March 19, 2025 • 41 mins
Ever wondered what it takes to narrate your own audiobook? Cathy Worthington and Merry Elkins chat with the incredible Robert Lane, an audiobook coach and producer, who shares his fascinating career journey from radio and Twentieth Century Fox to empowering authors as a coach. What sparked his transition? And why does he believe nonfiction authors should narrate their own work?
Robert dives into the art of audiobook narration, revealing how an author's unique voice and connection to their story bring unparalleled authenticity. We discuss the nitty-gritty of setting up your recording space, overcoming the fear of AI, and embracing your voice. Plus, Robert offers a sneak peek into the audiobook market and strategic marketing plans.
Join us for an inspiring conversation that might just ignite your passion for storytelling. Don't miss out—tune in and discover the magic of your own voice!
Robert Bio
Robert A. Lane is an Audiobook Coach & Producer as well as a Transformational Speaker. He spent 30+ years working in the entertainment industry in various facets of the business. Fourteen of those years were spent at 20th Century Fox, working on the studio lot in L.A. as their Feature Project Manager.
After leaving the entertainment world in 2020, Robert founded Robert Lane Coaching, first as a Career/Life Coach, then expanding the business as an Audiobook Coach & Producer.
After publishing his #1 bestselling book “Lights, Action, YOU!” based on his experiences in the entertainment business, he created the “Your Book Your Voice” audiobook coaching program, a one-on-one program helping nonfiction authors narrate and publish their own audiobooks.
Robert has taken the Career/Life Coaching aspect of his business on the road as a Transformational Speaker inspiring audiences from big corporations to community groups all around the country.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Robert Lane (00:01):
This is the EWN Podcast Network.
Cathy Worthington (00:14):
Welcome to late boomers, our podcast guide
to creating your third act withstyle, power, and impact. Hi.
I'm Kathy Worthington.
Merry Elkins (00:24):
And I'm Mary Elkins. Join us as we bring you
conversations with successfulentrepreneurs, entertainers, and
people with vision who aremaking a difference in the
world.
Cathy Worthington (00:34):
Everyone has a story, and we'll take you
along for the ride on eachinterview, recounting the
journey our guests have taken toget where they are, inspiring
you to create your own path tosuccess. Let's get started.
Hello, and welcome to lateboomers. I'm Kathy Worthington,
(00:56):
and I'm here with my cohost MaryElkins today to introduce you to
Robert a Lane, an audiobookcoach and producer.
Merry Elkins (01:05):
And I'm Mary Elkins. After working thirty
plus years in the entertainmentindustry, Robert became a career
and life coach and then createdYour Book, Your Voice to help
nonfiction authors narrate theirown books. Welcome, Robert.
Robert Lane (01:22):
Thank you. It's really great to be here. I'm
glad to see you both, Kathy andMary.
Cathy Worthington (01:28):
Great. Tell us about your background and how
you discovered your currentcareer trajectory, and and
please include a couple ofstories about your earlier
entertainment industry careeradventures.
Robert Lane (01:41):
Oh, love to. I've worked thirty plus years in the
business, as you've mentioned.And I started off in radio. I've
always been an audio guy. Andradio just always attracted me.
So my career started working,doing talk shows and music shows
and production. Then thateventually led to a career
(02:06):
working at twentieth Century Foxin Los Angeles on the studio
lot. My last roughly fourteenyears of my career was done at
the studio. But I'll tell you,it's been an interesting
journey. It's been a very, veryinteresting journey doing a lot
of things from scheduling forbig production facilities to
(02:29):
I've done some on camera work,off camera work.
And then at Fox, I was thefeature project manager
overseeing post production fortheir current features and their
catalog features. So what'sinteresting with my career and
why it changed to what I dotoday is a few years ago, there
(02:51):
was the big acquisition ofDisney buying Fox. And that was
a huge, huge deal. And we knewthat we were all going to be
affected. We sure were.
So when they finally got around,when Disney got around to our
department, I was on the firstround of firings.
Cathy Worthington (03:09):
Oh, brother.
Robert Lane (03:10):
So my career changed, not by choice. But that
was actually a good opportunityto reassess what I'm doing in my
life and starting from scratch.So I gave it a lot of thought.
And I wanted to figure out,Okay, what do I want to do? Do I
(03:30):
stay in entertainment business?
Do I try something new? Do Istart a new business? Do I
retire early? What do you do? SoI decided to take the risky
choice of becoming anentrepreneur.
And as you know, it's
Cathy Worthington (03:47):
a tough job. We talked to a lot of them. We
talked to a lot ofentrepreneurs. Yeah.
Robert Lane (03:53):
But it is rewarding. It is rewarding. But
as you know, when the ups aregreat, they're really high. And
when they're not, it's down.It's a lot of ups and downs.
But I decided that I wanted todo something that I felt would
be more purposeful. And I didn'twant to go back into the
corporate world. I've done thatfor most of my life and my
(04:13):
career. And I just wanted to dosomething different. So then I
did start Robert Link Coachingas a career coach and life
coach.
And I figured taking a lot ofthe experiences that I had in
the entertainment world, becauseobviously a lot of things that
we experience in our job,whether it's corporate or any
kind of job, we all experiencethe same things in regards to
(04:38):
bad bosses, how to manage yourtime, how to be more productive,
all those things. So I gave thata lot of thought. And also, were
saying to me, you should write amemoir. You should tell about
stories of working in thebusiness. Probably have a lot of
(05:01):
stories.
So I gave that some thought, andI ended up writing a book called
Lights Action You. And I wantedto make it a little more than
just storytelling and givingbehind the scenes. So with each
experience and story that Ishare, I tied in a life lesson
(05:22):
or a tool or a technique fromthe career coaching and life
coaching aspect so that peoplecould get more value from just
reading a book about this iswhat it was like working in
entertainment. And so, ofcourse, being an audio guy had
to do the audiobook.
Merry Elkins (05:41):
Makes sense.
Robert Lane (05:42):
And so then I had authors approach me saying, hey.
You know, I want to narrate myown audiobook. How did you do
that?
Merry Elkins (05:50):
Well, I had a question for you about that.
Cathy Worthington (05:53):
Yeah. I mean,
Merry Elkins (05:55):
I have a few questions here. But on that
note, why should a nonfictionauthor narrate his or her own
audiobook?
Robert Lane (06:06):
That is it really is a great question. And the
number one reason is that,especially for nonfiction
authors, it's your story. Thereis nobody on this planet that
can tell your story better thanyou, especially if it's a
memoir, or maybe you're a coach,you're an entrepreneur, or an
(06:26):
educator, or a teacher, or evena poet. This is your story. And
your story is about you and yourauthor brand.
And everything that encompassesyour author brand is who you
are, the way you were broughtup, your belief systems, your
habits, your personality, yoursense of humor. That's all part
(06:48):
of your author brand. So whenyou write your book, your voice
technically is in your writtenword already. It only makes
sense for the author to tellyour story. Because again, no
one can tell your story betterthan you.
You lived it. You've breathedit. You put your blood, sweat,
and tears into your book. Eventhe best narrator in the world,
(07:10):
they'll do a great job, but it'sstill their interpretation, not
yours. And there are subtleties,there are nuances about who you
are and how you express yourselfthat another narrator is not
going to be able to express, Andespecially if it's a story that
that's traumatic or or verypersonal.
(07:30):
Yeah. No one can express itbetter than the author. Yeah.
Cathy Worthington (07:34):
That's get it. What do you think is the
main main issue that you have tohelp authors with when they're
creating their audiobook?Getting them to open up?
Robert Lane (07:44):
Confidence. Absolutely.
Cathy Worthington (07:46):
Confidence.
Robert Lane (07:46):
Yes. A lot of people and it's understandable.
I hear a lot of authors andespecially authors who go
through my program, they say,oh, I hate my voice. I don't
like how
Cathy Worthington (07:59):
I sound.
Robert Lane (08:00):
I don't have what it takes. And that's a false
belief because your voice is,again, part of your author
brand. That's part of whatdefines who you are. So love
that voice. Appreciate thatwonderful sound that comes out
of your body because that isyour signature.
(08:21):
That's what makes you unique.And a matter of fact, that's
what allows you to stand out inthe crowd because you're being
your authentic self.
Merry Elkins (08:28):
Yeah. That's true. But a lot of people don't hear
their voice the way other peoplehear it.
Cathy Worthington (08:34):
Absolutely. So they go out of shock when you
record them, right? They flipout?
Robert Lane (08:39):
Sometimes. Something they're like, Woah,
wow, I sound like that. But thenwhen they actually hear the
final audio file for theiraudiobook, it's all cleaned up.
