Audiobook Adventures: Post 22

I finally finished editing the book I'd been dragging my feet on.  I submitted it, and the rights holder only had one change they requested.  It blew my mind that there would only be one overlooked mistake in an entire reading (I said "passage" instead of "package").  I fixed that, and the book is now approved.

I really ought to get to work on the second book in the series (this is the one where I'm contracted to do five, but there are thirty-three total), but I'd prefer to concentrate on other, smaller projects, and then get to work on Book Two.  What would be nice is if the first book sold so well, right out the gate, that I felt a big adrenaline rush to push me through the next one.  Time will tell.

For the Fourth of July week, my uncle and his daughter were staying here (as well as my sister and niece), so there was much noise, commotion, and lack of toilet paper every time I went into the bathroom.  But as soon as they left, I decided it was time to record the first fifteen minutes of the new novella I got hired/contracted to write.*  I set up my microphone, turned off the fan in here . . . and then my two year old nephew knocked on my door.

He didn't feel good, and wanted me to hold him (he spent the next day throwing up, so there must have been something to it).  I told him to lay down on my bed and I was going to read a story.  So, I started the microphone recording, and began the new project.  I'll admit that there were a couple of times when I forgot that I was narrating an audiobook and spoke like I was reading to a child, but I hope those are few and far between.  Within ten minutes, the boy was asleep, and I continued reading until the end of the first chapter.

It was a painless and pleasurable process. 

But it is always more fun to narrate than to edit, as you can imagine (the auditory equivalent of throwing a party then having to clean up afterward), and today, when I sat down to edit the segment, I worried that I would once again find no joy in Mudville.

But I was wrong.  In forty minutes or so, I had the whole fifteen minutes edited and ready to submit.  There was almost no irritation, almost no unnoticed stammering or background noise, and only one moment where I struggled with the narrative enough to want to save the outtake.  I've just saved it, and will upload it as soon as I'm done typing.

Now, there's a chance the author will be displeased, or think the volume is too low, or tell me I have to re-voice the main character, or wonder why it sounds like I'm reading his post-apocalyptic survival tale as though to a toddler, but barring those obstacles, this has been the smoothest and most-refreshing project I've had in months.  It's this sort of thing that can help fella get his groove back.

We'll see, I suppose.

Rish Outfield, Audiobook Guy

*The fact that its deadline is next week contributed, I'll admit.