Kelowna author produces audiobook

A local author recently produced an audiobook — with help from an audio engineering graduate recommended by Kelowna’s Centre for Arts and Technology.

When Jeane Manning decided to turn her book “Hidden Energy: Tesla-inspired Inventors and a Mindful Path to Energy Abundance” into an audiobook, she hired Amber Hammermeister.

Hammermeister and the author shopped at a Kelowna music store for equipment such as an interface to go between microphone and computer.

“We met in person only a few times. Because of COVID-19, from

March on last year we collaborated over the phone. I’d never done an audiobook, so I needed a technical adviser. Amber was kind and patient with my endless questions,” Manning said.

Using quilts, pillows and a rug, Manning converted a small bedroom into a padded sound studio. She hung a flannel sheet under the ceiling to further soften noise. Yet she could only record when neighbours’ dogs and vehicles were quiet.

She used a free computer program called Audacity and also learned to limit time spent recording each day. “Or else my voice gets hoarse and reveals my age!” Manning is now a grandmother with a long career as a newspaper journalist and book author.

After countless re-recording sessions, they prepared the audio files to meet technical requirements for Amazon’s distributor Audible.

Manning and Hammermeister celebrated this week after receiving word that Hidden Energy is now available from all major distributors of audiobooks, including Amazon.