What I Learned From Recording My Own Audiobook 🎙️✨
my thoughts on performance, voice, & accessibility - welcome back to The Slush Pile!
In what is becoming an interesting occurance lately, we’re back with yet another bonus issue of The Slush Pile - welcome to Issue 21! This is going to be an unabashedly self-promo moment so if you’re not interested in that, I totally understand and will see you here next month for Issue 22. For those of you who are staying, I’m quite happy to share that I have officially released the audiobooks of both of my poetry chapbooks, STREAMING SERVICE: golden shovels made for tv and STREAMING SERVICE: season two, now available for purchase on Google Play and Overdrive! They will soon be available on more sites too, including Audible, but in the meantime, I want to reflect on this experience and everything I’ve learned, especially as someone who is not audio-savy in the slightest. What I’ve gained in using my creative voice in an entirely new and different way, and how I feel I’ve grown as a performer, poet, writer, and creative dedicated to making my work accessible and liberating.
I first conceived this project at the beginning of the year six months after releasing season two. Audiobooks have always been a medium I’ve wanted to wade into, even though, ironically, I’m not someone who is able to listen to them. Frankly, my mind wanders, I lose focus, I lose interest, I stop paying attention, and I miss things. Unlike physical books that I have to singularly focus on, audiobooks are something that I just can’t sit down and listen to; I have to be moving around and doing something else, which ends up being counterproductive to the act of what is, essentially, storytelling. And no shade to standard recording artists for prose works, the work they do is HARD, but narrators are sometimes so monotone that my lack of focus happens naturally.
So when I went about recording this project, I knew I wanted to replicate the strategies I use when I perform my work online or in front of people, that is to be animated, lively, engaging, and compelling. I’m a constantly evolving performer and by no means perfect, but I didn’t just want to read my poems straight how it appeared on the page. But to honor page breaks, breath patterns, the energy I felt when I originally wrote the words. I did edit many of my intakes of breath out because my friend and podcast host Anthony Ramos (who was the first person to listen to the audio and give his expert feedback!) pointed out to me that they could be intense and distracting within the track, which turned out to be true. But other than that, how I read aloud the books are how they sound in my head. Strangely enough, I find that not enough poets record audiobooks of their own work, which I find is a hugely missed opportunity for readers, especially those who want to see them perform live but can’t. It’s like having an open mic right there in your room!
In order to further de-mystify the project, I will also say that my set-up was incredibly DIY. With Anthony’s help, I followed his advice of making my own recording studio in my room with nothing but a closet, a blanket, and a closed door. I had the luxury of a professional microphone (again, thanks Anthony!) but I had no professional studio or production besides his advice. Everything else I did on my own. So for me, the goal was to get somewhere where there was a lot of stuff to muffle the natural echo of a space and somewhere where there wouldn’t be too much background noise.
That ended up presenting itself as a challenge when it came to the actual recording. I live on an extremely busy main street and the microphone was extremely sensitive, meaning it would record everything from a loud motorcycle or helicopter passing by, to my stomach that grumbled whether it was hungry or digesting a meal. If I got a text notification, it picked up the buzz. If I moved my foot, it caught it. So I had to learn to be careful with my movements while also attempting to sit comfortably and adjust to my body on the floor. I also couldn’t record on days when people were at the house or if my nose was feeling stuffy, as it would affect the quality of my voice. There was also a brief period where I recorded five poems in a row and realized too late I hadn’t put the foam mic cover on! It was problem after problem but I also learned to enjoy the process.
I grew to love the sound of my own voice. While I still get uncomfortable being in the same room as someone who is watching back a video of one of my performances or even a voicemail, I gained a special bond with my voice over time. Not only did I have to hear it over and over while I was editing and playing bits back, thereby overexposing me to the point of acceptance, but I also had to rely entirely on my voice to tell my stories. I couldn’t depend on my usual hand gestures or facial expressions (though I think you can hear me smiling in some of the happier poems), and instead had to figure out how to convey all of that in the rhythm, pace, speed, cadence, and tone of my voice. How to help the listener imagine what I looked like solely on what I sounded like.
It also got me thinking about accessibility in relation to writing and the work I do, how I rely so much on written word without giving enough thought to those who don’t consume information that way. Yes, there’s that intrinsic ask I do of my work where I note rhythm, pacing, sound, but only for brief moments during revision (I like to read my work aloud to hear how it sounds) and performance and readings. Creating this audiobook has made me look at sound in an entirely new way and how I could be offering my audience other ways to interact with my work beyond the page now and moving forward in future projects.
In the end, it took me from March to the beginning of June to record both books. If I could go back and do things differently, I would’ve liked to have given myself even more time just to get more familiar with the process of sending my audiobook to retailers and how long it would take to be approved. But overall, I’m super happy and impressed with how it came out and how much I accomplished in that time. I also want to take this moment to give a shout-out to my friends Tommy Blake, Rosario Santiago, Alejandra Medina, and Joyce Liu who collaborated with me on four of the poems in season two, said yes to recording themselves for the audiobook without hesitation (and in two cases, even re-recording themselves), and did so in a timely manner. I’m so in awe of my fellow writers and hope this inspires you to try listening to or making your own audiobooks. It’s hard work but it’s worth it!
notes from the writer’s desk ✍️
my favorite recently pub’d pieces:
Does Flamin’ Hot Just Perpetuate Capitalism’s “Pull Yourself Up By Your Bootstraps” Myth?, Refinery29 Somos
Is ‘No Hard Feelings’ Really Bringing Back 2000s Comedies?, LatinaMedia.Co
V. Castro’s New Novel Explores Mexican Folklore, La Llorona, & Motherhood, HipLatina
13 Queer Latinx-Owned Shops to Support This Pride Month, HipLatina
updates:
The audiobooks for my self-published poetry chapbooks STREAMING SERVICE: golden shovels made for tv and STREAMING SERVICE: season two are OUT NOW! Experience my work on a different channel on Google Play now, with more retailers and platforms to come soon. If you still need your digital and/or signed physical copies, order from my shop site today! Thank you as always for your support :’)
Submissions for my magazine Mag 20/20 are now OPEN for Issue 06! We are looking for writing (all forms), art, music, photography, and hybrid work from creatives 20-29. Until the deadline on August 15th, your work will be considered by an incredible masthead of readers and editors, so be sure to get your submissions in soon. Submit here!
Since January, I’ve been hosting creativity café, an ig live series where i feature, create space, and hold conversation with writers I love and that you should too! The sixteenth episode will premiere on Saturday, July 15th and feature special guest writer Kelli Lage, so head to my Instagram to watch it then. See you there!
resources:
Looking for book recommendations? Check out my Bookstagram and TikTok to keep up with what I’m reading and loving right now! On TikTok, you’ll also get more snippets of my everyday writing life and lifestyle/fashion content. See you there!
I am now a media mentor for Tectonic Media! If you are a young/aspiring journalist, I am available for consultation and mentorship on a variety of topics. Learn more about my areas of specialty and how we can connect here.
other stories i’m loving 📖
currently reading:
Bright Dead Things by Ada Limón
currently watching:
Austenland
currently listening to:
“Someday, Today Will Be Long Ago” by Love You Later
all my love,
sofía xx