The Advantage Of Multiple Versions

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MichaelMaggs
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Post by MichaelMaggs »

annise wrote: March 22nd, 2020, 5:52 pm If this conversation started because I told a newish soloist there were x versions already in the catalogue but that they were welcome to record the x+1 version, I have a reason for doing that. I just want them to know before they start.
There have been a number to start a duplicate version not realising, and when they find out losing the incentive - after reading a few sections. Maybe they don't think of checking the catalogue, maybe the search didn't do what they thought it should, but I think it is better for people to know.

So that is why I do it.

Anne
It's definitely worth letting new users know there is an existing version (but that that shouldn't put them off). The search function is so bad - especially the quick search box which doesn't even like apostrophes - that it's really easy for people not to know. It's happened to me once already. :wink:
lurcherlover
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Post by lurcherlover »

There is another good reason for doing another version, and that is if you think the other version(s) are OK but maybe have not quite "hit the spot." Of course the new version may miss the spot too, but at least one has tried ...
schrm
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Post by schrm »

lurcherlover wrote: March 30th, 2020, 6:59 am There is another good reason for doing another version, and that is if you think the other version(s) are OK but maybe have not quite "hit the spot." Of course the new version may miss the spot too, but at least one has tried ...
in the blurb of my solo "benno", i invited everyone to read a version, because i don't know the dialect, which was used.
so, that confirms your reason, too: to meet the dialect parts in a book..
cheers
wolfi
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lurcherlover
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Post by lurcherlover »

There is another reason why another version is good. In 2017 I did a very bad reading of a short story because I was in recovery after some hospital treatment which messed up my face quite a bit, and I recently listened to it, and was shocked how bad it was. So it was suggested that I did a new version in the hope that the new version would be heard in preference to the old one which was rubbish. So I've just done that, and my new version, compared to the old seems a lot better. This is the only time I've done this, as I think most of my old stuff is just about passable.
msfry
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Post by msfry »

MichaelMaggs wrote: March 30th, 2020, 3:26 am The search function is so bad - especially the quick search box which doesn't even like apostrophes - that it's really easy for people not to know. It's happened to me once already. :wink:
Additionally, my solo, The Many-Sided Franklin, is not found in a quick search for "Ben Franklin", or "Benjamin Franklin". It can only be found if one searches "Franklin". This and the apostrophe issue will hopefully be fixed some day. No telling what else is falling through the cracks when people search for titles.
Availle
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Post by Availle »

if you're searching for several words in the title of a book, then the search will only return answers were all the words are present in the title. So, if "ben" or "benjamin" is NOT part of the title, "the many sides of franklin" will not be returned in a search.
Seems quite obvious to me - you cannot find what is not there. The search is doing exactly what it's supposed to be doing.

If you go to the "advanced search" and look for "ben franklin" in the keywords, your solo will show up among the results.
Cheers, Ava.
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maxgal
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Post by maxgal »

Here's another reason to record something already done:

I recorded a short story that was part of a collection, and was so taken by it, that I plan to re-record it for another collection.

These 2 collections are so different from each other, and are aimed at such different audiences, that someone browsing the catalogue for a certain "type" of thing, might well never come across this wonderful story.

And that would be a shame.
Louise
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SonOfTheExiles
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Post by SonOfTheExiles »

Some of the classic Australian works I’ve recorded in recent times have already been done by other readers. But I still record them myself, in my own way.

Why?

Because it makes me happy.

Chris
Currently on sabbatical from Librivox
annise
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Post by annise »

And that's what LV is all about :clap: :clap: the readers not the listeners but in fact people reading things they are happy to read makes for good listening.
But I'll still tell people if they start an extra version just so they don't find out it is after they have read the first chapter - some people prefer to add to the number of books available.

Anne
msfry
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Post by msfry »

Another reason to re-record:
If an essay or short story appears in a book of essays or stories, say Revolution, and other Essays, none of the stories therein are individually searchable by title, or by author for that matter. But if you re-record one of those stories for, say, a Short Story or Non-Fiction Collection, such as The Golden Poppy, then that story is searchable by title and by author.
schrm
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Post by schrm »

the other way round is another reason to re-record!
happened to me: making a solo or group project after discovering a text for a themed collection.
cheers
wolfi
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maxgal
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Post by maxgal »

...and, and and... we get to hear from people all over the globe, just as in this little thread. :mrgreen:
Louise
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Fun Fact: 40% of all statistics are wrong.
Viktor
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Post by Viktor »

Sometimes I'm musing about the very different behaviours and atmospheres in online communities: Free Software projects or Linux distributions, Wikipedia (where each language community is different), and LV... all of them are full of excellent people but the tone can be very different (and I'm not even talking about the trolls). I always thought that allowing and encouraging multiple versions of the same work is contributing to the outstanding friendliness that is, for me, unique to LV, as it takes pressure out of the process. Compare this to Wikipedia where naturally there is only one main version of any given article. This means for a contributor: either "my paragraph" is inside, or "that other person" rewrote it.
annise
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Post by annise »

I agree, it is precious and we usually manage to convert some of those who arrive to tell us how we should run it :D

Anne
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Post by k5hsj »

Choice of voice--vive la différence! :D
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