It sounds great. It's EQ'd.
And then they listen back.They're like, wow. I sound like
that. I'm like, you absolutelydo. You you really do sound
good.
Merry Elkins (08:59):
Well So a
Cathy Worthington (09:00):
lot of these, you're recording long distance
over Zoom or something? Or doyou have to usually have them
come in your studio or what?
Robert Lane (09:08):
What I do is I provide the author with the
professional equipment that theyneed to set up their own
recording space. That way, theauthor can do it on their
timeline without the pressure ofhaving to go to a First of all,
you got to find a good studio todo it in who understands about
(09:29):
audiobooks and not just aboutrecording, but about making sure
that your audio meets the exactspecifications for publication.
Because I've had authors come tome and say, hey, I did my
audiobook. I did it in a studio.I uploaded it for publication,
and Audible rejected it.
And you don't want that tohappen because that's a lot
Merry Elkins (09:50):
of Yeah.
Cathy Worthington (09:52):
And a lot of money.
Merry Elkins (09:54):
Yeah. And time.
Robert Lane (09:57):
And time, absolutely. So again, I show
them step by step how to set upyour own space so that you're
comfortable and that you do iton your timeline without the
pressure of having to go to astudio. I mean, what if you're
having a bad day? Or what ifyour voice isn't sounding the
way you want it to? And then the
Merry Elkins (10:16):
Oh, you have a cold.
Robert Lane (10:18):
Right. Then the editor's like, well, kid, your
time's up. Hit the
Merry Elkins (10:22):
road. Oh. So you would not recommend using AI or
another narrator?
Robert Lane (10:30):
So, yeah, in regards to AI, my take on that
is AI is cheapening your authorbrand because that is not an
accurate representation of whoyou are. AI is not going to
bring in the human element ofyour uniqueness as an author.
(10:51):
Remember, your author brand andyour voice and how you express
yourself is unique to you. Thereare subtleties and emotions that
are not going to be there. SoAI, to me, is soulless.
You've just removed the humansoul out of your narration. And
the other thing is, and I lookat this as cutting corners,
(11:13):
which you shouldn't do ever asan entrepreneur, because a
published author is anentrepreneur, so embrace that.
But don't go somewhere to, Oh, Icould just clone my voice. Okay,
so it's going to sound like you,but the emotion still won't be
there. And I kind of look atthat as, in a sense, being
(11:35):
dishonest too because you'reyou're claiming that you
narrated that, but no, youreally didn't.
You had a computer do it thatsounded like you.
Merry Elkins (11:43):
Kind of like a hell in the movie 2,001.
Cathy Worthington (11:49):
No. It wouldn't even have occurred to
me the thing about cloning thevoice. That's really
interesting. I I wouldn't Yeah.
Robert Lane (11:56):
I mean, to me, it it it really is cutting corners.
You're not
Merry Elkins (12:00):
Do a
Robert Lane (12:00):
lot of
Cathy Worthington (12:00):
do a lot of people say, I want to just get a
really good narrator that speaksbetter than I do?
Robert Lane (12:10):
Usually, the authors that approach me really
want to narrate their own book.We do talk about that if for
some reason they feel thatanother narrator is better.
Honestly, again, especially fornon fiction authors, that author
is the most qualified and bestperson to narrate their book.
Hands down.
Merry Elkins (12:30):
If you've written a fiction book, do the same
rules in your mind apply?
Robert Lane (12:36):
Yeah. That's a great question. It depends on
what the book is. If someonewrites a fictional story, and
it's more of like a memoir typestyle, then why not have the
author narrate their own book? Afiction book, that's fine.
However, if you have a book andit's various planets in the
(12:59):
galaxy with all these differentcharacters and you want to have
different dialects and accents,then that's a whole other
ballgame. And that's where youwould go and find a professional
voiceover person who can dovoices professionally because
you want it to sound great tobring those characters to life.
(13:22):
So that's a little bitdifferent. Again, it's more
memoir based where it's maybeone person or maybe one or two
people, that author can still dothe narration.
Cathy Worthington (13:34):
That's good. Yeah. Of course, they could.
Yeah. What do you think are thetwo main components to create a
compelling audio book?
We want it to be compelling.
Robert Lane (13:46):
Compelling. First thing is authenticity. You need
to be your true authentic self.You don't need to go, oh, should
try to sound like this person orthat narrator or this actor. No,
be yourself.
Because again, your voice isyour unique stamp of what sets
(14:07):
you apart. It's you. That's whoyou are. No one can replicate
you, not the way that you can.So you want to preserve the
integrity of your author brand,and authenticity is definitely a
huge aspect of it.
The other important elementwould be always be tapped into
(14:27):
the core reason of why you wroteyour book in the first place.
Because when you're tapped intothat core reason, that's going
to come out in your narration,that's going to come out in your
delivery. So always be tappedinto that reason. You want to
bring that purpose in becausethat pulls out the intangibles.
And the intangibles are thesecret sauce that makes a great
(14:48):
audiobook because now you'rebringing your emotion and your
unique style to it and yourunique energy to what
Merry Elkins (14:57):
you People don't really know the purpose behind
writing their book. They justthey just had to write it, but
they don't have a purposereally.
Robert Lane (15:09):
I think, at least with the authors that I've dealt
with, I feel that their purposeis they have a story or an
experience that they wentthrough, and they are compelled
enough to write this story. AndI believe that their purpose is
that they have somethingvaluable to share. And if one
(15:31):
person who reads their book orhears their audiobook is
inspired, or hears something andgoes, Wow, I went through a
similar situation, I'm notalone. If they're able to help
one person and inspire oneperson, they did their job. And
I believe that that is theirpurpose.
Merry Elkins (15:49):
Mhmm. That's great.
Cathy Worthington (15:50):
Well, that's interesting. It's almost like
you become a therapist. Becauseif they say to if they say to
you, I have no clue what what'smy purpose in writing this book,
and you and then you analyze itlike you just did, they're gonna
go, oh, I get it.
Robert Lane (16:06):
Yeah. Yeah.
Merry Elkins (16:07):
That's right. It's like
Cathy Worthington (16:08):
a little therapy.
Merry Elkins (16:10):
Your life coaching experience has paid off.
Robert Lane (16:13):
Right. And it's not just, let me grab my book, I'm
going to hit record and juststart reading and narrating. The
very first lesson that I do withthe authors in my program is
mindset. We start with mindset.
Cathy Worthington (16:29):
Oh, yeah. We were
Merry Elkins (16:31):
going to
Cathy Worthington (16:31):
ask about that.
Robert Lane (16:32):
Yes. You have to be in the right frame of mind
before you even hit that recordbutton because that's going to
come through. It's like if yougo to a movie and you're like,
Oh, that was all right, andthere may be something that just
didn't quite click with you,it's the energy. Or maybe the
(16:52):
actors didn't deliver theirlines where they were
believable. It's the sameanalogy when it comes to your
audiobook.
You just don't wanna just gothrough the motions. You wanna
feel the emotion.
Merry Elkins (17:05):
And you want people listening to feel the
emotions.
Robert Lane (17:08):
Yes.
Cathy Worthington (17:09):
Yeah. So you get to be an acting coach too.
Voice over. Voice over acting cobut voice over is acting.
Robert Lane (17:19):
It is.
Cathy Worthington (17:20):
A lot of very fine actors do voiceovers. Yeah.
Robert Lane (17:23):
Absolutely. Absolutely.
Merry Elkins (17:25):
Absolutely. Well, getting back to the audiobooks,
where's the best place todistribute them?
Robert Lane (17:35):
The the best place is well, I call it the triple a.
Audible, Amazon, Apple. Thereason why all authors really
should have their audiobookpublished on those three
platforms is that's what thegeneral public knows. And I see
it all the time now. Peoplearen't just saying, Oh, do you
(17:57):
have an audiobook?
Now they're saying, Hey, can Iget your book on Audible? So
they're asking for it by brandname. Now, are a lot of other
distribution platforms outthere. There's Barnes and Noble,
there's other platforms that getyou in libraries and just all
different places. But one of thethings that I discuss with the
(18:18):
authors before we even get intothe program is what is your
marketing strategy?
What's been working for you foryour book now? Does it make
sense for you to be anywhere andeverywhere, kind of like
throwing the spaghetti on thewall and seeing what sticks. To
me, that's not a valid marketingplan. Really do need a plan. But
(18:41):
if let's say you put your e bookon Barnes and Noble and it's
selling great, then definitelyhave your audiobook distributed
on Barnes and Noble as wellbecause that's what's working
for you.
In addition to Audible, youreally do need to be on Audible,
Amazon, and Apple as well.
