Shaun Toole's Turn-Key Audiobooks

15/01/2024

Audible lays off 5% of workforce.

Amazon Audible is another division hit with layoffs in January, leaked email shows.

13/11/2023

I got a note from talented actress and audiobook narrator Hollis McCarthy today. I did the postproduction on audiobooks from her late mom's series, "The Magic of Larlion."

Hollis wrote, "If you have any friends who like fantasy, the first 3 books of my mom's series are on sale thru Friday. Book 1 is free, and 2 & 3 are $.99. She'd be chuffed that book 1 is already #41 on the free bestseller lists!"

Nice deal!

Visit Amazon's The Magic of Larlion Page and shop for all The Magic of Larlion books. Check out pictures, author information, and reviews of The Magic of Larlion

30/10/2023

Anne Marie Lewis has been a client of Shaun Toole's Turn-Key Audiobooks for several years, and I am very proud to see our recent project nominated for a SOVAS award! I am grateful to have worked with several other narrators nominated for awards this year. All of you deserve the recognition!

15/04/2023

"I hear dead people." - A.I. uses old recordings to transform audiobooks (MSNBC)

Writer and narrator Tanya Eby is interviewed. A.I. is not helping her business... or any human narrator!

Edward Herrmann was a popular actor seen on “Gilmore Girls” and “Nixon,” now he is lending his voice to new audiobooks, even after his death nine years ago. NBC’s Steven Romo has more on how A.I. is behind this new audio narration technology.

15/03/2023

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/mar/15/texan-mary-mccoy-85-longest-serving-radio-presenter?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

I started my brilliant career in radio as an 18-year-old DJ. It lasted about 8 years, including working on and off during college, and spanned about 15 radio stations located between north Florida and upstate New York.

Compare that with the career of Mary McCoy, age 85, who has worked 72 years at the same radio station. Obviously I was doing something wrong!

Mary McCoy, 85, lived briefly in a tent as a child before breaking into radio in 1951 and eventually sharing a stage with Elvis Presley

08/02/2023

Here's my Messager post to which I felt compelled to write after learning that her audiobook, "Greta Thunberg: Your silence is almost worst of all," is narrated by voice synthesis/A.I.

"Hi Greta, I admire your work and your courage, but I was saddened to learn that the audiobook of "Your silence is almost worst of all" is narrated by voice synthesis rather than a human narrator. Voice actors are artists who care about the environment. Most of them are not wealthy stars, and many are rightfully concerned about losing their livelihood to A.I. The posting for your book encourages authors to "...learn more about creating your own Audiobook for a fraction of the cost of hiring voice actors." This enticement smacks of capitalism and callousness toward those who suffer at the hand of the purveyors of automation. Sincerely, Shaun Toole"

Greta Thunberg: Your silence is almost worst of allThe Story of How a Teenager Started a Global Movement At Wanderword, we are excited to have partnered with Ordfront förlag for the Audiobook release of Greta Thunberg: Your silence is almost worst of all! Written by Anders Hellberg, this is a story...

09/01/2023

It's wonderful to receive an unsolicited message from a new client... like this one from Nan McNamara!

30/09/2022

My first Yes concert was September 30, 1972 - fifty years ago today! Yes has a big influence in my life. Not only did they have a unique progressive rock sound, but the five musicians of the band could successfully bring their complex music to the live stage. The audio production of their albums was superb, which shaped my pursuits in music, broadcasting, and audio postproduction. Thank you, Yes, for the great music and inspiration through the years!

26/09/2022

Free training for audiobook royalty streams? I'm doubtful. Anyone with info about or experiences with this "profitable opportunity," please share.

How Everyday People Are Tapping Into Little-Known Royalty Streams By Uploading Short Audiobooks Online

20/09/2022

The rumors are true:
Today is my 67th birthday. Only 33 left until I start counting backward.

10/06/2022

When you proof and edit, you become attuned to finding mistakes everywhere... like this one in the credits for the final episode of "The Staircase" on HBO Max.

17/03/2022

...because I'm Irish!

23/12/2021

17/12/2021

I’m considering branching into writing. This handy plot generator will take me a long way! 😉

18/11/2021

When you outsource your audiobook postproduction to us, you free yourself to work on your next project. And you have the peace of mind and confidence that comes with having experts handle postproduction for you.

Watch our two-minute video to learn what we can do for you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBo2RVC7ekg

You're a narrator, not an engineer, proofer, or editor. When you outsource your audiobook postproduction to us, you free yourself to find and work on your ne...

18/11/2021

I'm rebranding today! Check out my updated website: www.shauntoole.com

Shaun Toole's Turn-Key Audiobooks is your turn-key solution for professional audiobook postproduction. When you outsource your audiobook postproduction to us, you free yourself to work on your next project.

23/10/2021

Kristin Price VO has a lot to brag about, and this audiobook is her latest accomplishment. I'm happy to have Kristin as one of my steady clients for postproduction, and "The Dark Side of Angels" is our most recent collaboration. Her performance makes this suspenseful thrill ride hard to pause!

Check out this great listen on Audible.com. An amazing action-packed thriller about family, the pursuit of truth, and the life-changing breakthrough lurking in our future.  Kayla Covington has been called the most dangerous woman on Earth. Ten years after her experimental treatment failed to ...

