Douglas R. Pratt was born at an early age, into a family of engineers in the beautiful Niagara region of western New York. Eventually realizing that he couldn’t compete with his brothers, since he couldn’t pick up a pair of pliers without cutting himself, he decided to become a writer. Someone, he reasoned, has to translate the engineers into English, and it’s harder to hurt yourself with a typewriter. His early literary passions were Arthur Conan Doyle, Robert Heinlein, Isaac Asimov and Rex Stout, author of the Nero Wolfe mysteries. Those passions remain, joined by the works of Roger Zelazny, and the modern authors Larry Correia and Faith Hunter. Growing up in the early days of space flight in the late 1950s, what engineering genes he had were exercised building and flying model rockets and airplanes. Those passions eventually developed into a career, as an editor and contributor to hobbyist magazines and author of nine books about model hobbies.
Determined to prove the old saw about pioneers getting arrows in the back while settlers make all the money, he opened a personal computer store in 1976, selling some of the very earliest personal computer systems and teaching elementary programming. The store closed just before the commercially successful Commodore 64 became available. In 1984 he began operating special interest groups online on CompuServe, eventually managing nine of them full time before the World Wide Web ate his and many other lunches. Since then he has worked as a technical writer and editor. In 1995 he started a small mail order business, selling model rocket launch systems and accessories that he designed (www.pratt-hobbies.com).
Feeling an uncomfortable urge to create something but unwilling to go through the self-torture of writing another book, he began recording audiobooks in 2012 and is now working on his 41st title. He finds that it is much more to his taste to build an attractive frame for a picture that someone else has painted. In 2014 he fulfilled a lifelong dream when he inherited the beautiful manor house built by his grandfather and moved back to his childhood home (www.robinhillpreserve.com).
How did you become interested in narrating audiobooks?
Books have always been important to me, thanks in large part to my aunt, who was an English teacher and taught me to read at an early age. I read to my kids constantly, to help them learn to become good communicators (it worked; my son is an electrical engineer and my daughter is a high school debate champion who has been writing her own stuff since she was 12), and also because we all loved it. When my mom went into a nursing home we started recording the kids’ reading sessions and sending her the tapes. After the kids grew up my wife suggested that I consider doing audiobooks. The idea appealed to me but it took about a year to work up the courage to investigate it.
What did you do to realize that dream?
I got some professional voice coaching. I don’t have a theatre background, but working with my daughter’s debate team taught me how much I needed to learn.
Tell us what your first job was like.
I made up demos with the help of my voice coach and sent them all over the place, and precisely nothing happened. I did some pro bono work on public domain material to learn and practice. Then Audible opened a service called ACX, the Audible Creators Exchange. Essentially, if you own the rights to a book and want it narrated, you can list it with ACX. Narrators can search the listings and submit auditions to books that they would like to narrate. Again, most of the time you send in an audition and nothing happens, but if the rights holder likes your audition they offer you a contract to produce the book. I got an offer after a couple of months of trying, a self-published self-help book. After a couple of those I attracted the attention of an actual publisher. Now I am in the happy position of getting lists of titles from a couple of publishers to pick and choose from.
You seem to specialize in history and science books. How are you able to make such material come alive to people who might otherwise not pick up such material?
I’m not an actor, so I don’t feel comfortable doing character voices. I am awed by the performances of some of the narrators who do fiction, like Martin Jarvis’ incredible narration of Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett’s Good Omens or Oliver Wyman’s work on the Monster Hunter International series. I could never create all those distinctive character voices and keep them straight! I’m more of a storyteller. I grew up in the Sixties with pictures of the X-15 and Mercury and Gemini rockets plastered on my walls, and model rockets on every available space. It bothers me that so few people get excited about science and history, when there are so many great stories to tell. I try to tell them in interesting ways.
Audiobooks are great for this sort of thing. There are a lot of books that I want to read, and many that I should read, but I will never find the time to read them. But I can listen to them! I can do something else, whether it’s traveling, housework or puttering in the shop, and be enjoying a great book at the same time. I will often listen to a good book five or six times so I can get a good command of the material. This came home to me two years ago when I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. I bought a copy of the classic textbook on cancer, The Emperor of All Maladies, narrated (splendidly) by Steven Hoye. After listening to that book several times I knew what to expect and was prepared to make the decisions that were needed. Several doctors commented on how much I seemed to know about what was going on. That book is two volumes, and I doubt very much that I would have gotten so much out of the text if I had sat down and read it. By the way, I’m pleased to report that I’m in remission.
You performed The Big Book of the Gastric Bypass by Alex Brecher and Natalie Stein, which lasted nearly 15 hours. That sounds like a tiring, dry book. What did you do to keep yourself interested enough to appeal to readers?