Merry Elkins (18:58):
Do coach people on marketing strategy?
Robert Lane (19:03):
Yeah, I actually talk to them about things that
they can do to help promotetheir book, to put together a
launch team. All those thingsthat you would do normally for
your book, you would apply thesame to your audiobook. And
again, another great thing thatauthors can do while they're
(19:24):
recording their audiobook ispull back the curtain, let
people see behind the scenes ofwhat it's like, show them your
recording space, sit at yourmicrophone and take a photo and
put it on social media becausethat creates excitement. It's
fun to see behind the scenes.Sure.
That's great. Now
Cathy Worthington (19:45):
you've referenced several times this
phrase you're using, authorbrand. So please tell us really
what is that? What would youtell someone starting out?
Robert Lane (19:58):
I would say that a simple definition of an author
brand is really everything thatencompasses who you are.
Everything. That is your brand.And when you write your book and
you publish your book, you arethe brand. Your book, ebook,
paperback, hardcover, audiobook,those are your products.
(20:19):
And those are the variousformats of your product, of your
author brand. Your author brandis how you write, your style,
your personality, your sense ofhumor. Again, your upbringing
and your values and your beliefsystems and your habits. These
are all things that encompasswho you are as a person, but
that also falls into who you areas an author.
Merry Elkins (20:43):
Oh,
Cathy Worthington (20:44):
yeah. Authenticity.
Robert Lane (20:45):
Authenticity. Yes.
Merry Elkins (20:47):
Exactly. Exactly. Mhmm. I think you mentioned
earlier that you don't reallyneed to have speaking experience
to narrate your own audiobook.Do you recommend going and doing
like a I don't know, speaking topeople and I forget what they
call it, the groups where youactually practice that before
(21:09):
you do your own audiobook?
Robert Lane (21:11):
Well, part of what I do as coach and producer is
coaching. That's the coachingaspect. The coaching aspect is
really getting into a deep diveof what does it take to be
compelling? What does it take tobring out your authenticity?
What do you need to do to beconversational?
What do you need to do to keepthat listener on the edge of
(21:33):
their seat from opening creditsto closing credits? Can you give
us an example? One of the thingsthat I share with the authors
and this will really help a lot,especially even if you're just
doing speaking, or maybe you'regiving a presentation for your
boss at a conference. Have inmind a very specific person that
(21:59):
you're speaking to. So insteadof saying, Oh, my genre is
weight loss, or my audience isbetween the ages of 40 and 60,
or that's too vague, that's toogeneral.
Have somebody very specific inmind your best friend, your
(22:20):
partner, your coworker, a familymember, somebody that you really
feel comfortable and relate to.And I even say, put a picture of
them up on your computer whenyou narrate because you want to
be conversational, you want tobring out your true authentic
self. So when you're readingyour audiobook, it's like,
(22:42):
imagine yourself, you're sittingat your favorite coffee shop,
and you have this great story totell, and you're with your best
friend, and you're telling thestory to them. That's what you
want to get across because thatbrings out all the emotion, the
energy, the authenticity, theconversationalism, because now
you're talking to a specificperson. And that actually helps
(23:04):
authors even feel a little bitmore relaxed when it comes to
doing their narration.
Cathy Worthington (23:08):
Well, it's making me think I have to write
my memoir now.
Merry Elkins (23:12):
You should. You gotta write
Cathy Worthington (23:14):
it you gotta write it first. Yeah. There's
nothing to narrate. You know?And you've you've referred to
mindset playing a role inaudiobook creation.
So take us through that. How doyou get into a mindset to
record? Do you do you prescribeexercises for your clients? Or
(23:34):
what are you doing for that?
Robert Lane (23:36):
I think the first thing, which we touched on a
little bit about being confidentand loving your voice, that's
the first step, is you have tolove and embrace the wonderful
voice that you have. So onething to do is always be
grounded. Before you hit thatrecord button, be in the present
(23:59):
moment. Don't worry about thepast. Don't worry about the
future.
You've got to be in the now.You've got to be in the present
moment, Because then you'refocused on what you're going to
do with your narration. And thenof course, the other thing is
just practice. For example, ifyou're going to record a
chapter, just go over thechapter, get familiar with it,
(24:21):
maybe read through it out loudso you can hear yourself. And
you can maybe even recordyourself before you do your
official recording just to getan idea of how you sound.
And oh, you know, jeez, myenergy seemed a little off. Let
me do that again. And and andmaybe I'm not
Cathy Worthington (24:40):
The danger in that is if people critique
themselves so harshly, theymight throw out a perfectly good
reading. You might think it wasgood, right?
Robert Lane (24:51):
That's true. And in the program, that's part of my
coaching job is to make surethat perfectionism doesn't seep
its way in. I get it. I'm one ofthose people where I'll just do
it until I was like, oh. Butagain, I tell them, don't be a
George Lucas and keep changingStar Wars every few years
(25:13):
because you want to add anothergraphic to the blowing
Merry Elkins (25:17):
of the death star. I'm very guilty of doing things
like that. In order to getgrounded, do you recommend
meditation before they start?What do you recommend?
Robert Lane (25:30):
Meditation is great. As matter of fact, I do a
little exercise. It could takemaybe five minutes or twenty
minutes, however long you wantto do it. I call it getting into
your happy place. Your happyplace is breathing is great
because breathing does help calmyour nerves if you are nervous.
(25:52):
Some people are nervous abouthaving a microphone in front of
them. So you just need to relax,take a deep breath, close your
eyes, and just imagine yourselfin a happy place. Where's your
happy place? I live in Sedona,Arizona, so my happy place is
going out on the trail andhiking in the red rocks. Another
person's happy Yeah, it
Cathy Worthington (26:13):
could sitting
Robert Lane (26:18):
on a tropical beach with a warm breeze and curling
your toes in the warm sand andjust hearing the nice soft waves
crashing on the shore. But thegoal is not just only
visualizing it, but how do youfeel? Tapping into that feeling,
(26:40):
feeling joy, feelingcontentment, feeling empowered,
feeling confident. Whateverthose feelings are, tap into
those feelings and really feelthem. Because when you feel
them, then your subconscious isgoing to feel them.
And then your subconscious isgoing to believe that you feel
that way about yourself. Andthen that's starting to get
(27:01):
yourself into your zone, yourfocus. And then now you're
focused, now you're in thepresent moment, you went over
the chapter you're going toread, now you feel good and
confident, hit that recordbutton. Now you're ready to go.
Merry Elkins (27:16):
Just by listening to you, I'm going there. I'm
like, I'm feeling, oh, yes. Nicebeach right now.
Robert Lane (27:22):
That's good. Beach.
Cathy Worthington (27:24):
Just you you do that tropical beach. You just
add a drink in there, and you'vegot a Zach Brown band song.
Robert Lane (27:30):
You know what? I even say that's sand.
Cathy Worthington (27:32):
I got my toes in the sand. Yeah.
Merry Elkins (27:34):
Yeah. And the warm the warm sand, and you can hear
the waves. And and it just andyou lie there, and maybe you're
out on the water, and you'refloating, and it's just sounds
wonderful. Mhmm. So what is theprocess of recording your own
audiobook?
What what do you actually gothrough?
Robert Lane (27:56):
So the actual process is recording an
audiobook is done in sections.So you don't have to grab your
book and then read for threehours or however long your book
is in one sitting. That's toomuch. It's not going to be a
good narration, so you don'twant to do that. But it is
actually broken up intosections.
(28:19):
So for example, my book has 14chapters. Well, that's 14 audio
files right there. But then youalso have opening credits,
closing credits, introduction,prologue, epilogue,
acknowledgments, dedication, allthat are separate audio files.
So everything is recordedseparate in pieces. Now, in the
(28:39):
big picture, it makes it so mucheasier for the author to do it
because now you don't feelpressured in trying to record so
much material in one sitting.
And again, you don't want to dothat because the voice gets
tired, the energy starts todrop, and you want to be
consistent with your energy allthe way through. So you record
one section at a time. Now, thenext phase is as you record, at
(29:05):
least in my program, the authorsends their audio files to me.
And that's where the coachinghat comes off and the editor's
hat comes on. And that's where Igo through each audio file in
real time with a fine toothcomb.
I listen for everything. What'sthe ambience in the background?
Is it too loud, too soft? Isthere something there that
(29:27):
shouldn't be there? And I listento what's happening between
words, between sentences, what'shappening during the narration.