11/05/2021

Here's the fifth and final tip shared from "5 tips to writing emails that will always get you a reply" by Guy Katz PhD and published on IDEAS.TED.COM.

5. Tap into the power of the last impression

Here’s one final point. Remember how Steve Jobs always waited until the end of his presentations to show off the coolest of the products he was introducing? He used to say “one more thing”, and boom, there came a new iPhone out of his pocket.

Why not use that tactic too? If you have one important thing to say or one crucial thing you need from your recipient, or one uncomfortable thing to say, try putting it in the P.S. line. This is the last impression, which isn’t as well known as the first impression. But it can be just as powerful as it’s the one thing that sticks with your reader even after the rest is forgotten.

PS: I'll practice what I preach right now! This post was adapted from Guy Katz‘s TEDxZurich Talk. Watch it here: https://youtu.be/PjW94dolmRo✔

Research shows that each of us gets up to 120 emails per day, but we only open 34% of them. By learning just a few basic methods, you can optimize your day a...

04/05/2021

You want your email messages to stand out and get results. Your messages are up against a lot of competition. Roughly 300 billion are sent around the world every day, according to Statista. On average, each of us who works in an office gets 121 emails per working day on average!

Here's another tip from Guy Katz's article about making your email stand out.

4. Use names at critical moments

Imagine if you knew a magic word that you could include in your email, a word that could instantaneously grab the attention of every single person in the world.

Well, it turns out you already know it: It’s the name of the person you’re emailing.

Dale Carnegie once wrote, “A person’s ​name​ is to him or her the ​sweetest​ and ​most important sound​ in any language.” He wrote this almost 100 years ago, but I believe his words still apply today.

We all have a narcissist in us, and if you use a person’s name at ​critical moments​, you will ​increase your likelihood​ of getting an answer. For example, when you’re making a crucial request in your email, start with the recipient’s name. What’s more, research shows that ​mentioning​ the name of another person whom the recipient ​knows will also significantly raise the chances your email will be answered.

Just remember: There is one way in which a person’s name can completely ruin your email — if you misspell their name, all the thought you put into your message will go down the drain.

Now I’m sure that some people reading this will say there is no “perfect” email, and they’re right. Every email is different, yet most emails have two things in common: one, you want something from someone, and two, that someone is a human. Because of these two things, my suggested ingredients can surely help.

What matters is the proportion. Now that you have the list of recommended ingredients for an email make sure you use them in the right quantities. From now on, try and break away from writing any important emails on autopilot. Instead, picture the person you’re writing to and season your email to their taste using your ingredients.

https://ideas.ted.com/5-tips-to-writing-emails-that-will-always-get-you-a-reply/

Too many emails aren’t read​ — they’re just skimmed​ or simply deleted. Want to save yours from the digital trash can? Follow this basic advice, from business professor Guy Katz.…

27/04/2021

My third post with points from IDEAS.TED.COM's "5 tips to writing emails that will always get you a reply" by Guy Katz PhD is about BREVITY.

3. Keep them as brief as a tweet

Research from NYU, MIT, and Boston University shows that many emails aren’t read​ but just skimmed​ or simply deleted. And it seems that with every additional word you write beyond your first 40, you directly reduce the chances of getting an answer.

So be as brief as you can. Keep it the length of a tweet, or 280 characters.

Now you may be telling yourself: “No way — my meeting notes [or whatever you’re writing about] can’t be that short.”

And you’re right.

But the one part of that email in which you ask for something or get something done can be kept brief. You can include those meeting notes as an attachment.

https://ideas.ted.com/5-tips-to-writing-emails-that-will-always-get-you-a-reply/

26/04/2021

From the audiobook title I'm currently proofing.

“Your sister should have whooped some sense into that girl’s ass a long time ago. Not to mention, her dang pants are so tight that if she farts it’ll blow her boots off,” Ann Aramini commented.

“Good one,” Flip said with a laugh. “I always say ‘her pants are so tight you can see her religion’.”

Narrated by the incomparable Hollis McCarthy
https://robynpeterman.com/the-write-hook/

Midlife is full of surprises. Not all of them are working for me. But they're freaking hilarious.

20/04/2021

Email is an essential means of doing business, especially in the pandemic. Did you know that a study done with Microsoft shows the average employee spends 28 percent of their day working on emails?

I'm sharing tips from the TED article by Guy Katz PhD on writing email that will always get a response. Here's the next one!

2. Add color and feeling to your email

Our emails are written in ​black and white​, so they automatically look kind of boring​. Sending your thoughts in email is a bit like speaking without being able to use your body, voice, or face. So how can we put ​some color and — more importantly — feeling​ into them?

By using different kinds of punctuation and, yes, ​emojis​.

For example, here’s the same sentence but written three different ways. Which do you find the most engaging?

Dear Guy, thank you for visiting.
Guy, thanks for visiting!
Hey Guy, awesome that you dropped by 🙂

I like to call punctuation and emojis “digital body language,” which we desperately need to show who we are, even if we’re just writing an email.

And if you want to go all in, try adding a GIF!

https://ideas.ted.com/5-tips-to-writing-emails-that-will-always-get-you-a-reply/

Too many emails aren’t read​ — they’re just skimmed​ or simply deleted. Want to save yours from the digital trash can? Follow this basic advice, from business professor Guy Katz.…