Librivox Mentioned on podcast

[GordMackenzie]

As some of you know, I used to be in the acting biz. Which means I have some experience with critics.

Whenever you put yourself out there, in any creative effort, you have to be ready to take the critics. They are always out there, and if you you keep putting out work, then sooner or later someone is going to slam both you and your efforts. You can bank on it.

My suggestion is to take it as a badge of honor. Bear your battle scars with pride. You got a bad review from an obnoxious critic? Hooray! You can now claim to be amongst the truly great.

Take any great performer, writer, artist or creator that you admire and you'll find critics that have mercilessly trashed them. So you are in excellent company.

Remember, if your work is valuable enough for someone to trash, then it is valuable ... period. Nobody bothers to review the inconsequential. It's true what they say, the only thing worse than bad press, is no press.

Keep on truckin' and doing what you do.

[KATWAL]

I agree with you Denny 1000%. I have listened to a long list of our completed books and have found all of them to "works of art" including Twain's thoughts on German to which I laughed out loud, his autobiography too. Yes, I have my favorites but I haven't found one voice I'd avoid in the future.

This guy obviously doesn't understand the nature of volunterrism why LV works as well as it is. I guess we won't be privledged to hear his voice on a LV recording!

Kathy

[Stephan]

Nope, most likely you would have to pay 3.99€ to listen to him toiling himself. Hihi.

I have to admit i sometimes observe, we are a bit used to pad ourself on the back. But then i call it 'team spirit' and love it! It's like volleyball-players padding each other fannies after each turn - it works.

Then we are able to hide behind the ultimate argument "what we do, we do for free". And if somebody forgets to mention appreciation for that fact, we will never accept criticism from him. Isn't there perhaps some truth in this?

[kri]

Rainer's reading of The Awful German Language not humorous?! Yow I love that one!

Errr yeah...and I don't know how they get that Joy Chan is the most prolific here. She's a great reader I'll admitt (Tristan and Iseult is one of my favorites) but by far one could not call her prolific on the site.

[a.r.dobbs]

LOL ... I hope no one will ever pad my fannie if I should do a good recording here. Shoulder pads might be ok though out of style, eh?

Pat, my dear, let me pat your back for speaking up. Let's see ... now what did you speak up about? As LV gets publicized, which is about to happen in a very big way with a WIRED article in a couple months (am I right?), we'll find all sorts of unmoderated commenting springing up. I suggest we create a thread or a FAQ equivalent, called the FLACK, where we take on the flack we've received from folks. I'd recommend a few people for authorship of the FLACK, hugh being one of them.

Folks who come here to read don't sign on for critics, and those badges Gord mentioned are painfully earned; they're not costume jewelry; they're often grace-encased tears. A FLACK thread could console the bruised, instruct the teachable critics in our own volunteer pool, and document some of the more laughable responses to our generous outpouring here at LV. It might also include a few well considered criticisms of things that we're actually wishing to address ourselves -- entirely of a technical nature (background hiss hum and buzz, plosives, volume levels), and how we're trying to address them.

Thoughts?
Anita

[LibraryLady]

Thanks to everyone for your support and wise words. I am normally quite thick-skinned but I've been unusually stressed out lately and this just got to me. And my temper is not a pretty sight! I even waited a few hours after reading the review before posting and I still ended up spouting plenty of bile all over the place!

And so I apologize for that but only half heartedly because really that is the best way for me to deal with things like this. I have to get things off my chest or they simmer and stew and then things get really nasty. It's not always pretty when I vent my feelings either, but believe me it is the preferrable option to bottling them up.

So, a day later, I am feeling much better, and almost triumphant I'd say. Having received my first public bashing, I feel, as Gord suggested, I have earned my stripes in a way and it has actually brought back to me what I love so much about LibriVox - that we are amateur, that we are not professional, that if I close my eyes, I can imagine the person might actually be sitting there, reading only for me. It is warm and intimate, not clean and sterile. I would want it no other way. Kara's recording of Heidi would not be the same without her biride chirping in the background on occasion. Peter's voice would not be quite so captivating for me if he had not once mistakenly sent me a poem which included an unedited and truly impressive belch. We are human, we live in real homes, with real worlds around us. Thank god for that.

And perspective is a wonderful thing. I received no less than four fan emails in the last week. Please indulge me...

Hello from Slovakia,
My name is ***** and I am a student of English and American studies at university. I would like to thank you a bunch for your contribution to LibriVox ? I am just listening to The Pride & Prejudice of yours and I am very glad I was able to get this book in American English ? I would have died if I had had to listen to British English reading. I really appreciate what you have done.

(One day, if I master your language well, I'll read & record something too. So keep your fingers cross )


Thank You

Hi Annie.

I am listening to "Pride and Prejudice" at work while I process paperwork. The way you read it is charming. You have a great voice for Elizabeth Bennet.

Thank you for your efforts.

Ms Coleman,

Just wanted to send an email and let you know that I very much
enjoyed your reading of Pride and Prejudice. You have a pleasing
voice and your reading was very well-done.

Thanks so much for making your reading available!

I just wanted to thank you for the Pride and Prejudice pod-cast. It
was very helpful to me as I am a seamstress and have been sewing a
regency styled wedding dress. As I was sewing I was listening to all
the episodes. It really helped me stay focused as only a good author
and a good narrator can.
Thank you

And now I proudly add to my feedback the following:

Pride and Prejudice (Solo Project) by Jane Austen
-If you're going to listen to this 13 hour audio book I'd suggest paying for it. Annie Coleman is not a great narrator. Sort of reminded me of when classmates used to read the text in high school. And the audio quality is ok but not great.

Proudly because the worst reaction I could receive from a listener would be indifference. I wrote a paper once about how hate is not the opposite of love. Love and hate are very much the same thing. Indifference is their true opposite. Nothing would be worse than no one caring at all. And four months after finishing P&P, I still get those emails every week.

It is an amazing thing, LibriVox... not just the project but the people. It is all too easy to forget that not everyone is of the same mind as the folks you find here. A reminder that there are folks like my reviewer out there is a good thing. It makes me value LibriVox that much more.

And now, I shall end my uncharacteristically long-winded and philosophical post and thank anyone who made it this far. It's just that I've had a revelation of sorts, and much like my temper, when my soul is soaring, it cannot be contained.

[Gesine]

Sweet Annie. I, too, liked your Lizzie, and am looking forward to listening to all of it. :)

Re the sonnets: was he really criticising them for being short? I thought he might have just mentioned that to forewarn listeners who are not as knowledgeable as he is.