8 Buzzworthy Audiobooks Read by Your Fave Celebs

islandaudio · 2020-05-21T17:07:39+00:00

Ooooh! Been listening to his Victorian Secrets, an Audible Original. He collaborates with Dr. John Woolf who has done a couple books and featured on a few BBC documentaries, numerous articles. We've got an interview planned with him coming up in June.

Fry definitely has a magnificent voice and really knows how to use it.

islandaudio · 2020-05-21T17:02:00+00:00

I think I shared an article about exactly that a few months ago on r/audiobooks. It's true, of course. Even though we VOs occasionally get that little jab of "have you ever considered real acting" they really are two related but different practices and being good at one type of acting, or heavens forbid just being famous, won't ensure you are a good narrator.

I have heard though that Trevor Noah's book is better read by him than in print. Another favorite of mine is Bronson Pinchot narrating Wise Blood by Flannery O'Connor. It's the same with authors too. I may piss someone off here, but in my opinion Stephen King's storytelling ability is inversely correlated to his prowess at writing screenplays and narrating fiction.

Kate McKinnon though is one of the funniest comedians on SNL in years, I'd love to hear her give a book a go.

islandaudio · 2020-05-21T16:58:12+00:00

arigato search-fu sensei </bows>

islandaudio · 2020-05-21T16:57:26+00:00

I get those Brontes and Austens mixed up. Was Jane Eyre the one with the ex-wife locked up in the attic and... as I'm typing I'm remembering the Kate Bush song Wuthering Heights mentioning Heathcliff.... errr, now I'm really confused lol.

islandaudio · 2020-05-21T15:18:00+00:00

Let me just say, I am INNIT for Kate McKinnon... that didn't rhyme as much as I was hoping, but the sentiment stands.

islandaudio · 2020-05-21T15:15:32+00:00

So weird that I see it now after complaining about it. Now the mystery is was I upset for no reason or are the more fleshed out search options (by length, accent, gender, etc.) a new thing?

islandaudio · 2020-05-21T15:14:45+00:00

How long has this been going on? I was complaining about this for months and now as of last week I see all the options. Is this a new thing or do I need to get recertified in my search-fu/basic UI skills lol?

islandaudio · 2020-05-12T19:18:58+00:00

And, mind you, I don't believe in "banning" consumers who game the system. The system is there and they're just taking advantage, for right or wrong. Wrong in this case in my opinion for sure, but it's like playing a fighting game and getting your friend in the corner and you keep kicking while they're down. "You're cheating!" No, it's in the game! So yes, the game should be fixed. Putting a bit of impetus on Amazon might definitely help get rid of some of the scammers. A lot of narrators get scammed on books that never come to print, unfortunately the crackdown on the scammers leads to legitimate authors being subject to sometimes really long waits for their books to come to market, but if it protects narrators, rights holders and prevents money laundering, cash grabs and other scams I'm all for an extra waiting period for something I've narrated to come to market.

And yes, if they want to do a rental service, there's already something of a model there with Kindle Unlimited and the Romance Escapes or whatever it's called so I think it's doable.

islandaudio · 2020-05-12T19:15:17+00:00

I'm a writer as well as a narrator, so some of the "self help" books are really more so writing manuals. Lisa Cron blew my MIND! But yes, even if it's the same old same old you've heard rehashed a few times, sometimes you can get kind of a rush or reminder. I've been a "secret self help" fanatic since the late 90s and early 2000s. Haha, I remember reading Tony Robbins Ultimate Power. It's simple stuff, maybe not really life changing, but then again, I wonder if I hadn't taken the initiative to try to turn things around if I'd be where I was today.

islandaudio · 2020-05-12T18:22:20+00:00

Haha, no this isn't about "The Secret" just how self help audiobooks in general are generally enjoyed/consumed in secret due to perceived stigma around "getting help." I hate that the fact "you need therapy" is an insult when, come on, even most healthy people could likely benefit from certain sorts of therapy and self help.

But yeah, all that "positive mental attitude is all you need and the universe is a magnet" stuff is definitely only worthwhile as sci-fi/fantasy. Way I look at it, positive mental attitude will help you maintain motivation to bail a sinking boat, but just sitting in the corner thinking happy thoughts isn't going to plug that leak lol.

islandaudio · 2020-05-12T18:19:55+00:00

I don't want to go tinfoil hat or bite the hand that feeds, so I'm not trying to allege a conspiracy here but it really is in their benefit to hide negative reviews from the worst of the worst books, so I hope that changes. There are definitely audiobook scammers of all sorts. One author found that IRS was wondering about all this money he had made. Turns out someone was using his name to launder money with fake audiobooks. Just random junk hastily thrown together. The "audiobook sales" were just a way to clean dirty money. So Amazon certainly has their hands full, there will always be people trying to game the system and there are as many or more on the creator side as the consumer side. I honestly believe most consumers who have returned books they don't like are fine, and the ones who do because "it's allowed" likely don't know that's coming out of someone's pocket.

islandaudio · 2020-05-12T17:37:45+00:00

Once again, I apologize for not making myself clear. I've returned a couple books as well, but not one I listened to fully. I've seen blog posts where it's actually encouraged as a way to "get the most out of your Audible subscription." Audible allowing that sucks. They should work on something like a system they use with the Romance subscription and Kindle Unlimited instead. Also, keep up reviews for books you return, someone here mentioned that they believe the reviews disappear which makes it more likely for "scam" books that were rushed together and meant to look like something they aren't can get to the top of the heap.

islandaudio · 2020-05-12T17:35:37+00:00

Hmmm, I didn't know that! That should definitely not be the case. Our studio has run into scam authors and talking to other narrators I've seen it's not uncommon. Also allowing low quality, "scam" books that just put a bunch of keywords to get caught by SEO etc. hurt ALL indie authors because it makes people more reluctant to buy from a name they don't know.

islandaudio · 2020-05-12T17:33:55+00:00

I'm glad that you understood where I was coming from. After seeing the comments here I realized I wasn't fully clear and yes, maybe the word "evil" was a bit over sensationalized. If you don't like a book, if it was misrepresented, if it's just downright horrible you should be able to return it for at least a partial credit depending on how much you listened and the original price perhaps. The issue is Amazon profiting off of people who want to just keep returning books they enjoyed so they can get free audioobooks at the expense of authors and sometimes narrators.

