A Simple Guide to the Paleo Autoimmune Protocol Is Now Available as an Audiobook!

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audiobook cover, ipod, and earbuds

“I have come to believe over and over again that what is most important to me must be spoken, made verbal and shared.”
~ Audre Lorde


Why An Audiobook?

It was actually my husband‘s idea. He mentioned that audiobooks are the fastest growing segment of the book market. As a life-long reader, I was surprised at first, but then I thought about it a little more. The truth is – life’s busy, and multi-tasking is one of the ways we handle it. Sitting down with a book takes dedicated time, but we can listen to audiobooks while we run errands, clean the house, commute to work, chauffeur the kids, take the dog for a walk, prepare dinner….the list goes on. This is one of the reasons I love podcasts, and being a podcast host also inspired this audiobook. I like having conversations with this community, and I actually wrote my book like a conversation between friends. Why not actually record that conversation?

What to Expect and Where to Buy

  • The listening time for this book is just 3 hours and 12 minutes. The Simple Guide to the Paleo Autoimmune Protocol was specifically written to be a quick gateway to the AIP. It’s short and succinct, providing all of the information you need in a non-intimidating package.
  • I’m the narrator. While I could have hired a professional, I chose to narrate this book myself for three reasons: (1) Many of you are already familiar with my voice through my podcast. (2) As people with autoimmune disease using diet and lifestyle to improve our health, we’re a rare community. I feel connected to each and every one of you. I didn’t want a stranger speaking my voice. (3) I wrote this book like a conversation between friends. By narrating it myself, it will feel like I’m there with you! Don’t worry, though – this is a professional production. I didn’t do this in my home office.
  • Contents: If you’re not familiar with my book, you can check out the Table of Contents for details.
  • It’s available through Amazon.com or Audible.com. And if you already own the Kindle version, you can buy the audio download at a significantly lower price and use Whispersync to alternate between reading and listening to the book. How cool is that?
  • Are you a book reader, not a book listener? It’s also available in paperback, kindle, and PDF versions as well.

The Recording Process – 10 Things I Learned

  1. Get professional help. I did enough research to know that recording an audiobook isn’t easy. There’s a reason people make their living as narrators, editors and producers. My local university has an award-winning music program, which includes a professional recording studio. I met with the chief sound engineer, and he educated me on all the steps to audiobook recording. He then put me in touch with a local recording studio, where I found my professional partner for this project: Scott Haynes from Haynes Productions.
  2. Reading a book aloud is tiring. You need lots of breaks, and shorter days are better than trying to record a full day in the studio. Some studios, however, only book by the full day. I was lucky that Scott was willing to do half-days.
  3. Finished recording time vs. studio time. The formula to predict a book’s audio length is 157 words/minute. My book estimate was 3 hours and 5 minutes. We came in at 3 hours 12 minutes, so it was close. However, we were in the studio a lot longer than that. Professional narrators plan 2 hours in the studio for every 1 hour of finished recording. Amateurs should plan on 3 hours instead. This allows for mistakes and breaks, and even the professionals make mistakes. It’s part of the process.
  4. You need to have water and snacks on hand, but you need to be mindful about your choices. Both cold and hot water change the pitch of your voice, so you need to drink room-temperature water. When it comes to snacks, you don’t want anything that dries out your mouth or makes you need to clear your throat. I brought along some simple cooked chicken and berries.
  5. The studio has to be pin-drop quiet. The sound of a lightbulb buzzing, or a computer humming, is enough to reduce the quality of an audiobook recording. This is why a professional recording studio is important. They’ll also have sound absorbers to prevent echoes around the room, pop filters for a clearer sound on the microphone, and high-quality recording equipment.
  6. This also meant I had to be hyper-aware of all sounds that I made. Turning the pages of a book would be picked up by the microphone, so instead I printed the book out on 8.5×11 paper and used music stands to hold 4 pages at a time. I also had to pause recording any time my throat or stomach gurgled. Can you say, “self-conscious”?
  7. It’s very important that you have a producer who puts you at ease, so you can be as relaxed as possible during the recording process. Their job is to record, read along, and listen for any mistakes or poor sound quality, telling you when to stop and re-record a sentence. It’s an “on stage” feeling, which can be stressful. Scott made it fun.
  8. Professional editing takes way longer than recording. There’s a process called de-breathing, where Scott had to go through all 3+ hours of recording, second-by-second, and remove the normal sounds that surround speech. That doesn’t mean you’ll never hear me breathe during this recording, but any dominant breaths are gone, as well as an pops, clicks, mouth noises, or other extraneous sounds.
  9. Mastery is the last step – where Scott made sure the sound volume was consistent throughout the book.
  10. Narrators rock! Have you ever painted your own house, and afterward had a greater respect for people who do it professionally. I have no regrets about doing my own narration. It was the right choice for this book, and it was fun. But professional narrators are very impressive people to me now.

