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Gesine · Post by **Gesine** » February 13th, 2006, 3:55 am

Chip and Steve, I think you both make good points. I agree with Steve that negative suggestions are very powerful (I'm a victim of the math anxiety myself). On the other hand, people shouldn't feel they're alone in not managing something when they run into difficulties (e.g. "Everyone says this is a breeze, I must be really stupid"). It's a fine line.

Regarding suggestions, I quite like it how we steer newbies from the Introduction forum to short works like poetry or, at the moment, the fables. It's much easier to get an early boost of success from these short projects, and they suffice in sorting out technical problems and get people used to the LibriVox processes.

I've made some changes to the FAQ in solo projects. It now reads:

May I record a whole book on my own?

Some volunteers have asked us if they can record a whole book for LibriVox and the answer is: yes please!

Note for first-time recorders: Reading a whole book, as many of us have discovered, is often more time-consuming than one thinks. We therefore strongly encourage you to read a chapter for one of our collaborative projects before you start a solo project -- you'll get feedback from experienced volunteers and an idea of the work and time involved in recording an entire book. You'll also get used to the LibriVox system of naming files etc, and you can sort out glitches with your recording equipment, if necessary. Here's our Readers Wanted section, where you can find books in need of ... readers:
http://librivox.org/forum/viewforum.php?f=2

ChipDoc · Post by **ChipDoc** » February 13th, 2006, 5:11 am

I think you've chosen excellent phrasing, Gesine - thanks!

kri · Post by **kri** » February 13th, 2006, 7:22 am

Gesine wrote:On the other hand, people shouldn't feel they're alone in not managing something when they run into difficulties (e.g. "Everyone says this is a breeze, I must be really stupid"). It's a fine line.

I was going to say nearly exactly that. If we say "Oh it's easy" People who find it hard may feel stupid for finding it difficult. If we stress how difficult it is, it could discourage some people. I think making it clear that it can be a lot of work, and starting small is important for a lot of people to be successful at it will help us. It helps to give them a gauge for how much work it actually is. Easy or hard really depends upon the person.

Aldark · Post by **Aldark** » February 13th, 2006, 7:33 am

kri wrote:
Gesine wrote:On the other hand, people shouldn't feel they're alone in not managing something when they run into difficulties (e.g. "Everyone says this is a breeze, I must be really stupid"). It's a fine line.
I was going to say nearly exactly that. If we say "Oh it's easy" People who find it hard may feel stupid for finding it difficult. If we stress how difficult it is, it could discourage some people. I think making it clear that it can be a lot of work, and starting small is important for a lot of people to be successful at it will help us. It helps to give them a gauge for how much work it actually is. Easy or hard really depends upon the person.

As a newbie who is finishing up his first chapter and signed up for a second reading my original thought was "that can't be too hard" - especially for someone who likes to read. However, a distraction of a little one about to turn 1yr old who shares a bedroom w/ my computer... makes recording time tough.

Most of my courses for my college degrees were done online and I could find the time then, but with the kid it presents different scenarios and obligations.

Then there was the first, fifth, and tenth time I listen to my voice after recording and thinking "what total crap!"

Most people don't record their voice with the thought of having others listen, so I sort of had to teach myself a bit to speak differently.

I think initially it would be hard while learning how to record and edit, etc, but once the groove begins it should be much easier.

kri · Post by **kri** » February 13th, 2006, 7:35 am

Aldark wrote: Then there was the first, fifth, and tenth time I listen to my voice after recording and thinking "what total crap!" Most people don't record their voice with the thought of having others listen, so I sort of had to teach myself a bit to speak differently.

You know, I used to abhor my voice. I couldn't stand hearing it recorded, say on the voice mail. Now that I've heard it over and over and - well you get the point - I really don't care anymore. It doesn't sound quite so much like a little girl to me as it used to, if you actually listen to it.

thistlechick · Post by **thistlechick** » February 13th, 2006, 8:01 am

I just pretend that I'm listening to someone else when I have to listen to myself... then it sounds alright =)

Post by **hugh** » February 13th, 2006, 9:06 am

Now that I have abundant help, I can shut up!

amen to that kara! its so nice to have so many people here working so hard to make LV work -- makes me teary-eyed! and it's kinda nice that other posters have caught up to me & kara - it was a little, ah, embarrassing for a while! but the beauty of a distributed project is how organically it adapts to things, and I think LV has done a wonderful job of growing with so few growing pains. There have been a couple, but i think in general our systems are pretty smooth now - thanks to all the organizing work of the mods, and the great input from all the helpful volunteers.

I used to check the webstats (hits & technorati links) so often - thinking, why aren't more linking to us? we have to make 100 recordings by the end of 2006!! come on people! maybe I should contact this or that person/influential blogger/website. But we're beyond that now - we are growing exponentially now just on our own without worrying about publicity or anything like that. It's such a great situation to be in. And if you look at our list of projects - we don't really need to chase after anyone. Not everyone will want to deliver many chapters & that,s fine - one is good, none is good, and many way way better! but we're sailing along at an impressive clip I think.

kayray · Post by **kayray** » February 13th, 2006, 9:37 am

Thanks for changing the FAQ, Gesine -- perfect.

raouf · Post by **raouf** » February 13th, 2006, 12:49 pm

Thanks Gesine for the rephrasing, it does read better.

In relation to not liking our own voices there are two components to this, one is purely physical, one's voice sounds foreign when heard from a recording device versus when we usually hear it inside our skull which acts as resonator.
The other aspect is that it is a reference to ourselves, which can be make one uneasy. Sort of like when you read something and then suddenly realize it is about you. References to oneself affect us differently than references to anyone else.