Are there mouth noises I canremove? And I'll cut them out
and remove them and clean themup and make everything sound the
best that it can possibly sound.And the most important aspect,
of course, is again, making surethat all those audio files meet
(29:48):
the exact specifications forpublication. And then the next
phase after that is once I'vemastered their audio, I do the
uploading for them. So I willupload their files to Audible,
Amazon, Apple, and any otherdistribution platform that they
want to be on.
Cathy Worthington (30:03):
Oh, that's a good bonus.
Robert Lane (30:05):
Absolutely. Because in that way, if for some reason
there's an issue and sometimesit happens. I'll get a
notification from Audiblesaying, you're 0.3 decibels too
low. It's just something reallyminuscule. But it's like, Okay,
no problem.
I know what the issue is. I knowwhat adjustments I need to make.
(30:26):
I re output a new file. I uploadit and make sure everything's
accepted because I want thatauthor to not have to worry
about all this stuff thathappens behind the scenes. The
author's job is just to do agreat narration.
That's it. I'll do all the heavylifting. I don't want the author
to have to worry about that. Doyou
Cathy Worthington (30:44):
ever get an author that wrote a terrible
book, but now you're trying tocoach them to narrate it? What
if it's, like, horrible and youcan't say anything because they
already wrote the book?
Robert Lane (30:56):
Well, let's just say I have been fortunate to
have some incredible authorswho've told some incredible
stories. So I've enjoyed everybook I've worked on so far.
Cathy Worthington (31:10):
Oh, well, that's good because I don't know
how you backtrack and say, Idon't know if I wanna do this
one. Yeah. Well, you realawkward. If a
Robert Lane (31:23):
book that if subject matter that I find very
controversial, and that itdoesn't align with my moral
standards and beliefs and allthat, then I them on.
Cathy Worthington (31:38):
Oh, yeah. You can read it first before you
decide.
Robert Lane (31:43):
Yeah. It's not about companies are just all
about, I'll take the client. Idon't care. I'm in it for the
business. No, you've got to haveboundaries and you have to have
standards.
And those are mine. It's like, Iwon't take a client if their
book is so bad that it's notgoing to help them
Cathy Worthington (32:05):
I signed
Robert Lane (32:06):
up narrate it or not, then I will suggest I know
some great book coaches andstory developers and say, hey,
may want to me refer you tothese people and talk to them
and help you develop your story.
Cathy Worthington (32:25):
How long does it usually take you to or take
the author to produce an audiobook?
Robert Lane (32:32):
That's a really good question, Kathy. So my
program is six weeks. So you canactually set up, record, and
have all your audiobook done andready for publication by the end
of the six week program. That'sthe goal. But let's be more
(32:52):
detailed.
So let's say your book is 40,000words, for example. So people
can narrate on an averageroughly about 9,300 words in an
hour. So you divide that 9,300into 40,000, and you come up
with roughly four point threehours of actual audiobook
(33:13):
narration.
Cathy Worthington (33:16):
I don't know word counts. So is 40,000
average?
Robert Lane (33:20):
It's bit on that's a book that can be maybe 130 to
150 pages roughly. A lot of thebooks that I work on are usually
maybe 50,000, 60 thousand, 70thousand words. So that's a book
that's maybe 200 pages, twotwenty five, two 50 pages
roughly. If your audio booktechnically, let's say it's four
(33:46):
point three hours long, doublethat time, at least, when it
comes to the actual recording ofit. So give yourself nine hours
or ten hours of actual recordingtime to complete it.
Because again, you're going toget tired, your voice is going
to get maybe it doesn't soundquite right. You're going to
make mistakes because we'rehuman beings. That's what we do.
(34:09):
It's Okay. That's a part oflife.
It's all right.
Merry Elkins (34:12):
And then they rerecord.
Robert Lane (34:14):
Yeah. And also, the process is when the author sends
their audio to me for editing,as I go through it, I also
listen for mispronunciations.Maybe there's a slurred word.
Maybe there's too long of a gapbetween a sentence or too short.
(34:38):
I can fix all that.
If there's something or maybethere's a sound that happened
that I can't remove, then I justmake a list and timestamp it and
say, these are the fixes thatneed to be made for this
chapter. It could be five or sixsentences. They go in, they just
record those sentences, sendthem back to me, I insert them
(34:59):
in.
Cathy Worthington (35:00):
Want me ask if you can just cut in like they
do on music music recordings.You're always cutting in.
Robert Lane (35:06):
It's the same same concept.
Cathy Worthington (35:08):
Oh, wow.
Merry Elkins (35:09):
Your editing experience has worked for you.
Robert Lane (35:13):
It has. Have to say, being an audio guy, I've
always loved audio. And I lovehelping people. I love coaching
on what I do. This is like theperfect marriage of two things
that I love doing.
It just took my entire career tofigure it out.
Merry Elkins (35:32):
Brings me to my next question for you because
you were talking aboutreassessing your life and your
career. I mean, curious how longit took you to do that and how
you did it. And then I haveanother question about baby
boomers and those going througha shift in their careers. Are
(35:52):
they the ones who frequentlywrite the non fiction books and
they come to you as clients foraudiobooks?
Robert Lane (36:01):
Let's see. I'm thinking about the clients that
I've worked with so far. I thinkthe average age of the authors
that I've worked
Merry Elkins (36:11):
with
Robert Lane (36:11):
are mid-40s to mid-60s. Yeah. And a lot of the
books that I've worked on arememoirs.
Merry Elkins (36:21):
And what about reassessing your career? How
long did that take? What did yougo through? How did you do it? A
lot of people are doing thatthese days.
Robert Lane (36:32):
Yeah. I'm glad. I really am glad. And it was a
huge blessing that I was let gowhen Disney took over. The
beauty about it was that if youwere let go, part of the Disney
Fox deal was that Disney had tomake sure that those that were
let go got a decent severance.
(36:53):
And so I had a few months offinances to live on to figure
out what I wanted to do. ButMary, I really remember the day
it was a specific day when Imade the decision, I'm going to
do this coaching thing. Going todo it. I'm going to go 100% in,
(37:14):
and I'm going to make this work.And as an entrepreneur, I m sure
any entrepreneur can tell you,there have been many times where
you thought about throwing inthe towel and quitting, because
it's tough.
And I've had those moments. ButI would tell myself, did you
exhaust every single possibilitythat you can do to make this
(37:37):
work? And it's like, no, no, Ihaven't. So continue to be
resilient, continue to betenacious. And don't give up
because you may be just 5% awayfrom hitting that success that
you've been seeking.
It's like that old story aboutthe the miner who's digging for
gold, and then he gives up, andthen he leaves, and he was,
(38:01):
like, just inches away fromhitting the mother load.
Cathy Worthington (38:03):
Yeah. Mhmm. I'm hearing some takeaways I'm
hearing some takeaways of whatyou're saying, but what else
would you like our listeners tohave as a takeaway today?
Robert Lane (38:15):
Well, I think number one is, of course, being
your true authentic self. Again,if you're making a change in
your life and your career,especially later on in life, it
is possible. So believe inyourself and find something that
really drives you, that givesyou passion and purpose. Because
(38:36):
that just makes it even it maynot make the journey easier, but
it makes it a lot more enjoyablewhen you're doing something that
you love to do.
Merry Elkins (38:46):
And that's what it's all about, isn't it?
Robert Lane (38:48):
Yeah. Really. It is.
Merry Elkins (38:51):
Thank you, Robert. That's great. Our guest today on
Late Boomers has been Robert A.Lane, audiobook coach and
producer and editor. And I couldgo on with what you said you
did.
But you help people find theirauthentic selves in their voice.
(39:11):
You can get in touch with him onhis website,
robertlanecoaching.com. That'sr0bertlanecoaching.com. And you
can book a consultation withhim, a free consultation call.
And it's regarding the next stepto record your audiobook.
(39:32):
And Robert, is there anythingyou'd like to add to that?
Robert Lane (39:35):
Well, first step really is just to have a
conversation. So if you're a nonfiction author and you've
considered turning your bookinto an audiobook, let's have a
conversation about it. It's afree call. I don't charge for
consultations. And that's thefirst step because I want to
make sure that not only that Iresonate with you, but that you
(39:55):
resonate with me because we'regoing to work together to create
something awesome.
And your audiobook is awesome,and it is a great accomplishment
when you do it. So, yeah, that'sthe first step.
Cathy Worthington (40:06):
That's great. Yeah. Thanks for listening
today, boomers, and tune in nextweek when we will have a
stuntwoman who is still workingin Hollywood in her eighties,
Sandy Gimpel. So pleasesubscribe to our late boomers
podcast on YouTube and take usalong in the car and on walks on
your favorite audio platform.Let us know what gets you
(40:27):
inspired.
