I have a fan who, once referred herself to me as, “my favorite pain in the a**.” While I never thought of her that way, I do acknowledge that as one of my targeted advance copy readers, she was brutally frank, and almost always right, whether correcting text as a copy editor, or offering precise feedback and advice on story content or characters. She’s helped me be a better writer and to present better books.
I was quite surprised when she turned down the opportunity to show me the way on Tempest North, coming out in mid-July. So, I reached out to her and received a return email that shook me and reminded me of how fragile life can be. Elaine begged off reading Tempest North because her eyesight was deteriorating. She had lost most of the use of one eye and was trying to save the other through medical help and resting her good eye as much as possible.
As a writer, but even more as a voracious reader, I struggle to accept the pain of physically losing the ability to explore people, history, politics, passion, events, and the world, exploration only possible in books. As a cancer survivor who barely avoided losing a leg and getting a pacemaker after stepping on a stingray while snorkeling in Mexico, I’ve had my share of challenges. I’ve had to curtail some things and work around problems from my body failures. But eyesight would be a game changer. It is for Elaine, and her loss is also mine.
Our exchange of thoughts reminded me of how important it is to offer books in as many ways as possible. A couple of months ago, we agreed to participate in Amazon’s experiment to offer the books of Rodger Carlyle in audio format. We considered publishing audiobooks for the last couple of years, but the cost seemed exorbitant and would dramatically drive up the cost to my readers. But the Amazon Audible books are AI generated.
Many writers fear that AI replaces the author, and as a thriller writer who studies technology as part of most stories, there is a risk. But using AI to convert my own writing to audio at a cost that allows me to offer audio books for less than print is a positive. It’s not perfect, for example if you write about a Boeing 747, AI translates that as Boeing seven hundred forty-seven. It needs work and we need to devote more time to clean up, but it is a great tool and even the small blemishes do little to diminish the story, (about the same as a minor punctuation or grammatical error in a print book).
But most importantly, there are those who prefer audio; some for convenience, some because of learning processes and others because their ears open a world that is blurred by their eyes. MY FRIEND Elaine indicates that she retains better when reading than listening. But I am elated that I can at least offer the chance to open the world in my books to her. It will be a workaround, but one that only months ago I could never offer. My hope is that her eyesight recovers, but Elaine, until then, we will work to make our audiobooks the best they can be.