AB 16 | Books of Horror with Fred Godsmark of Audio Realms
10/27/15 • 42 min
Site: http://www.audiobooks.com/podcast | Email: [email protected]
"All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream." — Edgar Allen Poe
We’ve all heard of H. P. Lovecraft, Edgar Allen Poe, Stephen King, and Dean Koontz, but this week on the Audiobooks.com Podcast we’re talking with the founder of Audio Realms, Fred Godsmark. As Halloween is just a couple days away, we thought it appropriate to bring on an expert in the field of horror, someone knowledgeable about the books and audiobooks currently popular in the genre, and get some insight into current trends and demographics surrounding fans of horror.
Niche Books
There are fans, and then there are true fans. The dedicated masses. The fanatics. The ones that will paint their faces, dress up like a mascot or character; the ones that go to conventions, host themed parties, and follow the object of their fanaticism around the country. These kinds of fans undoubtedly inspire companies like Audio Realms to not just exist, but to thrive.
These kinds of fans, in fact, create companies like Audio Realms! Fred himself is an avid reader of the horror genre and dedicated to bringing the authors and stories he loves into the light. He mentions that stories by H.P. Lovecraft sell just as well now as they did 10 years ago, but he also says that new authors come about every year with fascinating stories to tell that don’t get nearly the same attention as the pop culture horror authors do.
To remedy this, Fred gives us a ton of recommendations to get a more thorough look into the genre of horror! At the forefront of his mind are Wolfland by Jonathan Janz, The Things That Are Not There by C. J. Henderson, and The Guns of Santa Sangre by Eric Red.
Getting a Taste
Audio Realms is currently working on a series of short story collections. Historically, Fred shares with us, the medium for horror was predominantly short stories. People would line up to buy these “old rags”! One such collection Audio Realms has produced is called Out of Tune, which has a really cool theme. They’ve taken a series of old ballads and wrote short stories to accompany them, and also a short explanation of the ballad. This collection was edited by Jonathan Mayberry.
We’ve talked a couple times on the podcast about how the length of a podcast can be difficult to fully embrace. It’s true that listening to an audiobook is often faster than reading it, but audiobooks that are 20-30 hours long is a big commitment. When it comes to a road trip, the longer the better! Short stories, on the other hand, are ideal for commutes that aren’t quite of the same degree as a road trips. It could take 45 days to listen to a 30-hour audiobook, if your daily commute is 40 minutes. That’s over 2 months!
If you’re someone who enjoys completing a task more quickly than that, then perhaps looking into Audio Realms’ short story collections is a good idea for you! Watch for new collections from Audio Realms to get a taste of horror for yourself.
What Are You Listening To
We’ve heard from Fred, now we want to hear from you! What was on your audiobooks playlist for the advent of Halloween?
Show us some love!
Tweet this episode: http://ctt.ec/3eLZ5
Subscribing, rating and reviewing the show: iTunes
Books & Resources Mentioned
Site: http://www.audiobooks.com/podcast | Email: [email protected]
"All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream." — Edgar Allen Poe
We’ve all heard of H. P. Lovecraft, Edgar Allen Poe, Stephen King, and Dean Koontz, but this week on the Audiobooks.com Podcast we’re talking with the founder of Audio Realms, Fred Godsmark. As Halloween is just a couple days away, we thought it appropriate to bring on an expert in the field of horror, someone knowledgeable about the books and audiobooks currently popular in the genre, and get some insight into current trends and demographics surrounding fans of horror.
Niche Books
There are fans, and then there are true fans. The dedicated masses. The fanatics. The ones that will paint their faces, dress up like a mascot or character; the ones that go to conventions, host themed parties, and follow the object of their fanaticism around the country. These kinds of fans undoubtedly inspire companies like Audio Realms to not just exist, but to thrive.
These kinds of fans, in fact, create companies like Audio Realms! Fred himself is an avid reader of the horror genre and dedicated to bringing the authors and stories he loves into the light. He mentions that stories by H.P. Lovecraft sell just as well now as they did 10 years ago, but he also says that new authors come about every year with fascinating stories to tell that don’t get nearly the same attention as the pop culture horror authors do.
To remedy this, Fred gives us a ton of recommendations to get a more thorough look into the genre of horror! At the forefront of his mind are Wolfland by Jonathan Janz, The Things That Are Not There by C. J. Henderson, and The Guns of Santa Sangre by Eric Red.
Getting a Taste
Audio Realms is currently working on a series of short story collections. Historically, Fred shares with us, the medium for horror was predominantly short stories. People would line up to buy these “old rags”! One such collection Audio Realms has produced is called Out of Tune, which has a really cool theme. They’ve taken a series of old ballads and wrote short stories to accompany them, and also a short explanation of the ballad. This collection was edited by Jonathan Mayberry.
We’ve talked a couple times on the podcast about how the length of a podcast can be difficult to fully embrace. It’s true that listening to an audiobook is often faster than reading it, but audiobooks that are 20-30 hours long is a big commitment. When it comes to a road trip, the longer the better! Short stories, on the other hand, are ideal for commutes that aren’t quite of the same degree as a road trips. It could take 45 days to listen to a 30-hour audiobook, if your daily commute is 40 minutes. That’s over 2 months!
If you’re someone who enjoys completing a task more quickly than that, then perhaps looking into Audio Realms’ short story collections is a good idea for you! Watch for new collections from Audio Realms to get a taste of horror for yourself.