We are on Instagram at I amKathy Worthington and at I am
Mary Elkins and at late boomers.Please share the late boomers
podcast info with your friendswho may not yet be listening to
podcasts. Thanks again, Robert.
Robert Lane (40:43):
Oh, you're welcome, and thank you so much for having
me on your show.
Cathy Worthington (40:56):
Thank you for joining us on Late Boomers, the
podcast that is your guide tocreating a third act with style,
power, and impact. Please visitour website and get in touch
with us at lateboomers.biz. Ifyou would like to listen to or
download other episodes of lateboomers, go to
ewnpodcastnetwork.com.
Merry Elkins (41:18):
This podcast is also available on Spotify, Apple
Podcast, and most other majorpodcast sites. We hope you make
use of the wisdom you've gainedhere and that you enjoy a
successful third act with yourown style, power, and impact.
This is the EWN Podcast Network.
Cathy Worthington (00:14):
Welcome to late boomers, our podcast guide
to creating your third act withstyle, power, and impact. Hi.
I'm Kathy Worthington.
Merry Elkins (00:24):
And I'm Mary Elkins. Join us as we bring you
conversations with successfulentrepreneurs, entertainers, and
people with vision who aremaking a difference in the
world.
Cathy Worthington (00:34):
Everyone has a story, and we'll take you
along for the ride on eachinterview, recounting the
journey our guests have taken toget where they are, inspiring
you to create your own path tosuccess. Let's get started.
Hello, and welcome to lateboomers. I'm Kathy Worthington,
(00:56):
and I'm here with my cohost MaryElkins today to introduce you to
Robert a Lane, an audiobookcoach and producer.
Merry Elkins (01:05):
And I'm Mary Elkins. After working thirty
plus years in the entertainmentindustry, Robert became a career
and life coach and then createdYour Book, Your Voice to help
nonfiction authors narrate theirown books. Welcome, Robert.
Robert Lane (01:22):
Thank you. It's really great to be here. I'm
glad to see you both, Kathy andMary.
Cathy Worthington (01:28):
Great. Tell us about your background and how
you discovered your currentcareer trajectory, and and
please include a couple ofstories about your earlier
entertainment industry careeradventures.
Robert Lane (01:41):
Oh, love to. I've worked thirty plus years in the
business, as you've mentioned.And I started off in radio. I've
always been an audio guy. Andradio just always attracted me.
So my career started working,doing talk shows and music shows
and production. Then thateventually led to a career
(02:06):
working at twentieth Century Foxin Los Angeles on the studio
lot. My last roughly fourteenyears of my career was done at
the studio. But I'll tell you,it's been an interesting
journey. It's been a very, veryinteresting journey doing a lot
of things from scheduling forbig production facilities to
(02:29):
I've done some on camera work,off camera work.
And then at Fox, I was thefeature project manager
overseeing post production fortheir current features and their
catalog features. So what'sinteresting with my career and
why it changed to what I dotoday is a few years ago, there
(02:51):
was the big acquisition ofDisney buying Fox. And that was
a huge, huge deal. And we knewthat we were all going to be
affected. We sure were.
So when they finally got around,when Disney got around to our
department, I was on the firstround of firings.
Cathy Worthington (03:09):
Oh, brother.
Robert Lane (03:10):
So my career changed, not by choice. But that
was actually a good opportunityto reassess what I'm doing in my
life and starting from scratch.So I gave it a lot of thought.
And I wanted to figure out,Okay, what do I want to do? Do I
(03:30):
stay in entertainment business?
Do I try something new? Do Istart a new business? Do I
retire early? What do you do? SoI decided to take the risky
choice of becoming anentrepreneur.
And as you know, it's
Cathy Worthington (03:47):
a tough job. We talked to a lot of them. We
talked to a lot ofentrepreneurs. Yeah.
Robert Lane (03:53):
But it is rewarding. It is rewarding. But
as you know, when the ups aregreat, they're really high. And
when they're not, it's down.It's a lot of ups and downs.
But I decided that I wanted todo something that I felt would
be more purposeful. And I didn'twant to go back into the
corporate world. I've done thatfor most of my life and my
(04:13):
career. And I just wanted to dosomething different. So then I
did start Robert Link Coachingas a career coach and life
coach.
And I figured taking a lot ofthe experiences that I had in
the entertainment world, becauseobviously a lot of things that
we experience in our job,whether it's corporate or any
kind of job, we all experiencethe same things in regards to
(04:38):
bad bosses, how to manage yourtime, how to be more productive,
all those things. So I gave thata lot of thought. And also, were
saying to me, you should write amemoir. You should tell about
stories of working in thebusiness. Probably have a lot of
(05:01):
stories.
So I gave that some thought, andI ended up writing a book called
Lights Action You. And I wantedto make it a little more than
just storytelling and givingbehind the scenes. So with each
experience and story that Ishare, I tied in a life lesson
(05:22):
or a tool or a technique fromthe career coaching and life
coaching aspect so that peoplecould get more value from just
reading a book about this iswhat it was like working in
entertainment. And so, ofcourse, being an audio guy had
to do the audiobook.
Merry Elkins (05:41):
Makes sense.
Robert Lane (05:42):
And so then I had authors approach me saying, hey.
You know, I want to narrate myown audiobook. How did you do
that?
Merry Elkins (05:50):
Well, I had a question for you about that.
Cathy Worthington (05:53):
Yeah. I mean,
Merry Elkins (05:55):
I have a few questions here. But on that
note, why should a nonfictionauthor narrate his or her own
audiobook?
Robert Lane (06:06):
That is it really is a great question. And the
number one reason is that,especially for nonfiction
authors, it's your story. Thereis nobody on this planet that
can tell your story better thanyou, especially if it's a
memoir, or maybe you're a coach,you're an entrepreneur, or an
(06:26):
educator, or a teacher, or evena poet. This is your story. And
your story is about you and yourauthor brand.
And everything that encompassesyour author brand is who you
are, the way you were broughtup, your belief systems, your
habits, your personality, yoursense of humor. That's all part
(06:48):
of your author brand. So whenyou write your book, your voice
technically is in your writtenword already. It only makes
sense for the author to tellyour story. Because again, no
one can tell your story betterthan you.
You lived it. You've breathedit. You put your blood, sweat,
and tears into your book. Eventhe best narrator in the world,
(07:10):
they'll do a great job, but it'sstill their interpretation, not
yours. And there are subtleties,there are nuances about who you
are and how you express yourselfthat another narrator is not
going to be able to express, Andespecially if it's a story that
that's traumatic or or verypersonal.
(07:30):
Yeah. No one can express itbetter than the author. Yeah.
Cathy Worthington (07:34):
That's get it. What do you think is the
main main issue that you have tohelp authors with when they're
creating their audiobook?Getting them to open up?
Robert Lane (07:44):
Confidence. Absolutely.
Cathy Worthington (07:46):
Confidence.
Robert Lane (07:46):
Yes. A lot of people and it's understandable.
I hear a lot of authors andespecially authors who go
through my program, they say,oh, I hate my voice. I don't
like how
Cathy Worthington (07:59):
I sound.
Robert Lane (08:00):
I don't have what it takes. And that's a false
belief because your voice is,again, part of your author
brand. That's part of whatdefines who you are. So love
that voice. Appreciate thatwonderful sound that comes out
of your body because that isyour signature.
(08:21):
That's what makes you unique.And a matter of fact, that's
what allows you to stand out inthe crowd because you're being
your authentic self.
Merry Elkins (08:28):
Yeah. That's true. But a lot of people don't hear
their voice the way other peoplehear it.
Cathy Worthington (08:34):
Absolutely. So they go out of shock when you
record them, right? They flipout?
Robert Lane (08:39):
Sometimes. Something they're like, Woah,
wow, I sound like that. But thenwhen they actually hear the
final audio file for theiraudiobook, it's all cleaned up.
It sounds great. It's EQ'd.
And then they listen back.They're like, wow. I sound like
that. I'm like, you absolutelydo. You you really do sound
good.
Merry Elkins (08:59):
Well So a
Cathy Worthington (09:00):
lot of these, you're recording long distance
over Zoom or something? Or doyou have to usually have them
come in your studio or what?
Robert Lane (09:08):
What I do is I provide the author with the
professional equipment that theyneed to set up their own
recording space. That way, theauthor can do it on their
timeline without the pressure ofhaving to go to a First of all,
you got to find a good studio todo it in who understands about
(09:29):
audiobooks and not just aboutrecording, but about making sure
that your audio meets the exactspecifications for publication.
Because I've had authors come tome and say, hey, I did my
audiobook. I did it in a studio.I uploaded it for publication,
and Audible rejected it.
