Recently, several audiobook narrators discussed in a Facebook group how we do our pronunciation research. Like many narrators, I use the iAnnotate app for the text since it allows us to read the book from a tablet and noiselessly turn pages.
Most people in the discussion either added their pronunciation research to the PDF in iAnnotate or copied it to an Excel spreadsheet.
My method is different because I store all of my pronunciation research in Evernote.
Evernote is described as a note-taking app that works on and syncs across all of your devices. The more notes you enter into it, the more powerful it becomes. You can find no shortage of tutorials to learn how to use it, including on Lynda.com. As a reminder, I advise that you find a library that includes access to Lynda.
I’ll tell you why and show you how I use Evernote for pronunciation research in this 7:37 explainer video.
Note: You can use iOS Slide Over with iPad Pro, iPad (5th generation), iPad Air and later, or iPad mini 2 and later. Check Settings/General to see if you have a Multitasking option. If so, choose Allow Multiple Apps. If you don’t have a Multitasking option, you’d need to switch between Evernote and iAnnotate with the Home button on the iPad.
You can view the Evernote note used in this demo at:
http://bit.ly/RTTPronunciationList
If you scroll to the bottom of that note, you’ll see that I added branding info. This way, everyone who sees the note will know its owner and can contact me and/or connect with me on social media.
If you decide to get an Evernote account, I’d love it if you used my referral link:
http://evernote.grsm.io/KarenCommins8181
Updated 7/15/17 to add instruction about Multitasking in iOS
I love EverNote and now that I’m starting into VO, I will use it. I’ve use OneNote but I’ve always been partial to Evernote because of the ease of use. I’m from Winston, Ga. It’s nice to see someone here from the Atlanta area! Go Dawgs! Thanks again,
Yvette Lee
Hi, Yvette! Thanks for the note. I use Evernote constantly throughout the day, in 34 ways for my job and 9 ways personally. You can read about some of my uses for Evernote and get ideas for your own in this article.
I’m married to a GA Tech graduate, so “Go Dawgs” isn’t something we say in my house! 🙂
Thanks again, and best wishes for your continued health, prosperity, and success in 2018!
Karen
Thank you for posting this article! I can definitely see how Evernote would be really useful (especially the syncing between devices).
I had a question for you about iAnnotate. How do you open the kindle book in iAnnotate or does the author need to provide you a PDF version of the book? Would you mind explaining how this works for you?
Hi, Jessica! Thanks for the note.
If an author wants you to BUY their Kindle book, don’t do it! That’s a red flag of a scammer.
The author (or producer or publisher, depending on who hired you) should provide you with the final, recordable manuscript. Most rights holders send either a PDF or a Word doc. iAnnotate can read either file format but converts documents to PDF and saves them that way.
You may receive the file as an email attachment or a download link on cloud storage like Google Drive or Dropbox. If the rights holder is working through a site like ACX, they will upload the manuscript to the site to be downloaded by the narrator.
To get an emailed document into iAnnotate, you can open the message on your iPad and use the Share option.iAnnotate also can link to cloud storage, so you can download your manuscript from with the app.
I’ve created a series of 12 explainer videos with a total run-time of 47:54 that show how to use iAnnotate to prep books. Number 7 in the series is titled Working With Files. These videos are exclusively available to members of NarratorsRoadmap.com. You can sample the first one at this link.
I hope this info is helpful. Best wishes for your success!
Karen
Karen,
This is so helpful! I’ve been diving into tons of online searches and have been having trouble finding certain information (I’m assuming I’m not familiar enough with the jargon or process as a whole yet). The links and resources in your articles and blogs have been very informative and given me access to materials I’m doubtful I would have found on my own, especially narrator specific resources like the one you mentioned above.
Thank you so much!
Jessica
Hi, Jessica! I’m so glad you find my info to be useful. In addition to the iAnnotate video in my last reply, you’ll find an incredible wealth of free info and resources on my comprehensive NarratorsRoadmap.com site.
Best wishes for your success!
Karen