Introduction:

Hey all, tonight we have a very special guest. He’s the narrator of many great books, including Spirit’s Bane and The Golden City Captives. (both ebooks are free.) By the way, if you have the ebook, usually the audiobooks are cheaper. If you’ve never listened to one of his audiobooks, you should definitely consider doing so.

Feel free to join the discussion by commenting.

Let’s Welcome Reuben.

BL: Glad you are able to join us, Reuben!

Reuben: Thanks, Bonnie.

BL: I am learning a lot about the Audiobook process – it is fascinating!

EF: Hey Reuben, welcome – this is a great place to hang out.

Reuben: I love it so far!

 

Reuben Corbett Discussion #1

Hey, thanks for joining us today.

Tell us about yourself. Where are you from? What got you into narrating?

Do you listen to audiobooks?

How can we learn more about you? (links)

Do you have a FB page?

Reuben: Well, I am from Grand Junction, Colorado. I was a welder for a number of years, worked in all kinds of trades. I have always loved reading books, and I was always told I had a good voice! So I decided to get into narrating. I was a cello performance major in college, so I was already familiar with audio recording. So I got out my old equipment and started reading!

Me: Do you still play the cello?

Reuben: I do, but not nearly as much as I would like, with work an all. I definitely need to get back into it!

EF: Reuben, what was your first audition like?

Reuben: First audition for an audiobook? It was terrible, lol. It took me almost 6 months of practicing, auditioning, and recording to really find my voice, my style. I also learned a lot about recording audiobooks! Very different from recording music, acoustic treatment of the room is critical to great sounding recordings.

EF: Do you have a home studio or is there somewhere that you go?

Reuben: Lol, you’re not going to believe this, but my studio is actually in my parents basement! My house is next to a very noisy road, and it didn’t matter how much I did to treat my closet, car noises showed up in the recordings.

Reuben Corbett Discussion #2

How many books have you narrated?

Readers: What have you been reading lately?

Reuben: I have narrated 7 books so far. Right now I am working on the Dragonia Series for Craig A. Price Jr.

Me: I have the first of that series on my to-read list.

EF: I’ve been working on a project for the day job- so I lot of business and leadership books. Way behind on the fun books.

BL: Sadly, I haven’t made enough time to do as much reading as I would like – I am just started the 7th in Toby Neal’s Crime in Paradise

Me: I have all but given up “fun” reading. Usually too much else to do, but I enjoy the whole process … even rewriting, which I’ll be doing a LOT of this summer.

BL: Hope you get a lot of fun reading time! I got away from it for a little while and really missed it – it rejuvenates me when I am spending too much time in my own thoughts

Reuben Corbett Discussion #3

What do you look for when you browse for things to audition for?

Readers: What do you look for in a book?

Reuben: I look for a book that I would want to read lol. I love science fiction and fantasy. I also love self help books lol.

Me: Self-help and scifi/fantasy…that’s an interesting mix. Do you get a lot of fun reading time?

Reuben: I do, I really do. I just love immersing myself in stories. I also love to find ways to better myself, hence the self help books.

Me: What’s one piece of advice you’ve gotten from a self-help book recently?

Reuben: Fear is: False Evidence Appearing Real

Reuben Corbett Discussion #4

Tell us a little about what you’ve been working on recently.

Readers: tell us something you’ve been working on recently.

Reuben: I just finished Craig’s first installment in the Dragonia Empire series. It is very much in the epic fantasy genre. I just started the second book, where the story really gets going!

Me: Tell us a little about that series.

Reuben: It is very much rebellion against empire. Two main characters, Devarius and Paedyn, lead a ragtag bunch of villagers on a perilous quest to join the resistance. There are dragons, betrayal, and romance!

 

 

Reuben Corbett Discussion #5

If you could recommend 3 of the books you’ve narrated, what would they be and why?

Readers: Do you listen to audiobooks? What could convince you to try audio if you haven’t ever done so?

Reuben: I would definitely recommend The Afterlife Academy, Spirit’s Bane, and Dragonia: Rise of the Wyverns. Afterlife Academy because it is a pretty silly paranormal book that kids and adults can enjoy. It has fun characters, and great humor. Spirit’s Bane because it is very thought provoking, deeply emotional and spiritual, but also fantastically fun fiction drama. It has action and really great characters that were a blast to do voices for. I’ve already talked a little about Dragonia…

Me: Okay, so, of course I’m gonna focus on SB for a moment… who was your favorite character to voice?

Reuben: Oh my goodness… This book definitely tested the limits of my acting abilities, lots of character voices. I have to say that the most fun voice was the guilt demon! Satan was difficult, as you can imagine. Suave, yet the epitome of evil…lol tough. I also loved doing the voice of Lord Hadeon.

Me: I think the one that impressed me the most was Mina… the one that flat-out made me laugh was the “frantic little demon.”

BL: I have to admit I have only tried one audiobook – and I was not enamored with the story – I am definitely going to give it another try (but with one of Julie’s books!) now that I have started taking walks daily.

Reuben Corbett Discussion #6

What inspires you?

Readers: What inspires you?

Reuben: My inspiration, to be honest, comes from other narrators. I love hearing how other people read, do voices, tone, etc.

 

 

Reuben Corbett Discussion #7

What is your process for creating an audiobook?

Readers: Describe one of your creative processes. What do you do? How do you do it?

EF: When I am editing a big project, I tend to cut it into smaller pieces and arrange it on my living room wall. A friend saw it once and asked if I was stalking someone.

Me: That’s awesome. I want a pic of that!

Reuben: First, I have to read the book! As I am reading, I can hear the tone of the book, from the way the author writes. Ideas for voices also form as I get to know the characters, where they are from, etc.

Reuben Corbett Discussion #8

Thanks for stopping by tonight. Stick around for a few days as some people couldn’t make it tonight but may drop in later tonight or tomorrow.

Totally not kicking you out, but this ends the “formal” stuffs I prepped. 😛

Closing thoughts?

Reuben: Yes, I have some promo codes for The Afterlife Academy if anyone wants a free audiobook!

Me: I heard it. I’ll second that it’s a good one.

Audiobooks Reuben has done …

The Golden City Captives, Spirit’s Bane, The Afterlife Academy, The Night Human Hunter, Simplify, Godstone, and Dragonia: Rise of the Wyverns. Go here if you want to check them out.

Commentary:

He’s an amazing narrator (quick, clean audio, decent range of voices, easy to work with). If you’re interested in hiring him, look him up on ACX or email me your contact info and I will ask him to get back to you. (devyaschildren @ gmail.com)

 

Associate links to follow…

Amazon Prime

 

Audible – If you’d like some free codes, please email me at [email protected] with requests for any of my works.