And you don't want that tohappen because that's a lot
Merry Elkins (09:50):
of Yeah.
Cathy Worthington (09:52):
And a lot of money.
Merry Elkins (09:54):
Yeah. And time.
Robert Lane (09:57):
And time, absolutely. So again, I show
them step by step how to set upyour own space so that you're
comfortable and that you do iton your timeline without the
pressure of having to go to astudio. I mean, what if you're
having a bad day? Or what ifyour voice isn't sounding the
way you want it to? And then the
Merry Elkins (10:16):
Oh, you have a cold.
Robert Lane (10:18):
Right. Then the editor's like, well, kid, your
time's up. Hit the
Merry Elkins (10:22):
road. Oh. So you would not recommend using AI or
another narrator?
Robert Lane (10:30):
So, yeah, in regards to AI, my take on that
is AI is cheapening your authorbrand because that is not an
accurate representation of whoyou are. AI is not going to
bring in the human element ofyour uniqueness as an author.
(10:51):
Remember, your author brand andyour voice and how you express
yourself is unique to you. Thereare subtleties and emotions that
are not going to be there. SoAI, to me, is soulless.
You've just removed the humansoul out of your narration. And
the other thing is, and I lookat this as cutting corners,
(11:13):
which you shouldn't do ever asan entrepreneur, because a
published author is anentrepreneur, so embrace that.
But don't go somewhere to, Oh, Icould just clone my voice. Okay,
so it's going to sound like you,but the emotion still won't be
there. And I kind of look atthat as, in a sense, being
(11:35):
dishonest too because you'reyou're claiming that you
narrated that, but no, youreally didn't.
You had a computer do it thatsounded like you.
Merry Elkins (11:43):
Kind of like a hell in the movie 2,001.
Cathy Worthington (11:49):
No. It wouldn't even have occurred to
me the thing about cloning thevoice. That's really
interesting. I I wouldn't Yeah.
Robert Lane (11:56):
I mean, to me, it it it really is cutting corners.
You're not
Merry Elkins (12:00):
Do a
Robert Lane (12:00):
lot of
Cathy Worthington (12:00):
do a lot of people say, I want to just get a
really good narrator that speaksbetter than I do?
Robert Lane (12:10):
Usually, the authors that approach me really
want to narrate their own book.We do talk about that if for
some reason they feel thatanother narrator is better.
Honestly, again, especially fornon fiction authors, that author
is the most qualified and bestperson to narrate their book.
Hands down.
Merry Elkins (12:30):
If you've written a fiction book, do the same
rules in your mind apply?
Robert Lane (12:36):
Yeah. That's a great question. It depends on
what the book is. If someonewrites a fictional story, and
it's more of like a memoir typestyle, then why not have the
author narrate their own book? Afiction book, that's fine.
However, if you have a book andit's various planets in the
(12:59):
galaxy with all these differentcharacters and you want to have
different dialects and accents,then that's a whole other
ballgame. And that's where youwould go and find a professional
voiceover person who can dovoices professionally because
you want it to sound great tobring those characters to life.
(13:22):
So that's a little bitdifferent. Again, it's more
memoir based where it's maybeone person or maybe one or two
people, that author can still dothe narration.
Cathy Worthington (13:34):
That's good. Yeah. Of course, they could.
Yeah. What do you think are thetwo main components to create a
compelling audio book?
We want it to be compelling.
Robert Lane (13:46):
Compelling. First thing is authenticity. You need
to be your true authentic self.You don't need to go, oh, should
try to sound like this person orthat narrator or this actor. No,
be yourself.
Because again, your voice isyour unique stamp of what sets
(14:07):
you apart. It's you. That's whoyou are. No one can replicate
you, not the way that you can.So you want to preserve the
integrity of your author brand,and authenticity is definitely a
huge aspect of it.
The other important elementwould be always be tapped into
(14:27):
the core reason of why you wroteyour book in the first place.
Because when you're tapped intothat core reason, that's going
to come out in your narration,that's going to come out in your
delivery. So always be tappedinto that reason. You want to
bring that purpose in becausethat pulls out the intangibles.
And the intangibles are thesecret sauce that makes a great
(14:48):
audiobook because now you'rebringing your emotion and your
unique style to it and yourunique energy to what
Merry Elkins (14:57):
you People don't really know the purpose behind
writing their book. They justthey just had to write it, but
they don't have a purposereally.
Robert Lane (15:09):
I think, at least with the authors that I've dealt
with, I feel that their purposeis they have a story or an
experience that they wentthrough, and they are compelled
enough to write this story. AndI believe that their purpose is
that they have somethingvaluable to share. And if one
(15:31):
person who reads their book orhears their audiobook is
inspired, or hears something andgoes, Wow, I went through a
similar situation, I'm notalone. If they're able to help
one person and inspire oneperson, they did their job. And
I believe that that is theirpurpose.
Merry Elkins (15:49):
Mhmm. That's great.
Cathy Worthington (15:50):
Well, that's interesting. It's almost like
you become a therapist. Becauseif they say to if they say to
you, I have no clue what what'smy purpose in writing this book,
and you and then you analyze itlike you just did, they're gonna
go, oh, I get it.
Robert Lane (16:06):
Yeah. Yeah.
Merry Elkins (16:07):
That's right. It's like
Cathy Worthington (16:08):
a little therapy.
Merry Elkins (16:10):
Your life coaching experience has paid off.
Robert Lane (16:13):
Right. And it's not just, let me grab my book, I'm
going to hit record and juststart reading and narrating. The
very first lesson that I do withthe authors in my program is
mindset. We start with mindset.
Cathy Worthington (16:29):
Oh, yeah. We were
Merry Elkins (16:31):
going to
Cathy Worthington (16:31):
ask about that.
Robert Lane (16:32):
Yes. You have to be in the right frame of mind
before you even hit that recordbutton because that's going to
come through. It's like if yougo to a movie and you're like,
Oh, that was all right, andthere may be something that just
didn't quite click with you,it's the energy. Or maybe the
(16:52):
actors didn't deliver theirlines where they were
believable. It's the sameanalogy when it comes to your
audiobook.
You just don't wanna just gothrough the motions. You wanna
feel the emotion.
Merry Elkins (17:05):
And you want people listening to feel the
emotions.
Robert Lane (17:08):
Yes.
Cathy Worthington (17:09):
Yeah. So you get to be an acting coach too.
Voice over. Voice over acting cobut voice over is acting.
Robert Lane (17:19):
It is.
Cathy Worthington (17:20):
A lot of very fine actors do voiceovers. Yeah.
Robert Lane (17:23):
Absolutely. Absolutely.
Merry Elkins (17:25):
Absolutely. Well, getting back to the audiobooks,
where's the best place todistribute them?
Robert Lane (17:35):
The the best place is well, I call it the triple a.
Audible, Amazon, Apple. Thereason why all authors really
should have their audiobookpublished on those three
platforms is that's what thegeneral public knows. And I see
it all the time now. Peoplearen't just saying, Oh, do you
(17:57):
have an audiobook?
Now they're saying, Hey, can Iget your book on Audible? So
they're asking for it by brandname. Now, are a lot of other
distribution platforms outthere. There's Barnes and Noble,
there's other platforms that getyou in libraries and just all
different places. But one of thethings that I discuss with the
(18:18):
authors before we even get intothe program is what is your
marketing strategy?
What's been working for you foryour book now? Does it make
sense for you to be anywhere andeverywhere, kind of like
throwing the spaghetti on thewall and seeing what sticks. To
me, that's not a valid marketingplan. Really do need a plan. But
(18:41):
if let's say you put your e bookon Barnes and Noble and it's
selling great, then definitelyhave your audiobook distributed
on Barnes and Noble as wellbecause that's what's working
for you.
In addition to Audible, youreally do need to be on Audible,
Amazon, and Apple as well.
Merry Elkins (18:58):
Do coach people on marketing strategy?
Robert Lane (19:03):
Yeah, I actually talk to them about things that
they can do to help promotetheir book, to put together a
launch team. All those thingsthat you would do normally for
your book, you would apply thesame to your audiobook. And
again, another great thing thatauthors can do while they're
(19:24):
recording their audiobook ispull back the curtain, let
people see behind the scenes ofwhat it's like, show them your
recording space, sit at yourmicrophone and take a photo and
put it on social media becausethat creates excitement. It's
fun to see behind the scenes.Sure.
That's great. Now
Cathy Worthington (19:45):
you've referenced several times this
phrase you're using, authorbrand. So please tell us really
what is that? What would youtell someone starting out?
