Lea Hensley Archives : Page 3 of 13 : All About Romance

Speaking of Audiobooks: Locating Your Audiobook Files

By AAR Admin|2017-06-23T08:30:38-04:00October 4th, 2013|Categories: audio books, Lea Hensley|Tags: Audible Manager, Audiobooks, Brenda, iTunes, Lea Hensley, organizing audio files, SOA, speaking of audiobooks|

We have something special at Speaking of Audiobooks today. Brenda Lee is giving us some technical advice – she’s quite good at it and has been the hidden technical side of Speaking of Audiobooks for years now. Brenda has now officially joined AAR as our Audiobook Tech and we’ll occasionally run one of her tutorials. Please let her know if there is a specific audiobook technical issue you’d like to see featured here. – Lea Hensley

Fall turns my mind to sorting, organizing, and settling in for the winter months. Once the snow starts to fly, it stays on the ground until spring in these mountains. What does this have to do with audiobooks you ask? Bringing order to my surroundings includes setting my computer files to rights, audiobooks included.

While doing this, I thought I’d share what many audiobook enthusiasts consider hidden entrances to their audio libraries. The back […]

Speaking of Audiobooks: Bits of Audio News

By Lynn Spencer|2017-06-23T08:30:39-04:00August 26th, 2013|Categories: audio books, Lea Hensley|Tags: Anne Stuart, Audiobooks, Kaleo Griffith, Kristen Ashley, Laura Kinsale, Lea Hensley, Nicholas Boulton, Pamela Clare, Rachel Gibson, speaking of audiobooks, Tanya Eby, Whispersync, Xe Sands|

Quality versus Quantity

With more and more romance audiobooks flooding Audible these days, it’s not all that easy to locate those audios that may be of particular interest to you. Just two years ago, the romance audio pickings remained slim with proven narrators performing the majority of titles. As with the eBook market, I imagine most readers/listeners understand that increased selection doesn’t necessarily mean increase in the number quality titles.

Of course, with this tremendous increase in audio titles, it only makes sense that there is an increase in the need for narrators as well. Unfortunately, this also means publishers are looking for the most affordable way to bring those narrations to their doorstep and home studios provide them with such. Combine an untrained narrator with a home studio with no director, and the consumer pays the price of an unsatisfactory listening experience.

The result? The percentage of overall quality […]

AAR Staff Top Ten Favorites – Lea's Picks

By Lynn Spencer|2019-05-10T13:11:23-04:00August 8th, 2013|Categories: All About Romance, Lea Hensley, Romance reading|Tags: J.D. Ward, Kristan Higgins, linda howard, loretta chase, Pamela Clare, Penelope Williamson, Rachel Gibson, susan elizabeth phillips, Suzanne Brockmann, Top Ten lists, top ten romance novels|

As I’m sure a number of other AAR reviewers discovered when choosing their Top Ten Favorite romance books, it’s not an easy task. I whittled my list down to twenty and realized some of my absolute favorites still had to be marked off the list. I wondered, should I include those ultimate favorites from ten years ago when I was most passionate about the romance genre? Or, now that my tastes have evolved, should I choose newer discoveries that more closely match my tastes today? And since I listen to so many audiobooks, how could I keep those with excellent audio deliveries from influencing my choice of print books? Not easy. But then I realized just how much my Top Ten audiobooks list would differ from those books available in print format only and decided to not mix the two. I’ll save my list of top audiobooks […]

Speaking of Audiobooks: June is Audiobook Month

By Lynn Spencer|2017-06-23T08:30:43-04:00June 24th, 2013|Categories: audio books, Lea Hensley|Tags: Audiobooks, J. Lynn, Julia London, Julie Garwood, Julie James, June is Audiobook Month, Laura Kinsale, Lea Hensley, Simone St. James, speaking of audiobooks|

“June Is Audiobook Month” (JIAM) reads like a sentence but it’s actually the name of a month long campaign to enhance visibility, awareness and popularity for audiobooks by directly reaching out to consumers. Sites and blogs celebrating the audio publishing industry are featuring all sorts of giveaways, interviews, chats, reviews, and examples of the sheer excellence that can be found in audio listening.

Since we’re entering the last week of JIAM, I thought it a good time to share with you some of the many events we’ve already seen during JIAM 2013 and some still to be enjoyed this week. Here are a number of blogs and sites that have strongly supported JIAM: […]

Speaking of Audiobooks: APAC Report

By Lynn Spencer|2017-06-23T08:30:44-04:00June 17th, 2013|Categories: audio books, Lea Hensley|Tags: APAC, Audio Publishers Association Conference, Audiobooks, Lea Hensley, speaking of audiobooks, the Audies|

Narrators/Bloggers Breakfast – from left to right – Xe Sands, Simon Vance, Amy Rubinate, Gayle Weiswasser, Anne Flosnik, Lea Hensley, Patrick Lawlor, Lauren Fortgang; Standing – Karen White and Robert Fass

In late May, I attended the Audio Publishers Association Conference (APAC) in New York City, a first time event for me. Not only was I there to meet face-to-face those narrators and publishers I’ve come to know over the years by working together online but to participate in a panel discussion on Listening Community Reviews.

