[Studiotalk] Long titles - any suggestions

[Blackwell, Brian]

In a situation like that, I try to entice a narrator who has been with us a long time, and presumably will continue to be with us. This obviously makes it more likely they'll see it through to completion. It's also important to be upfront with them about the amount of time a project like this would take, before they accept it.

Off the record, I also usually try to play to their ego a little, and talk about how I don't think anyone else would be able to accomplish this project.

There have been times when I sat on a book for months, waiting for "the perfect voice", but really you could wait forever for that to happen. And of course, a book you actually release, which is 70% of what you wanted, will always be better than that magical perfect book which is never finished.

Right now I'm directing a book which we started in February. After weekly two hour sessions, we are fifteen hours in, and halfway through the book. The narrator and I joke about how long it's going to end up being, but we still plug along at it, session after session. It is going to take a very long time at that rate to complete it. But do you know what would take longer? Never completing it. :)

For books which become a marathon, more than just finding the right voice, it's important to find the right temperament. Someone who is willing and able to give a quality reading, for subject matter they might detest, and is willing to "take one for the team."

Constant praise for the narrator doesn't hurt, either. :)


-Brian Blackwell
Studio Manager
Arizona Talking Book Library
1030 North 32nd Street
Phoenix, AZ 85008



[Talking-Book-Esig]
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From: studiotalk [mailto:studiotalk-bounces at islemail.org] On Behalf Of Mugford, John, DCA
Sent: Tuesday, October 9, 2018 8:28 AM
To: TBBS Recording Studio Info
Subject: Re: [Studiotalk] Long titles - any suggestions

               Generally, subject matter, rather than length has proven more dissuasive concerning project acceptance in my experience.

               Having said that, I am aware that New Mexico's longest project of late has been about 20 hours in length (about 450 pages) and met with some volunteer despair in the reviewing portion. That project took about one year, four months to complete.

               How lengthy of a project are you considering? Matching subject matter to volunteer interests (preferably a volunteer, who regularly reads more than once a week) may present a solution.

John Mugford
Regional Librarian
New Mexico Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped

From: studiotalk [mailto:studiotalk-bounces at islemail.org] On Behalf Of Coffman, Linden
Sent: Tuesday, October 09, 2018 8:26 AM
To: studiotalk at islemail.org
Subject: [EXT] [Studiotalk] Long titles - any suggestions

Hi all,

This morning's question involves long titles and how you handle them?  Do any of you have trouble when it comes to selecting long titles and then finding a volunteer to take one on?  Do you have any suggestions as to how to present a title to a volunteer narrator when you know they may be in the book for a long time?  I have at least one title that I have which could take as long as two years to complete that I would like to do, but I often have trouble getting people to commit to a book for that length of time.  Anybody else run into this problem?

Linden Coffman
Director
Indiana Voices
Indiana State Library
Talking Book & Braille Library
315 West Ohio Street
Indianapolis, IN 46202
317-232-3683
E-mail: lcoffman at library.in.gov
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