Robert Lane (19:58):
I would say that a simple definition of an author
brand is really everything thatencompasses who you are.
Everything. That is your brand.And when you write your book and
you publish your book, you arethe brand. Your book, ebook,
paperback, hardcover, audiobook,those are your products.
(20:19):
And those are the variousformats of your product, of your
author brand. Your author brandis how you write, your style,
your personality, your sense ofhumor. Again, your upbringing
and your values and your beliefsystems and your habits. These
are all things that encompasswho you are as a person, but
that also falls into who you areas an author.
Merry Elkins (20:43):
Oh,
Cathy Worthington (20:44):
yeah. Authenticity.
Robert Lane (20:45):
Authenticity. Yes.
Merry Elkins (20:47):
Exactly. Exactly. Mhmm. I think you mentioned
earlier that you don't reallyneed to have speaking experience
to narrate your own audiobook.Do you recommend going and doing
like a I don't know, speaking topeople and I forget what they
call it, the groups where youactually practice that before
(21:09):
you do your own audiobook?
Robert Lane (21:11):
Well, part of what I do as coach and producer is
coaching. That's the coachingaspect. The coaching aspect is
really getting into a deep diveof what does it take to be
compelling? What does it take tobring out your authenticity?
What do you need to do to beconversational?
What do you need to do to keepthat listener on the edge of
(21:33):
their seat from opening creditsto closing credits? Can you give
us an example? One of the thingsthat I share with the authors
and this will really help a lot,especially even if you're just
doing speaking, or maybe you'regiving a presentation for your
boss at a conference. Have inmind a very specific person that
(21:59):
you're speaking to. So insteadof saying, Oh, my genre is
weight loss, or my audience isbetween the ages of 40 and 60,
or that's too vague, that's toogeneral.
Have somebody very specific inmind your best friend, your
(22:20):
partner, your coworker, a familymember, somebody that you really
feel comfortable and relate to.And I even say, put a picture of
them up on your computer whenyou narrate because you want to
be conversational, you want tobring out your true authentic
self. So when you're readingyour audiobook, it's like,
(22:42):
imagine yourself, you're sittingat your favorite coffee shop,
and you have this great story totell, and you're with your best
friend, and you're telling thestory to them. That's what you
want to get across because thatbrings out all the emotion, the
energy, the authenticity, theconversationalism, because now
you're talking to a specificperson. And that actually helps
(23:04):
authors even feel a little bitmore relaxed when it comes to
doing their narration.
Cathy Worthington (23:08):
Well, it's making me think I have to write
my memoir now.
Merry Elkins (23:12):
You should. You gotta write
Cathy Worthington (23:14):
it you gotta write it first. Yeah. There's
nothing to narrate. You know?And you've you've referred to
mindset playing a role inaudiobook creation.
So take us through that. How doyou get into a mindset to
record? Do you do you prescribeexercises for your clients? Or
(23:34):
what are you doing for that?
Robert Lane (23:36):
I think the first thing, which we touched on a
little bit about being confidentand loving your voice, that's
the first step, is you have tolove and embrace the wonderful
voice that you have. So onething to do is always be
grounded. Before you hit thatrecord button, be in the present
(23:59):
moment. Don't worry about thepast. Don't worry about the
future.
You've got to be in the now.You've got to be in the present
moment, Because then you'refocused on what you're going to
do with your narration. And thenof course, the other thing is
just practice. For example, ifyou're going to record a
chapter, just go over thechapter, get familiar with it,
(24:21):
maybe read through it out loudso you can hear yourself. And
you can maybe even recordyourself before you do your
official recording just to getan idea of how you sound.
And oh, you know, jeez, myenergy seemed a little off. Let
me do that again. And and andmaybe I'm not
Cathy Worthington (24:40):
The danger in that is if people critique
themselves so harshly, theymight throw out a perfectly good
reading. You might think it wasgood, right?
Robert Lane (24:51):
That's true. And in the program, that's part of my
coaching job is to make surethat perfectionism doesn't seep
its way in. I get it. I'm one ofthose people where I'll just do
it until I was like, oh. Butagain, I tell them, don't be a
George Lucas and keep changingStar Wars every few years
(25:13):
because you want to add anothergraphic to the blowing
Merry Elkins (25:17):
of the death star. I'm very guilty of doing things
like that. In order to getgrounded, do you recommend
meditation before they start?What do you recommend?
Robert Lane (25:30):
Meditation is great. As matter of fact, I do a
little exercise. It could takemaybe five minutes or twenty
minutes, however long you wantto do it. I call it getting into
your happy place. Your happyplace is breathing is great
because breathing does help calmyour nerves if you are nervous.
(25:52):
Some people are nervous abouthaving a microphone in front of
them. So you just need to relax,take a deep breath, close your
eyes, and just imagine yourselfin a happy place. Where's your
happy place? I live in Sedona,Arizona, so my happy place is
going out on the trail andhiking in the red rocks. Another
person's happy Yeah, it
Cathy Worthington (26:13):
could sitting
Robert Lane (26:18):
on a tropical beach with a warm breeze and curling
your toes in the warm sand andjust hearing the nice soft waves
crashing on the shore. But thegoal is not just only
visualizing it, but how do youfeel? Tapping into that feeling,
(26:40):
feeling joy, feelingcontentment, feeling empowered,
feeling confident. Whateverthose feelings are, tap into
those feelings and really feelthem. Because when you feel
them, then your subconscious isgoing to feel them.
And then your subconscious isgoing to believe that you feel
that way about yourself. Andthen that's starting to get
(27:01):
yourself into your zone, yourfocus. And then now you're
focused, now you're in thepresent moment, you went over
the chapter you're going toread, now you feel good and
confident, hit that recordbutton. Now you're ready to go.
Merry Elkins (27:16):
Just by listening to you, I'm going there. I'm
like, I'm feeling, oh, yes. Nicebeach right now.
Robert Lane (27:22):
That's good. Beach.
Cathy Worthington (27:24):
Just you you do that tropical beach. You just
add a drink in there, and you'vegot a Zach Brown band song.
Robert Lane (27:30):
You know what? I even say that's sand.
Cathy Worthington (27:32):
I got my toes in the sand. Yeah.
Merry Elkins (27:34):
Yeah. And the warm the warm sand, and you can hear
the waves. And and it just andyou lie there, and maybe you're
out on the water, and you'refloating, and it's just sounds
wonderful. Mhmm. So what is theprocess of recording your own
audiobook?
What what do you actually gothrough?
Robert Lane (27:56):
So the actual process is recording an
audiobook is done in sections.So you don't have to grab your
book and then read for threehours or however long your book
is in one sitting. That's toomuch. It's not going to be a
good narration, so you don'twant to do that. But it is
actually broken up intosections.
(28:19):
So for example, my book has 14chapters. Well, that's 14 audio
files right there. But then youalso have opening credits,
closing credits, introduction,prologue, epilogue,
acknowledgments, dedication, allthat are separate audio files.
So everything is recordedseparate in pieces. Now, in the
(28:39):
big picture, it makes it so mucheasier for the author to do it
because now you don't feelpressured in trying to record so
much material in one sitting.
And again, you don't want to dothat because the voice gets
tired, the energy starts todrop, and you want to be
consistent with your energy allthe way through. So you record
one section at a time. Now, thenext phase is as you record, at
(29:05):
least in my program, the authorsends their audio files to me.
And that's where the coachinghat comes off and the editor's
hat comes on. And that's where Igo through each audio file in
real time with a fine toothcomb.
I listen for everything. What'sthe ambience in the background?
Is it too loud, too soft? Isthere something there that
(29:27):
shouldn't be there? And I listento what's happening between
words, between sentences, what'shappening during the narration.
Are there mouth noises I canremove? And I'll cut them out
and remove them and clean themup and make everything sound the
best that it can possibly sound.And the most important aspect,
of course, is again, making surethat all those audio files meet
(29:48):
the exact specifications forpublication. And then the next
phase after that is once I'vemastered their audio, I do the
uploading for them. So I willupload their files to Audible,
Amazon, Apple, and any otherdistribution platform that they
want to be on.
Cathy Worthington (30:03):
Oh, that's a good bonus.
Robert Lane (30:05):
Absolutely. Because in that way, if for some reason
there's an issue and sometimesit happens. I'll get a
notification from Audiblesaying, you're 0.3 decibels too
low. It's just something reallyminuscule. But it's like, Okay,
no problem.
I know what the issue is. I knowwhat adjustments I need to make.
(30:26):
I re output a new file. I uploadit and make sure everything's
accepted because I want thatauthor to not have to worry
about all this stuff thathappens behind the scenes. The
author's job is just to do agreat narration.