What Are You Listening To
We’ve heard from Fred, now we want to hear from you! What was on your audiobooks playlist for the advent of Halloween?
Show us some love!
Tweet this episode: http://ctt.ec/3eLZ5
Subscribing, rating and reviewing the show: iTunes
Books & Resources Mentioned
Previous Episode
AB 15 | Every Last Word with Tamara Ireland Stone and Amy Rubinate
Site: http://www.audiobooks.com/podcast | Email: [email protected]
We are so excited to share this week’s installment of the Audiobooks.com Podcast! Last week, Addy gave us a preview into the new novel by Tamara Ireland Stone entitled Every Last Word and this week we have the honor and privilege to speak with Tamara and the woman who read the audiobook, Amy Rubinate. It was such a pleasure to speak with both women about their journeys, hear the stories that have inspired them to do what they do, and, in turn, to be encouraged and inspired by their experiences and advice.
Prior to becoming an author, Tamara owned her own marketing strategy firm. But her true calling has always been writing. Now her bibliography includes three novels. In addition to Every Last Word, which centers around a young girl with OCD, she also wrote Time Between Us in 2012 and Time After Time in 2013, both exploring an unlikely romance between a girl from 1995 Chicago and a time-traveling boy from 2012 San Francisco. The author is very active on social media, including Twitter and Tumblr, so we encourage you to connect with her and thank her for the time she spent with us on the Audiobooks.com Podcast!
From behind the pen to behind the mic, we get a glimpse into where Amy got her start as well. Amy actually began as a cabaret singer, then migrated into voiceovers before falling in love with audiobooks and finding a niche in that industry. Since getting involved with audiobooks, and starting her own audiobook publishing company called Ideal Audiobooks, Amy has recorded dozens of books and received the AudioFile’s Earphones Award.
As much as it is a treat to hear both of their stories, it is even more incredible to hear about the relationship and rapport the women have developed since their paths crossed following the release of Tamara’s first book. They hold deep respect for one another, and the industry of books and audiobooks, out of which comes an invigorating passion in the way they talk about their craft.
If you are as much a book and audiobook nerd as we are, you are going to love the detail that Tamara and Amy go into about their respective trades. On Tamara’s side, we get a look into how she begins writing, how she develops characters, and that routine she has when starting out on a new idea to get inside the heads of her characters. On Amy’s side, she tells us about how she goes about bringing a voice to the story she narrates, both in resonating with the characters and with the author.
The stories and experiences these women share are so wonderful and we’re always just so thankful to speak with individuals in the industry who are eager to see the medium thrive. When we have the chance to hear authors and narrators genuinely fawn over what they do, and also express a genuine love for the craft, it is equally as transdimensional as it is to be immersed in a book or audiobook. They transport us to this dimension where all that exists are fictional stories that enable us to depict deep truths in relatable ways, and we really felt that throughout this conversation.
Thanks for joining us this week! We encourage you to reach out to Tamara and Amy on social media and thank them for their time. Be sure to check out Tamara’s other books, as well as the ones Amy has narrated. And then, let us know what you thought of the interview. What inspired you? What did you learn? Let us know!
Show us some love!
Tweet this episode: http://ctt.ec/3eLZ5
Subscribing, rating and reviewing the show: iTunes
Books & Resources Mentioned
Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone | Narrated by Amy Rubinate
Next Episode
AB 17 | Do You Really KNOW Tucker Max?
Site: http://www.audiobooks.com/podcast | Email: [email protected]
Welcome back to the Audiobooks.com Podcast! Halloween has passed, November is upon us and we can finally start thinking about Thanksgiving here in the United States. No more being shy about ordering pumpkin spice lattes, it’s now a shameless request. There are a lot of fantastic autumn beverages that often get overlooked, though, like Masala Chai and apple cider. If you have a favorite autumn beverage that gets overlooked, write us and tell us what it is!
We have a very special treat for you this week as we invited entertainer and entrepreneur Tucker Max to join us. The truth is, every week is a special week, every guest is a special guest, but we are excited to share this interview with you because of the unique change Tucker has brought to the world of books and audiobooks.
Google and Wikipedia will tell you about the Old Tucker Max, the one without a wife and a son, the one who wrote I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell, and the one who basically helped form the genre fratire. What they don’t spend a lot of time describing is the New Tucker Max, the one who we got to chat with in this interview and the one who is re-inventing what it means to author books.
As much as we celebrate audiobooks on the appropriately titled Audiobooks.com Podcast, we also celebrate the opportunity to consume knowledge from those who have the expertise and experience to provide it. Unfortunately, by the nature of that position in life, a book containing that knowledge often ends up being compiled in a memoir. The relevance of its content, upon release, is already losing its criticality and is thus treated by the media and public as more of a biographical work.
Book in a Box is changing everything. Tucker Max and his business partners have developed a method which enables a person with expertise to get relevant knowledge out to its target audience while it is still critical. As audiobook lovers, we can appreciate the time it takes to either read or listen to a book, which says nothing about the time it took an author to write it. The greatest aspect to Book in a Box is that it does not take a person with this critical knowledge more than 12-16 hours over the phone! Time, as a caveat to producing relevant content, is almost negligible.
This process has amazing potential and we are excited to see the products that result from it. Check out the links below for more information on this enterprise, as well as the books that Tucker Max has written! Then, send him a thank-you for taking the time to chat with us.
Show us some love!
Tweet this episode: http://ctt.ec/3eLZ5
Subscribing, rating and reviewing the show: iTunes
Books & Resources Mentioned
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