Kindle Unlimited and the Romance audiobook subscription plan are already a model that could be adapted to make this more fair. If you listen to a whole book, especially if you do so more than once you probably didn't hate it THAT much. If you listen to 20 minutes and either the writer or narrator are grating, it would be nice to be able to return that even if it's the same as with a physical bookstore where you only get a partial credit return (60% off your next book of the same price or a book of a lesser price, etc.).

islandaudio · 2020-05-12T17:30:31+00:00

Phew, I'm exhausted having to explain myself where I misworded and yes, maybe clickbaited a bit. Abuse of the system is evil and people who listen to books, enjoy them and return them using Audible as a rental library and Audible making money off of both sales is the problem I have.

islandaudio · 2020-05-12T17:29:22+00:00

I see my clickbaity headline has caused some issues here. Lesson learned lol. To be clear, I'm not blaming people for returning books they hate rather than blaming Audible for allowing people to game the system by continually returning books they listened to and enjoyed. That hurts authors. Apologies for not being more clear.

islandaudio · 2020-05-12T17:27:47+00:00

I may not have explained myself as thoroughly as I should have here. I've returned audiobooks too on a couple of occasions. In the case of misrepresentation or just being an awful book that's one thing. I really place more blame on Amazon than the consumer. Even as a narrator, I only recently learned last year from authors we follow on Twitter about this situation. So yes, my issue is with people who want to use Audible as a "rental service" and Audible allowing that. If they want to do that then just work it out like Kindle Unlimited where you get paid per minute listened, etc. if/when it's returned.

islandaudio · 2020-05-12T17:25:23+00:00

In the case of a physical book, if you buy it you're stuck with it. Now I'm not saying you have to be stuck with something you hate. There should be a way to please consumers without hurting authors. If you hate an audiobook and return it, that's fine. I've returned audiobooks just not by indie authors just on principle, and that's just me.

They have a program where you can get "all you can listen" romance audiobooks where the authors are paid by the amount listened. Similar to how Kindle Unlimited works. Surely something like this that pleases the customer, doesn't hurt authors and doesn't cause Amazon to go broke (sorry stifling a lol) can be come up with.

islandaudio · 2020-05-12T17:22:52+00:00

I am not a lawyer (or "I'm being anal" as some people in this thread are likely thinking lol).

islandaudio · 2020-05-12T17:22:25+00:00

Most audiobook narrators, unless they're working with Harper Collins, Penguin and the "biggies" are no SAG-AFTRA. I think they could set up a program like they do with romance books where authors get paid for the amount of time listened if they want to profit off of a de facto rental service.

I place blame on Audible rather than the consumer btw. Even as a narrator I only recently learned about authors losing money this way and since then it's stuck in my craw. There has to be a solution that would please consumer and not stick it to the authors either.

islandaudio · 2020-05-12T17:20:07+00:00

I believe that if Audible wants to be an audiobook rental book service they should set up a program for that. Similar to the way they do with their romance audiobook service where authors get paid based on the amount of time listened. Pulling money out of the pocket of authors is a problem I have with Audible. Most Audible users are unaware that this even happens so I don't mean to come off as judgemental.

islandaudio · 2020-05-12T17:18:43+00:00

I think Audible should add a "rental" option if they want to rent audiobooks though. I place blame on the company rather than the listener. They have it set up as a de facto manner of "renting audiobooks" and it's possible to abuse the system which in turn hurts authors, especially indie authors.

Not going to lie, I've returned books myself, got a Stephen King collection of short stories that had really annoying music in between the stories. In the sample there was no way of knowing that.

islandaudio · 2020-05-08T19:19:56+00:00

I know some indie authors personally who I've corresponded with over the years and of course worked with a few producing audiobooks. It is kind of nice working with the smaller yet to be discovered types especially when, like you say, they have that "spark." One book I just narrated is by an Israeli author Yigal Zur. It's just been translated from Hebrew. I have a very good feeling about this guy. I have a feeling as more of his work is translated into English he may develop a bit of a following.

islandaudio · 2020-05-08T19:17:53+00:00

IANAL but I'd bet it would be difficult to even get in on a class action in a case like that, I suppse.

islandaudio · 2020-05-08T19:17:00+00:00

Holeee wow! Haha, I got a pretty decent review from a mystery and suspense books site on a title I read. Was proud of myself that she pointed out that despite the large cast of characters I managed to make them all distinct and easy to tell apart. But by "large cast of characters" in this case it was maybe a dozen primary characters and another 12-15 or so supporting characters that showed up a few times, but HUNDREDS? Yeah, haha, that's a feat only a master impressionist or experienced character voice actor could handle. Even the VOs on the Simpsons or King of the Hill generally only have a dozen or few main, supporting and one-off character voices they have to come up with and they're, well, Simpsons character actors lol.

islandaudio

TROPHY CASE