That's it. I'll do all the heavylifting. I don't want the author
to have to worry about that. Doyou
Cathy Worthington (30:44):
ever get an author that wrote a terrible
book, but now you're trying tocoach them to narrate it? What
if it's, like, horrible and youcan't say anything because they
already wrote the book?
Robert Lane (30:56):
Well, let's just say I have been fortunate to
have some incredible authorswho've told some incredible
stories. So I've enjoyed everybook I've worked on so far.
Cathy Worthington (31:10):
Oh, well, that's good because I don't know
how you backtrack and say, Idon't know if I wanna do this
one. Yeah. Well, you realawkward. If a
Robert Lane (31:23):
book that if subject matter that I find very
controversial, and that itdoesn't align with my moral
standards and beliefs and allthat, then I them on.
Cathy Worthington (31:38):
Oh, yeah. You can read it first before you
decide.
Robert Lane (31:43):
Yeah. It's not about companies are just all
about, I'll take the client. Idon't care. I'm in it for the
business. No, you've got to haveboundaries and you have to have
standards.
And those are mine. It's like, Iwon't take a client if their
book is so bad that it's notgoing to help them
Cathy Worthington (32:05):
I signed
Robert Lane (32:06):
up narrate it or not, then I will suggest I know
some great book coaches andstory developers and say, hey,
may want to me refer you tothese people and talk to them
and help you develop your story.
Cathy Worthington (32:25):
How long does it usually take you to or take
the author to produce an audiobook?
Robert Lane (32:32):
That's a really good question, Kathy. So my
program is six weeks. So you canactually set up, record, and
have all your audiobook done andready for publication by the end
of the six week program. That'sthe goal. But let's be more
(32:52):
detailed.
So let's say your book is 40,000words, for example. So people
can narrate on an averageroughly about 9,300 words in an
hour. So you divide that 9,300into 40,000, and you come up
with roughly four point threehours of actual audiobook
(33:13):
narration.
Cathy Worthington (33:16):
I don't know word counts. So is 40,000
average?
Robert Lane (33:20):
It's bit on that's a book that can be maybe 130 to
150 pages roughly. A lot of thebooks that I work on are usually
maybe 50,000, 60 thousand, 70thousand words. So that's a book
that's maybe 200 pages, twotwenty five, two 50 pages
roughly. If your audio booktechnically, let's say it's four
(33:46):
point three hours long, doublethat time, at least, when it
comes to the actual recording ofit. So give yourself nine hours
or ten hours of actual recordingtime to complete it.
Because again, you're going toget tired, your voice is going
to get maybe it doesn't soundquite right. You're going to
make mistakes because we'rehuman beings. That's what we do.
(34:09):
It's Okay. That's a part oflife.
It's all right.
Merry Elkins (34:12):
And then they rerecord.
Robert Lane (34:14):
Yeah. And also, the process is when the author sends
their audio to me for editing,as I go through it, I also
listen for mispronunciations.Maybe there's a slurred word.
Maybe there's too long of a gapbetween a sentence or too short.
(34:38):
I can fix all that.
If there's something or maybethere's a sound that happened
that I can't remove, then I justmake a list and timestamp it and
say, these are the fixes thatneed to be made for this
chapter. It could be five or sixsentences. They go in, they just
record those sentences, sendthem back to me, I insert them
(34:59):
in.
Cathy Worthington (35:00):
Want me ask if you can just cut in like they
do on music music recordings.You're always cutting in.
Robert Lane (35:06):
It's the same same concept.
Cathy Worthington (35:08):
Oh, wow.
Merry Elkins (35:09):
Your editing experience has worked for you.
Robert Lane (35:13):
It has. Have to say, being an audio guy, I've
always loved audio. And I lovehelping people. I love coaching
on what I do. This is like theperfect marriage of two things
that I love doing.
It just took my entire career tofigure it out.
Merry Elkins (35:32):
Brings me to my next question for you because
you were talking aboutreassessing your life and your
career. I mean, curious how longit took you to do that and how
you did it. And then I haveanother question about baby
boomers and those going througha shift in their careers. Are
(35:52):
they the ones who frequentlywrite the non fiction books and
they come to you as clients foraudiobooks?
Robert Lane (36:01):
Let's see. I'm thinking about the clients that
I've worked with so far. I thinkthe average age of the authors
that I've worked
Merry Elkins (36:11):
with
Robert Lane (36:11):
are mid-40s to mid-60s. Yeah. And a lot of the
books that I've worked on arememoirs.
Merry Elkins (36:21):
And what about reassessing your career? How
long did that take? What did yougo through? How did you do it? A
lot of people are doing thatthese days.
Robert Lane (36:32):
Yeah. I'm glad. I really am glad. And it was a
huge blessing that I was let gowhen Disney took over. The
beauty about it was that if youwere let go, part of the Disney
Fox deal was that Disney had tomake sure that those that were
let go got a decent severance.
(36:53):
And so I had a few months offinances to live on to figure
out what I wanted to do. ButMary, I really remember the day
it was a specific day when Imade the decision, I'm going to
do this coaching thing. Going todo it. I'm going to go 100% in,
(37:14):
and I'm going to make this work.And as an entrepreneur, I m sure
any entrepreneur can tell you,there have been many times where
you thought about throwing inthe towel and quitting, because
it's tough.
And I've had those moments. ButI would tell myself, did you
exhaust every single possibilitythat you can do to make this
(37:37):
work? And it's like, no, no, Ihaven't. So continue to be
resilient, continue to betenacious. And don't give up
because you may be just 5% awayfrom hitting that success that
you've been seeking.
It's like that old story aboutthe the miner who's digging for
gold, and then he gives up, andthen he leaves, and he was,
(38:01):
like, just inches away fromhitting the mother load.
Cathy Worthington (38:03):
Yeah. Mhmm. I'm hearing some takeaways I'm
hearing some takeaways of whatyou're saying, but what else
would you like our listeners tohave as a takeaway today?
Robert Lane (38:15):
Well, I think number one is, of course, being
your true authentic self. Again,if you're making a change in
your life and your career,especially later on in life, it
is possible. So believe inyourself and find something that
really drives you, that givesyou passion and purpose. Because
(38:36):
that just makes it even it maynot make the journey easier, but
it makes it a lot more enjoyablewhen you're doing something that
you love to do.
Merry Elkins (38:46):
And that's what it's all about, isn't it?
Robert Lane (38:48):
Yeah. Really. It is.
Merry Elkins (38:51):
Thank you, Robert. That's great. Our guest today on
Late Boomers has been Robert A.Lane, audiobook coach and
producer and editor. And I couldgo on with what you said you
did.
But you help people find theirauthentic selves in their voice.
(39:11):
You can get in touch with him onhis website,
robertlanecoaching.com. That'sr0bertlanecoaching.com. And you
can book a consultation withhim, a free consultation call.
And it's regarding the next stepto record your audiobook.
(39:32):
And Robert, is there anythingyou'd like to add to that?
Robert Lane (39:35):
Well, first step really is just to have a
conversation. So if you're a nonfiction author and you've
considered turning your bookinto an audiobook, let's have a
conversation about it. It's afree call. I don't charge for
consultations. And that's thefirst step because I want to
make sure that not only that Iresonate with you, but that you
(39:55):
resonate with me because we'regoing to work together to create
something awesome.
And your audiobook is awesome,and it is a great accomplishment
when you do it. So, yeah, that'sthe first step.
Cathy Worthington (40:06):
That's great. Yeah. Thanks for listening
today, boomers, and tune in nextweek when we will have a
stuntwoman who is still workingin Hollywood in her eighties,
Sandy Gimpel. So pleasesubscribe to our late boomers
podcast on YouTube and take usalong in the car and on walks on
your favorite audio platform.Let us know what gets you
(40:27):
inspired.
We are on Instagram at I amKathy Worthington and at I am
Mary Elkins and at late boomers.Please share the late boomers
podcast info with your friendswho may not yet be listening to
podcasts. Thanks again, Robert.
Robert Lane (40:43):
Oh, you're welcome, and thank you so much for having
me on your show.
Cathy Worthington (40:56):
Thank you for joining us on Late Boomers, the
podcast that is your guide tocreating a third act with style,
power, and impact. Please visitour website and get in touch
with us at lateboomers.biz. Ifyou would like to listen to or
download other episodes of lateboomers, go to
ewnpodcastnetwork.com.
Merry Elkins (41:18):
This podcast is also available on Spotify, Apple
Podcast, and most other majorpodcast sites. We hope you make
use of the wisdom you've gainedhere and that you enjoy a
successful third act with yourown style, power, and impact.
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