Stories Told Through Sound

With thousands of outlets worldwide and growing, audio drama is the new frontier in storytelling. From family dramas tales to epic space battles and period pieces to large-cast musicals, it is a medium without limits, because the audience creates the visual world in their mind. In Stories Told through Sound, audio-dramatist Barry M. Putt, Jr. lays out the essentials of the form in an engaging, easy-to-understand manner. He offers dozens of tactics and strategies: the top reasons audiences don’t connect with a character and how to avoid them, ways to create exciting plot twists, career pitfalls to watch out for, and how to draft a dynamic marketing plan that will keep your work in the forefront of any industry professional’s mind. It includes tips from a number of top-tier professionals to help give a deeper understanding of how to find success in a new and exciting creative industry. Dust off that story idea you’ve been wanting to develop and learn how to craft an engaging script that can become a fully realized production. In audio drama, everything is possible!

Over the last few decades, the radio documentary has developed into a strikingly vibrant form of creative expression. Millions of listeners hear arresting, intimate storytelling from an ever-widening array of producers on programs including This American Life, StoryCorps, and Radio Lab; online through such sites as Transom, the Public Radio Exchange, Hearing Voices, and Soundprint; and through a growing collection of podcasts. Reality Radio celebrates today's best audio documentary work by bringing together some of the most influential and innovative practitioners from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia. In these nineteen essays, documentary artists tell--and demonstrate, through stories and transcripts--how they make radio the way they do, and why. Whether the contributors to the volume call themselves journalists, storytellers, even audio artists--and although their essays are just as diverse in content and approach--all use sound to tell true stories, artfully. Contributors: Jad Abumrad Jay Allison damali ayo John Biewen Emily Botein Chris Brookes Scott Carrier Katie Davis Sherre DeLys Lena Eckert-Erdheim Ira Glass Alan Hall Natalie Kestecher The Kitchen Sisters Maria Martin Karen Michel Rick Moody Joe Richman Dmae Roberts Stephen Smith Sandy Tolan

Do you want to create, publish and market your audiobooks? Are you ready to use podcasting to grow your author brand and reach more readers with your books? Audiobooks are the fastest-growing segment in publishing with double-digit growth in markets across the world. Podcasting has gone mainstream with listeners consuming audio on mobile phones and in-car devices, as well as through smart speakers. Advancements in voice technology continue to expand possibilities for audio creation and marketing. With such rapid growth in opportunity, how can you position your books in an increasingly voice-first world? I've been podcasting for over a decade as well as narrating and producing my own audiobooks since 2014. I'm an avid consumer of audio content and I'm also experimenting with AI voice technologies. In this book, I'll share everything I know so you can position your books and your author brand for the next shift in reader behavior. You will discover: - Introduction - Why audio and why now? - The audio first ecosystem - The audio mindset PART 1: Audiobooks - Types of audiobooks - Writing, adapting and editing your work for audio - Intellectual property considerations for audiobooks - Your options for audiobook publishing and licensing - How to find and work with a professional narrator - Reasons to narrate your own audiobook - Audiobook narration tips - Recording studio options - Audiobook recording, editing, and production - How to self-publish an audiobook - How long does an audiobook take to produce? - How do audiobook readers discover audiobooks? - How to market audiobooks - The money side of audiobooks PART 2: Podcasting - Why podcasting is important for authors - The difference between audiobooks and podcasting - Types of podcasts - How to research and pitch podcasters - How to be a great podcast guest - Should you start your own podcast? - Podcast prerequisites - Intellectual property considerations for podcasting - Podcasting equipment and software - Podcast structure - How to be a great podcast host - Podcast distribution - Show notes and transcripts - Collaboration and freelancers - Podcast workflow and tools - How to launch a podcast - How to market a podcast - Repurpose your content - The money side of podcasting PART 3: Voice Technologies - Overview of voice technologies - Speech to text: dictation - Text to speech - Voice assistants, smart speakers and devices - Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the future of voice

