Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Discover the Magic of Audiobook Making

Dan Musselman and Scott Brick, Books-on-Tape, Random House.

As soon as they opened their mouths -- you knew what business they are in. YOWZA! In a tag-team format, they shared their experiences with choosing books, actors (voices), preparing for the reading, and the actual how-to of the recording session.

Casting of the narrator sound like what I would imagine of any theatrical endeavor. What does the work need? Who can best meet those needs? Musselman has a database of authors and their strengths; apparently, in Scott Brick's words, his strength is 'wise ass.'

Should author's read their own books? Yes, if it's non-fiction, the author can add a note of integrity and authority to the work. Maybe not if the work is fiction. This is something the executive producer (Musselman) and the author work out.

Production things we learned: Can you hear the narrator breathing? pages turning? Does the voice change between the beginning of the project and its end? Are the 'he said' and 'she said' lines delivered in the character's voice or the narrator's? Little things that mark a professional from an amateur.

I can't wait to go play with more audio books!

Books on Tape

(Scott Brick has 181 titles listed!)

Blogs, Wikis & Other Emerging Trends

This was a preconference to the Missouri Library Association annual conference in Columbia, MO. RSS, Blogs, Wikis, MyFace, MySpace, del.icio.us, Flickr, YouTube, last.FM, LibraryThing, and more.
David Lee King, Digital Branch & Services Manager, Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library.

Along with Stephen Abram's "Finding the Future: Library 2.0" - Pew2020 Predictions, refuseteks, PIG, Pimp Your MySpace, "The Internet is like herpes -- it'll always be there." Cartoon caption: "If TV is a babysitter, then the Internet's a drunken librarian that won't shut up." Facebook - a sustainable social network for life. Librarians: Do what we do best. Don't focus on patron transactions but on their transformations! Stephen Abram, VP of Innovation, SirsiDynix.

These are my interpretations of the presentations at this point. I'll think more on them tonight and tomorrow and ....

Makes me realize how lucky and happy I am to be a librarian today!