I’m a fan of Seth Godin.  I wish he lived down the block from me – I really do.  Just so I could run into him and have a casual conversation about….Tribes or Purple Cows or the one I’m listening to right now “Linchpin”. How does this relate to Audio books?  Other than the fact that Seth is even great at narrating his own stuff?  Well….I’m on the part of “Linchpin” about doing your Art for Free….  This looks to be a very touchy subject for audio book narrators – and why wouldn’t it be?   The blogs I’ve been reading (see “To call this rate insulting” here) have been fairly outraged about awful rates for projects requiring hours and hours of time and effort.  Audible has reduced prices for Audio book consumers – Yay!  And shattered the rates for the majority of Audio book Narrators -Boo! in a widely lamented and teeth grinding race to the bottom.   But Seth’s book is an invitation to view this another way.  The internet has provided us, via social networking and a wide variety of platforms, the opportunity to expand our reach beyond the confines of our immediate circle of friends and peers (and traditional publishers and producers).  So the possibility exists that if you record an audio narrative and launch it out there- free to the listener – that you will increase visibility – and with consistency – raise the profile and the marketability of what you do, without having to negotiate with the gatekeepers.  But first,  according to Godin anyway, you have to do it for Love, for the sake of Art…for Free.   Yeah – I know.  I need to make money too. The Power Co. doesn’t want my Art in exchange for its Electricity – but there is a sizzle to this, nevertheless.  So I’m toying with the  how to do it…..consistently in small chunks over time….and some of the ideas that are coming to me are making me happy – even just thinking about them.   I’m starting to explore again, and capturing some of the excitement I had when I first got into this business and maybe I’m getting jazzed about the creative potential of sending something out there – for Free. Hey - Karen Commins just put out a trailer on Voice 123 on a book she recorded for LibraVox – free of charge- and 2 weeks later people are still praising her efforts!   If this is making you nauseous, ok – understood – but do yourself a favor and give Linchpin a listen.  Now if only it were possible to get Linchpin for free….:}!