Audiobooks

My real love in the publishing industry is audiobooks. I’ve been listening to audiobooks since I was a child, and fell in love with them again as an adult during long commutes to work and many, many road trips between living in California and moving to the Pacific Northwest. When I first came to Ooligan Press and learned that our Digital Department was beginning an audiobooks program, I immediately volunteered. Over the past 2 years I have participated every step of the way in the production of our first audiobooks, working with faculty and students from Portland State’s Sonic Arts and Music Production program, as well as other publishing students. I’ve been an assistant producer and director on our test backlist audiobook, Ricochet River, and our first front list audiobook title, The Widmer Way. I also worked as audio proofreader for the forthcoming memoir Breaking Cadence.

Skills & Expertise

• Audiobook Director/Producer
• Audiobook editing and proofreading both in real-time and post-recording to ensure recordings remain faithful to the print book
• Involvement in and knowledge of audition processes, rehearsals, and test recordings
• In-depth knowledge of the industry and best practices for small publishers and publishers just starting out in audiobooks
• Directing voice actors in terms of cadence, pronunciations, and tone
• Experience with problem-solving in the studio when last minute edits for the print manuscript are still taking place
• Background in live music and studio equipment set-up and production assistance
• Interest in learning Pro Tools and/or Studio One to offer some assistance in sound engineering and recording as well
• Creation of focused audiobooks blog content

In addition to my experience with the production process, I’ve also written my final research paper for the PSU Masters in Book Publishing on audiobooks. Specifically, how independent publishers looking to break into the audiobooks industry can use the limited sales and audience data available to them, as well as advice from industry professionals I’ve interviewed, to inform their decisions in making competitive and high-quality audiobooks. Please feel free to download my research paper below for use as a best practices guide, and also see my Ooligan blog post on the Ricochet River audiobook for more about Ooligan’s new audiobooks program, and my recent blog post for the Oregon Authors website on audiobooks from Oregon authors and producers.

Small Publishers Guide to Audiobooks

I also recently presented my research at Portland State’s Transmit Culture research symposium. You can find a link to my talk, as well as copies of the slides below.

Presentation on Audiobooks and Small Publishers for Symposium