I keep receiving requests to create an audio version of my book The Abolition of Aging.
That’s a request I fully understand. My own preferred format for books is Audible. I listen to an average of two books a month, from my Audible subscription, usually while I’m walking or driving. When I can’t find an Audible version of a book, I’m disappointed.
So here’s my update.
After researching some options, I’ve created a recording of myself reading the introductory material from The Abolition of Aging. I’ve made that recording available for everyone to listen to, free of charge, here: https://theabolitionofaging.files.wordpress.com/2016/07/01-intro.mp3. The length is 21 minutes.
Before I take the time to record the main content of the book, I’d appreciate some feedback. Which of the following would you endorse?
- The quality of the initial recording is good enough. Hurry up and record the other chapters in the same way.
- The quality is nearly good enough, but more practice is needed. Consider redoing at least part of this experiment.
- The idea is sound, but some of the tools (*) need to be changed.
- Don’t mess around. Hire a professional voice artist to read the book.
(*) I’ve recorded in an upstairs room at home (my house is relatively quiet), with my laptop switched off so there’s no background hum from the cooling fan. I recorded to a Zoom H2n Handy Recorder, before switching my laptop on again and using Audacity software to edit the files. I found I put more spirit into the recording when I was standing up, rather than sitting down.