Now two decades old, podcasting is an exuberant medium where new voices can be found every day. As a powerful communications tool that is largely unregulated and unusually accessible, this influential medium is attracting scholarly scrutiny across a range of fields, from media and communications to history, criminology, and gender studies. Hailed for intimacy and authenticity in an age of mistrust and disinformation, podcasts have developed fresh models for storytelling, entertainment, and the casual imparting of knowledge. Podcast hosts have forged strong parasocial relationships that attract advertisers, brands, and major platforms, but can also be leveraged for community, niche, and public-interest purposes. In The Power of Podcasting, award-winning narrative podcast producer and leading international audio scholar Siobhán McHugh dissects the aesthetics and appeal of podcasts and reveals the remarkable power of the audio medium to build empathy and connection via voice and sound. Drawing on internationally acclaimed podcasts she helped produce (The Greatest Menace, The Last Voyage of the Pong Su, Phoebe’s Fall), she blends practical insights into making complex narrative podcasts and chatcasts or conversational shows with critical analysis of the art and history of audio storytelling. She also surveys the emerging canon of podcast formats. Grounded in concepts from the affective power of voice to the choreography of sound and packed with case studies and insider tips from McHugh’s decades of experience, this richly storied book immerses readers in the enthralling possibilities of the world of sound.

Composed in the mid-sixteenth century, The Sound of the Kiss, or The Story That Must Never Be Told, could be considered the first novel written in South Asia. Telugu, the language spoken in today's Andhra Pradesh region of southern India, has a classical literary tradition extending over a thousand years. Suranna's masterpiece comes from a period of intense creativity in Telugu, when great poets produced strikingly modern innovations. The novel explodes preconceived ideas about early South Indian literature: for example, that the characters lack interiority, that the language is formulaic, and that Telugu texts are mere translations of earlier Sanskrit works. Employing the poetic style known as campu, which mixes verse and prose, Pingali Suranna's work transcends our notions of traditional narrative. "I wanted to have the structure of a complex narrative no one had ever known," he said of his great novel, "with rich evocations of erotic love, and also descriptions of gods and temples that would be a joy to listen to." The Sound of the Kiss is both a gripping love story and a profound meditation on mind and language. Shulman and Rao include a thorough introduction that provides a broader understanding of, and appreciation for, the complexities and subtleties of this text.

In Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart", the narrator tries to prove his sanity after murdering an elderly man because of his "vulture eye". His growing guilt leads him to hear the old man's heart beating under the floorboards, which drives him to confess the crime to the police.

Interviews with 21 prominent feature film editors highlight this long-overdue look at the role of film editors, the importance of their work, and the nature of their craft. Organized to provide historical continuity and to trace professional collaborations among the subjects, Selected Takes features editors whose credits include such diverse films as Ben Hur, The French Connection, The Godfather, and E.T. Each chapter includes a brief introduction to the artist, background information, a filmography of feature-length works, and personal recollections of specific films, producers, and directors, as well as helpful comments on editing techniques. A glossary of terms commonly used in film editing and pertinent references found in the interviews complement the work. Film students, scholars, and educators, as well as film industry professionals and moviegoers, will find Selected Takes both entertaining and instructive.

This book guides nonfiction storytellers in the art of creatively and strategically using sound to engage their audience and bring stories to life. Sound is half of film and video storytelling, and yet its importance is often overlooked until a post-production emergency arises. Written by two experienced creators--one a seasoned nonfiction producer/director with a background in music, and one a sound designer who owns a well-regarded mix studio--this book teaches nonfiction producers, filmmakers, and branded content creators how to reimagine their storytelling by improving sound workflow from field to post. In addition to real-world examples from the authors' own experiences, interviews with and examples from industry professionals across many genres of nonfiction production are included throughout. Written in a conversational style, the book pinpoints practical topics and considerations like 360 video and viewer accessibility. As such, it is a vital point of reference for all nonfiction filmmakers, directors, and producers, or anyone wanting to learn how to improve their storytelling. An accompanying Companion Website offers listening exercises, production sound layout diagrams, templates, and other resources.