Audiobook Technology: The Kindle

Recently, I began work on a new audiobook and  I did what I normally do.  I got the file, opened it up the word processor, adjusted the font size, and then sent the entire 250 page manuscript to my laser printer.  20 minutes and half a ream of paper later, I had the manuscript that I meant to use to record the audiobook.  I took the sheaf of paper into the studio, set it on the music stand, and got to work.  When you’re looking at a huge stack of paper like that, it can seem like a daunting task.  Taking that giant stack of writing and turning it into a living, energetic, entertaining audiobook seems like a massive undertaking.  And in a way, it is.

I have to admit something, though: as much as I enjoy recording audiobooks, I hate the preparation process.  I hate firing up my laser printer to print up multiple copies of a text.  (Usually I have to print up at least two copies…one for the reader, and one for the director.  Sometimes even one for a producer or audio engineer will need a copy as well.)  A fairly small novel can easily eat up 1000 pages of paper.  Then you have to punch holes in the paper and mount it in three-ring binders.  Then you have to deliver the manuscript to the reader ahead of time for them to review and prepare.  It eats up valuable time and money that could be better spent on other pursuits.

As an engineer, I also loathe using paper to record audiobooks.  Every single time the reader turns the page, it’s likely that the microphone will pick up the sound.  Then it has to be edited out later.  I have had readers knock over the stand accidentally and have the entire manuscript go flying—usually resulting in the script getting so far out of order that it’s just faster to print up yet another copy.

One of the things that we really believe in at Open Book Audio is using technology to improve both the quality and the efficiency of the work that we do.  I’ve been desperate for a way to overcome our use of paper and toner.  They are an unnecessary drain on finances and an unnecessary environmental stress.  So many trees.  For a while, we tried putting a computer screen turned to portrait mode into the recording booth with the reader.  That was okay, but it caused just as many problems.  The monitors got warm and heated up the recording booth quickly.  The reader had to use either a keyboard or a mouse to control the page turns on the monitor, and those made noise and/or got dropped regularly in the middle of recording.  It just wasn’t an elegant solution.

Finally, last week, I decided it was time to break down and buy the Amazon Kindle. They had just come out with the DX, the newest version.  It features a much larger screen than the previous versions, which is ideal for a situation like reading in the studio.

Amazon’s wildly popular eBook reader has been on my radar for a long time.  It is, by no means, the very first eReader.  These things have been around for years.  But the Kindle was the first that really took off. Amazon put together an entire ecosystem that just works.  Hardware, software, and services combined perfectly to produce a system that just works.  (Rather like what Apple did with the iPod eight years ago.) Its screen is amazingly easy on the eyes, the device is lightweight, page turns are handled by the touch of a button.  Perhaps one of the most impressive features of the Kindle is its ability to receive books and files wirelessly through a built-in cell phone radio.

The possibilities for this device are endless for a company such as Open Book Audio.  I could load a book onto the Kindle, hand it to my reader, and send him or her into the studio.  The button presses are nearly silent.  The easy-reading screen means that there are fewer reading mistakes which result in fewer edits down the line.  The device can resize text for those readers who, like me, struggle a little with their eyesight.  I can even hand the Kindle to a reader, then later in the week, automatically deliver a manuscript wirelessly.  Imagine the possibilities:  We email a manuscript to a reader a week before our first session, it shows up in their kindle, and they can come to the studio completely prepared for the first session. No paper, no ink, no postage or gas for delivery.

We got our first Kindle last week, and I’ve been using it in the studio for a book I’m currently reading.  I have to say, I’m hooked.  I feel like this is a game-changing device.  Not only for us in the audiobook industry, but for the book industry as a whole.  It’s been a really long time since the publishing world has had an innovation that could encourage people read–particularly something that doesn’t involve a teenage wizard or sparkly vampires.  This device is cool.

I have been stopped several times in the street, in restaurants, at work, and around town by people who have heard of the Kindle and want to see one in person.  They are uniformly impressed by the device’s form factor, screen, and feature set.  Most Kindle users I’ve interacted with have said that they find themselves reading more now that they have the Kindle than they did before.

Are the Kindle and other eBook devices the future of the publishing industry?  Barring pulling out my crystal ball, I would say both yes and no.  Immediate digital delivery of books is a very exciting advance.  It results in significant cost savings in printing, paper, shipping, and inventory storage.  The Kindle will never replace books entirely.  There will always be that subset of people for whom holding a book is a visceral, romantic feeling.  There are people who yearn to have a library full of books to organize and display.  But there are also people (like me, for instance) who live in small apartments, who move regularly, and who love to read, but have no real attachment to bound paper and ink.  I’ve moved 25 times in the last 11 years.  You try moving 10 boxes of books that often and tell me how much you love holding a printed book in your hand.

There are also those people like many of our your future customers who simply don’t have the time to sit down and read.  Even with devices like the Kindle, the audience of commuters, aural learners, and other audiobook lovers is still vibrant and will grow.  (The Kindle even has a headphone jack and can play back audiobooks!)  Anything that gets people more interested in literature is a good thing in our eyes.

And anything that speeds up our work or reduces our costs is also a good thing.  We don’t have to pay for paper anymore, we don’t have to pay for printer toner.  We just have to pay for a really expensive technological device.