“I’m sorry. I don’t have time” is the most common excuse people come up with when they cannot do what they always wanted to do. This is not different in case of reading books as well. In today’s world, people are so busy in their professional lives that they don’t take care of themselves, at times. Some people continue to work from home once they are back from office. Yes, reading takes time and hence books become least of their priorities even if that is something that they would love to do.

Some people may have the luxury of time but they just don’t have easy access to books. People living in tier 2 and tier 3 cities find it very hard to buy books of their choice because of the lack of book shops. For example, people living in Coorg or Chikkamagalur can never lay their hands on good books of popular authors easily. Even if they plan on getting the books through mail from some major stores in Bengaluru or buying online, most of the retailers don’t provide delivery services to remote areas. This holds good in the case of people who have settled abroad as well. There maybe millions of them scattered across the globe who love Kannada books. However, given the cost of shipping and hassles in customs, most of the local or online book shops usually don’t cater to this customer base thereby missing out on a large chunk of business.

Also, there maybe a lot of people who are simply unable to hold the book and read due to health issues. So, how do you quench the thirst of this large customer segment? Enter Audiobooks.

So, what exactly is an Audiobook?
Well, if you have a book, you read it. If you have an Audiobook, you listen to it. Audiobook is an audio recording of a book which can be distributed across mobile platforms and online channels. You just play and listen to it like any other audio file. This comes as a big boon to the above described population which is deprived of good reading. Even the remotest corners of India have mobile connectivity today. People can easily purchase and download the audiobooks online and enjoy them at leisure. Officegoers can listen to their favourite books during commute. Working women who do the cooking and other household chores, can listen to Audiobooks as well once they are off from work.for their audio book productions. Get in touch with us to talk about your next audio book creation.

What goes into the making of an Audiobook? 
Making an Audiobook is super challenging as you need to captivate your listener with just voice whereas in a video you take the help of visuals as well. A great Audiobook has the capability to make your listener suspend his/her disbelief and transcend into the world of characters just like a movie does. To achieve this magic, selection of a great voice-over artist is crucial. An artiste who has good language, enunciation and intonation skills coupled with the ability to get into the skin of the character while reading the book can take your Audiobook several notches higher. Also, recording should be done in a professional studio with good acoustics set-up.

We at Harivu Creations follow higher standards of quality and transparency, thus helping you achieve your dream of making premium quality Audiobooks. We have dedicated dubbing directors who interact with the VO artists during the recording. The dubbing director deliberates with the client as to what should be the general tone and tenor of the Audiobook, whether the character monologues/dialogues in the book have to be read in a plain manner or dramatic style etc. Fully aware of this and any other client requirements, he then communicates it to the VO artist and only after rehearsal, goes for the final take. During the recording, he will make a note of all kinds of errors. Typical errors include and not limited to fumble, doubt, drop in volume, lack of energy, incorrect intonation and enunciation errors. As soon as he notices the error, he will indicate the sound engineer to make a bookmark in the audio recording software. He will mark the exact words/sentences in the book as well using a pen or a pencil. After few pages of reading (15 – 20 pages or sometimes the artists themselves will stop), he will go to the bookmarks in the audio track and ask the VO artist to give a correct take. After the entire book reading is done, he will listen to the audio file using headphones and mark any errors which were not noticeable during the take or that haven’t been corrected yet. The VO artist is called for final QC and the dubbing director will let the artist know of the error and corrections are made. The final output will be delivered to the client in the requested format adhering strictly to the deadlines.

So, the next time you come across a great Audiobook, chances are that Harivu Creations may have been involved in bringing that experience to you.