Not knowing what to expect from a one-day conference, I was thoroughly impressed, first with the community of narrators – professionals who work more often than not, alone in a […]

Speaking of Audiobooks: It's All Reviews – May 2013

By Lynn Spencer|2017-06-23T08:30:45-04:00May 20th, 2013|Categories: audio books, Lea Hensley|Tags: Audiobooks, Cynthia Eden, j.D. Robb, Jeaniene Frost, Julie Garwood, Julie James, Laura Kinsale, Lea Hensley, Rachel Gibson, Sophie Kinsella, speaking of audiobooks|

It’s time for another All Reviews column here at Speaking of Audiobooks. Eight audiobooks are up for review including Laura Kinsale’s The Prince of Midnight (no link yet for the audio), Rachel Gibson’s Simply Irresistible, Julie James’ Love Irresistibly, Julie Garwood’s Prince Charming, Cynthia Eden’s Die for Me, J.D. Robb’s Calculated in Death, Jeaniene Frost’s Twice Tempted, and Sophie Kinsella’s Wedding Night.

The Prince of Midnight – Laura Kinsale

Narrated by Nicholas Boulton

Review written by Lea Hensley

It’s finally here. Romance listeners have eagerly awaited The Prince of Midnight, the first audio release from Laura Kinsale’s fascinating backlist. Earlier this year, Ms. Kinsale announced that her entire backlist (twelve titles) would be released in audio during 2013 and into 2014 and now we have a taste of Kinsale’s skillful writing combined with Nicholas Boulton’s talented performance. It’s sheer audio perfection.

Speaking of Audiobooks: Covers – Help or Hindrance?

By Lynn Spencer|2017-06-23T08:30:47-04:00April 15th, 2013|Categories: audio books, Lea Hensley|Tags: Audiobooks, Lea Hensley, romance novel covers, speaking of audiobooks|

When making a decision to buy an audiobook, the cover doesn’t influence my choice one way or another. If I want a particular audiobook, I’ll buy it, and if I don’t like the cover, I’ll remind myself that with my iPod, I’ll seldom see it.

But can an attractive or catchy cover influence me to take a second look at a book by an author unfamiliar to me? Or does a non-appealing cover have the power to repel me enough that I won’t consider taking a deeper look at an unknown author? The answer to both of those questions is a “most definitely.” Do those second looks lead to an audio purchase? I admit that it seldom does but if a cover speaks to me, I’m often inspired to take a closer look at the synopsis and reviews.

When you consider that choosing the right audiobook is a […]

Speaking of Audiobooks: It's All Reviews – March 2013

By Lynn Spencer|2017-06-23T08:30:48-04:00March 25th, 2013|Categories: audio books, Lea Hensley|Tags: Audiobooks, Diana Miller, Jayne Anne Krentz, Julie Garwood, Lea Hensley, Maya Banks, Pamela Clare, Rachel Gibson, speaking of audiobooks|

It’s time for another All Reviews column here at Speaking of Audiobooks. Six audiobooks are up for review including Rachel Gibson’s It Must Be Love, Pamela Clare’s Breaking Point, Julie Garwood’s The Secret, Jayne Ann Krentz’s Dream Eyes, Diana Miller’s Dangerous Affairs, and Maya Bank’s Rush.

It Must be Love by Rachael Gibson

Narrated by Rebecca Tripp

Review written by Carrie

I’ve read all Gibson’s books and was excited about listening to It Must Be Love on audio. I’m pleased to say the narrator is a win, but certain aspects of the plot make the book less enjoyable than I remembered.

Gabrielle, our heroine, mixes herbal remedies and essential oils and talks about auras and karma. She meditates and chants and attempts to find her peaceful center. The street festival in our local university town would be an ideal place to find […]

Speaking of Audiobooks: The Audie Finalists in Romance

By Lynn Spencer|2017-06-23T08:30:49-04:00March 4th, 2013|Categories: audio books, Lea Hensley|Tags: Audiobooks, Lea Hensley, speaking of audiobooks|

Last June during June Is Audiobook Month, I penned a complaint here at Speaking of Audiobooks about the Audie Awards and how out of touch they were with the romance listening community. What are the Audie Awards? Sponsored by the Audio Publishers Association, they give recognition to those within the industry for excellence in narration, direction, and engineering. The 2013 awards gala is scheduled for May 30th this year.

Romance listeners in the past have talked very little about the Audie Romance Finalists here at Speaking of Audiobooks and at our Romance Goodreads group. Why pay attention to an awards ceremony that often doesn’t even fill the romance category with books actually categorized as romance? After all, the Romance winner in 2011(The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Bronte by Syrie James) was categorized as general fiction. I understand that the list of […]

Speaking of Audiobooks: Untrained Narrators? I'm Not Interested

By Lynn Spencer|2017-06-23T08:30:52-04:00January 25th, 2013|Categories: All About Romance, audio books, Lea Hensley|Tags: Audiobooks, Erin McCarthy, Lea Hensley, Meljean Brook, Pamela Clare, speaking of audiobooks|

There’s a new trend sweeping the audiobook industry and it’s the frequent use of untrained narrators. Narrators who are more likely to take away from the audiobook experience rather than add to it. It’s a trend that I hope will simply spend itself and go away, but one which I’m afraid is here to stay. I can only assume that somewhere along the line, the decision to use untrained narrators (with lower pay) translates into the ability to produce more audiobooks. But in the process, an invisible price is paid as the listener’s trust slowly erodes. How many listeners will continue to buy audiobooks (or even use the library) if the experience is less than enjoyable? It’s not only a waste of the listener’s money but their time as well.

Fortunately, there are still a number of audiobook publishers who choose to use well-trained narrators for the […]

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