I admit I have never read...err...listened to an audio book. I have never downloaded an MP3, purchased a cassette, CD, DVD or any other mode by which I can be read a book. And to date, neither of my books, Deadly Lessons and Last Dance, have audio book versions published - if that's the correct term - nor have I heard of any plans to do so, at least in the immediate future.
But in an industry whose stories are often coloured in dark grey tones with reports of diminishing sales, closing publishing houses and independent booksellers collapsing against the commercial heft of the so-called big box stores, audio books apparently an area of growth. In fact, according to the Wall Street Journal audio books are enjoying an "explosion" in sales in recent years, particularly in comparison to the print brethren. Booksellers and publishers have seen spikes in sales that while not surpassing print or e-book sales, have seen percentage increases not enjoyed by other segments of the industry.
In fact, many publishers and authors themselves are now considering this such an important aspect of their business they are investing significant resources into the production and even casting of voice actors for thier audio books. With bestselling, big name authors it is not uncommon now to find books being read not by one but by a cast of actors, each taking on voices for dialogue of different characters in addition to the narrator.
And research shows that audio books are reaching audiences our books weren't hitting. These can be the summer car trip families looking for something they can do together in the car beyond the children being buried in their own electronic devices. They can also be reluctant readers, those who, as one man claims in the Wall Street Journal article, hadn't picked up a book since high school but had burned through ten in a summer when listening to the story. Not only that, but some research indicates that those "new" readers, those who were coming to novels via audio rather than print, are coming to print in addition to audio.
Certainly as a former classroom teacher, there were times, particularly in that brief period when I was teaching English, that I read to students and they seemed to enjoy it. I suppose it's possible that while I was reading to them they weren't having to do the work, and for some of them that may have been the genesis of the enjoyment. But there is significant educational research that indicates that people at all ages can not only learn from storytelling in auditory fashion but obtain significant enjoyment as well. It works for our kids - how many parental help books beat to death the importance of reading to our children - why wouldn't older kids or even adults derive satisfaction from it as well?
The author in me is more explicitly interested in the commercial impact of creating audio books than the educational one, though, if I inadvertently have a positive impact on literacy, who am I to argue?
Of course, given that my publisher isn't chomping at the microphone to create these works and my ability to engage and pay for Alan Rickman is, shall we say, limited, I may have to resort to a significantly lower cost option, including, but not limited to, producing the work myself, or at least narrating it. Certainly, some reviewers advise against it (of course that particular review was written by a producer of audio books) but the sentiment is valid: performing spoken word is an entirely different skill from creating the written word and writers are not necessarily skilled at both. I like to think my performance background, both in talk-show broadcast and in improvisation performance (I'm hosting the Amazing Improv Race and performing in TheatreSports this coming Saturday night by the way - shameless plugs are an important part of blog writing) at least give me some experience that could contribute to a decent product. And while I'm not expecting it to become an audio bestseller, per se, it might be one more means by which I can get the stories in front of new readers...err....listeners.
So, if you happen to have a recording studio you're not using.....
Next week: writing your protagonist's flaws.
