA.  I had visions of a big Hollywood studio with a bunch of famous people I didn’t know. A quick google maps search revealed a small, non-descript place nestled between a cigar shop and a nail salon.  I am not good at estimating square footage, but I would bet this was around 500-600 square feet if that.

My audio engineer producer, Andrew Bates, is a seasoned pro!  He quickly eased my anxious nerves and skillfully coached me through the process.  As I read, he listened and followed the script in his control-room space.  His ability to focus on EVERY minute detail of my speech, where he caught words spoken that weren’t written and words I missed if I so much as blinked at the wrong time was uncanny.  He could ferret out Klingon-accented syllables, pesky stomach girgles, mouth noise debris, and the twitch of my moving chair.  He had a way of interrupting me and correcting that actually made me feel good.  He had impeccable manners!

We were budgeted five business days, but Andrew and I finished in three.  We were a great team. Due to the amazing audio technology, we could, real time, fix audio boo-boo’s in seconds.  I learned new terms like “punch and roll”, the process of stopping to correct mistakes.  I learned that writing a book to be read, vs listened to is distinct.  Had I known I was going to narrate “Manners”, I would have written shorter sentences, fewer tonque-twisted words and more stories.  Wudda, cudda, shudda…blah, blah, blah.