Creating MP3 Files

It used to be you needed big bucks to create sound files, even in the Internet era. Now, you can do it for the cost off a cheap internet headset ($45 for me).

Adobe has a virtual mixing board called Audition that allows you to record and manipulate audio. It's a fine product, but it costs $349. For me, that's a lot of money. However, another product called Audacity has most of the same functionality, and it's free.

Once you install it and get your microphone set up, you can record your interview or short story or whatever, and load it to your website and link to it. You don't need a recording studio, either. You can record in a spare room with the door shut or, you could use the lack of a recording facility as an opportunity for creativity.

Let's use the migrant farmworker scenario again. Why not read a chapter of your book standing in a strawberry field? Why not read a chapter of your police procedural in the lobby of the local Sheriff's office (you might want to ask permission first on that one).