The Recording Studio Set-Up

chair, microphone, music stand to hold the book as I read, water by my side

Hamming it Up Between Takes

making funny faces as I sit at the microphone

Scott – My Fearless Producer and Editor

sound producer doing edits on his computer as we go

I’m Very Happy I Did It

Author smiling in front of the microphone

You May Also Be Interested In

Update: A giveaway was held to celebrate the release of the audiobook, and the winners were chosen with a random number generator. Congratulations to Tonya, Amanda, Janice, Anne and Lorraine! If you didn’t win, don’t despair. You can buy a copy of the audiobook through Amazon.com or Audible.com.

Do You Have My Books?

90 comments on “A Simple Guide to the Paleo Autoimmune Protocol Is Now Available as an Audiobook!”

  1. And the winners are…..drumroll please….Tonya, Amanda, Janice, Anne and Lorraine. I just sent you all emails with details. Thanks for playing, everyone! And if you didn’t win, you can buy your own copy here: http://amzn.to/2bC148g . Wishing everyone wellness!

  2. I want to win!
    Recent flares have me buckling down to finally start AIP after this holiday weekend’s vacation, so this would be awesome to listen to on the drive home as I’ve heard fantastic things about the book itself. If not… I’ll just go buy it anyway 🙂

  3. I have the paperback and love it.
    My best friend was recently diagnosed with RA and could use this. She doesn’t have time to read, but listens to a lot of audio books. I’d love to win this for her.

  4. I want to win it! My cousin stole my book and I guess he won’t be giving it back until next Summer -he lives in the States and I live in Spain 😉

  5. I would love to win a copy of this audiobook.

    P.S. Congratulations on making an audio version. That’s pretty impressive. 🙂

  6. I have a good friend that could really use my giving to her your wonderful book in audio format, so my fingers are crossed.

  7. I’d love to win! I just discovered your website today, and all 3 of your books look great. I’m in the process of transitioning to AIP, and am hopeful about making some progress with my health issues. Thanks for your great website!

  8. Kudos!
    I believe listening to a reading would help anyone to absorb and understand all the information and reinforce what was learned from a reading of the print version.

  9. Wow, I see that I’m one among many fans, but I would love the chance to listen to your book on audio 🙂 Thank you for all that you do and for connecting us with so many wonderful people and resources along the journey!

  10. Thank you for being such a fierce advocate for those of us with RA and other autoimmune diseases. Adding your audiobook to my resource library would just be wonderful! Plus chasing around a 7 month old doesn’t lend a lot of reading time–but he loves listening to your podcasts with me!

  11. How awesome would this be?!? TOTALLY!! Would love to have this, I listen to audio books at work and I could listen to this over and over and over and…. 🙂

  12. You are so great, and your advice and guidance has made such a huge difference in my life. I’d love to win!!

  13. I’d love to win! My autoimmune disease has taken away a lot of my vision and I’ve recently been enjoying books from audible.

  14. I’m planning to try the protocol and audiobook is the most convenient option to do the homework. I’d like to win!

  15. Dorothy Whitlock

    enjoyed a couple of your archived podcasts today, I’m sure this will be just as enjoyable and informative. Would love to win it!

  16. I would love to win! I’m transitioning from a modified Paleo to the AIP Protocol and still have lots to learn.

  17. Thank you for all your work Eileen, you are so dedicated to help people achieve a better life.
    And yes, I would love to win your audiobook!

  18. Janice Poniatowski

    I prefer audio books as I can multitask and I’ve been wanting to try AIP but don’t know where to start. I don’t want to go to all the effort only to find out that I reintroduce the wrong way. I want to learn about it first by audio book! Hope I can try it!!

  19. I am ready to win! I’m so tired of MS the symptoms the disability the drugs and the side effects that comes with it. There has to be a better way of healing. If I could lose 75% of my symptoms that would be glorious! I could work on getting my muscles stronger then.

  20. I found your podcast when I started working with a client on a AIP protocol. What you have put together to help others is incredible! I’ve been relying on your resources and listening to every episode of your podcast. Thank you for all you do!

  21. I would love to win the audiobook, Eileen! Thank you for writing the book, and for everything you do for the AIP community!

  22. The best way to have an audio book is when its read by the author. They give the words more meaning and you get to know the author better too. Also I absorb more while listening to audio books which i do walking to work.

  23. This would be so great for me because I listen to my downloads whille walking . I feel that I absorb a lot more info when I listen while walking because I am giving it my full attention.

  24. Congratulations, and great idea hubby! I especially love this because when I have fibro fog, I am unable to read, so listening to audiobooks has become my haven! I would love to recieve this gift!

    1. I would love to win! I’m new to autoimmune paleo lifestyle changes and feel somewhat lost. Looking for all the literature to make this a smooth transition into my new lifestyle of healing! Thanks for opportunity!!

  25. I hope I am commenting in the correct place and I hope to win! It looks like a very helpful book for those of us just getting started on AIP.

  26. I would love to join with everyone eating paleo but I need that autoimmune component. Thank you for making an audiobook version so I can learn the basics.

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