A million is a largish number - especially if it relates to individual decisions by a population.
They give gold records in the music biz to commemorate a million sales. After all, the revenue generated is substantial. There are no gold anythings in the free publishing biz. That's OK - "free" is not "worthless." When a million decisions have been made to visit the literature of the past, that's a lot of hours invested in hearing the thoughts of great writers.
I've been proud to be a LibriVox reader (for three years, this month, in fact). And I'm prouder for having brought to the homes and cars of many people a total of one million listens to my solo readings, a goal I hit today.
If you've been a listener - thank you! And I hoped I've entertained you. Stay tuned. there's more choice from the old masters coming!
Hi Mark,
ReplyDeleteMy children and I are listening to your The Swiss Family Robinson reading and loving it. Your voice is just the right tone and cadence to make the reading enjoyable. We listen to audiobooks on our big year-long trip (happyfamilyadventure.com) and are so happy to have found librivox.
Co-incidentally we were listening to your reading while driving through South Carolina.
Thanks for your contribution!
Dear Mr. Smith:
ReplyDeleteI enjoy very much your readings. I live in Madrid (Spain) and I intend to record the files you have read. I don`t speak English well, but I am very interested in your language. I listen your audiobooks every day. You make a great, great work. I want to thank you very, very much for your marvellous and encomiable work.
I beg your pardon for my English.
Mark,
ReplyDeleteJust a note to say thanks for your reading of Huck Finn. I've listened to a lot of librivox recordings and many of them sound like student teachers who are reading to very bored high school kids. Yours, on the other hand, sound very professional, and you can hear the passion and joy that you have for the project. Your characterizations were spot-on, your choice of inflection perfect and your mastery of Twain's southern patois is commendable. I can't believe I got it for free.
Keep up the great work - I'm going to download other books you've read just for the pleasure.
Dear Mr. Smith,
ReplyDeleteMy son and I have just finished listening to Tarzan of the Apes. Before that, we listened to The Mysterious Island. The other people were right--you have a great style that is engaging and easy to listen to. You are doing a great service in keeping classic literature alive. Thanks so much!
Thank you Mark Smith.
ReplyDeleteYou just finished reading "Kidnapped" by R.L.S. and I enjoyed your reading very much. As the ending came upon me quite abruptly, I was pleased to discover that "Catriona" also by R.L.S. picks up the story and continues. I wondered if you had plans to read that as well.
I have also enjoyed your readings of "The First Men in the Moon" by Wells, "Master of the World" by Verne, and chapters of the "Time Machine" also by Wells. I will peruse your other selections on Librivox.
Again, thank you for your readings.
Mr. Smith, sir.
ReplyDeleteI've been following your recordings ever since I first came across your copy of The Lost World last year. Imagine my delight when you recorded the sequel, "The Poison Belt." Any plans for the rest of the Prof. Challenger series?
I'm currently half way through "Tom Swift and his War Tank" and I look forward to finishing it.
Keep up the good work!
I've also introduced Librivox to my mother who teaches special needs kids and the school she works at is now downloading some to put on CD for the school library and they encourage kids to put them on their iPods. Amazing how chain reactions work like that, right?
God bless you and your family and keep up the good work!
Mark Smith: I just want to thank you for your wonderful recording of "Great Expectations." I have loved the story since I was a child and waited not-so-patiently for the Librivox recording . It was well worth the wait - your reading far exceeded my expectations! I have spent many happy hours behind the wheel of my car with Pip, Miss Havesham and Joe. Thank you, thank you.
ReplyDeleteHey Mark,
ReplyDeleteI've contributed to about 20 of those 1,000,000 readings. I work doing data entry for the post office and I can't tell you how awesome your voice is for some of the books. I started with Tarzan of the Apes, and then I specifically searched for your name in librivox. Burroughs is by far my favorite author, and it is thanks to you. Thanks for reading!
Hi Mark,
ReplyDeleteBy now I listened - or rather enjoyed - 'Tarzan of the Apes' and 'The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'. Your readings are really artwork themselves.
Many, many thanks from Germany, Oliver
Congratulations! That is amazing. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm in the middle of Ben-Hur and loving it!