Well, that one is interesting for a couple of reasons. First of all, it is nowhere near as dry as the title suggests. Brecher and Stein did an excellent job with the book, I think largely because they are not selling a particular surgical procedure (they’re nutritionists) and were unbiased and frank. Second, getting that book contract was an interesting matter of timing. I had taken three months off narrating because I had decided to get weight loss surgery, and I bought five books to help me determine which procedure was best for me. The Big Book was the best of the bunch. I had the procedure, recovered very well, and was surprised to find The Big Book listed on ACX when I started looking for narration projects. I have since done another book in the series, lost 100 pounds, and consider them favorite projects.
How do you prepare to perform a book before you start recording?
As I said, I’m in the enviable position of getting lists of titles from a couple of publishers that I have worked with in the past. I particularly enjoy working with Redwood Audiobooks, who have brought me a lot of interesting titles. (Redwood also runs the site www.listentogenius.com, where a lot of public domain material is available for free. I’ve done a little work for them that I’m particularly proud of.)
I look through the Amazon listings of titles that I’ve been offered, and I usually buy a copy. Authors need royalties. If I get the contract I generally get a gratis copy on Kindle or PDF as part of that, but I don’t consider buying books a waste of money. Anyway, I will read the first few chapters, and if my initial impression was correct I’ll ask for the chance to narrate it. If I get the contract I read the whole thing, making notes as I go as to words that might be hard to pronounce (usually names). I usually get the author’s email address so I can verify those words, or I look them up on the Internet. I like to get in touch with the author because I feel like I have a responsibility to complement his work.
It takes about three hours to produce an hour of finished audio. I record the book, usually a chapter or two at a time, and do an edit pass to cut out the mistakes. I re-record and edit in any sections that need it; I’ve gotten pretty good at making edits seamless. Finally, I give the whole thing one more listen to make sure I haven’t missed anything. I have enjoyed learning to do my own editing and post production.
What characteristics do you think a person needs in order to be a good narrator?
I would have to say that enthusiasm is most important. Close behind that comes stubbornness, a determination to get it right. I’ve written nine of my own books and worked as an editor, so I have a good idea of what the finished product should be. I want to produce work that I can be proud of, that shows craftsmanship. My part isn’t as important as the author’s, of course, but I want to do them justice. Since I don’t have a director or any other technical help, it’s all on me.
Do you think an audiobook narrator needs to enjoy the book he or she is performing? Could you make a book you truly hated seem likeable to an audience?
Interesting question. I don’t offer to narrate books that I despise, and those do exist. Especially in the self-publishing world (no trans-gender dinosaur romance titles, please). The biggest problem I have is when I know something is historically inaccurate but I have to stick to the manuscript. Fortunately that has happened about twice in 7 years. More often, I will find that the book was poorly edited, and I have to know whether or not the publisher wants me to deal with things like sentence fragments and bad grammar. Book editing isn’t what it used to be. There simply aren’t enough editors to deal with the volume of material, or publishers that can afford to pay good editors.
What do you see as your greatest achievement as an audiobook narrator? What has been your most difficult moment?
Well, I’m particularly proud of my only fiction narration, Molly MacRae’s delightful cozy-noir mystery, Wilder Rumors. I probably put about three times as much effort into that one because I wasn’t satisfied with the performance. Other high points include two narrations that are available for free on the Listen to Genius web site: The Lady and The Tiger and Flatland. They are both stories I have loved for many years.
The most difficult book has to be Unhinged by Michelle Malkin, where she documents some of the abuse that she has suffered because of her political views and investigative reporting. It was very hard to narrate parts of that manuscript, but I felt that it was important. I treasure the free exchange of ideas in lively debate. Showing contempt for someone simply because you disagree is all too common, and it is ugly and pernicious.
What narrators do you look to for inspiration in your own work?
There have been many. In the non-fiction world where I spend most of my time, I love Stephen Hoye’s work, especially on Our First Revolution by Michael Barone, a fascinating book. I have learned a lot from Jonah Goldberg’s books, the last two of which he narrated himself, and he did an excellent job. Edward Herriman did a splendid narration of The Bully Pulpit by Doris Kearns Goodwin. I love Tom Weiner’s narration of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Socialism by Kevin Williamson, and have shared it with a lot of debate team members.
I’ve mentioned some fiction standouts, but there are some that are precious to me. I love the Nero Wolfe mysteries, and Michael Pritchard narrates them beautifully; he sounds like Archie Goodwin to me. Larry Correia’s Grim Noir trilogy is brilliantly narrated by Bronson Pinchot. I have loved Roger Zelazny’s work since it first appeared in the Sixties, and I discovered that he narrated a lot of it himself before he died; his performance of A Night in the Lonesome October is something that I treasure. It was his last book, and he recorded it in one take, only a few weeks before he passed. Victor Bevine has done a fine job with some of Zelazny’s novels for Audible.
To learn more about Doug, visit the following sites:
www.pratt-hobbies.com
Audible page
