The Saturday Writers’ Clinic for January features voiceover artist Michael Ziants who will discuss the art of making an audiobook, and local author Stephen Rea, who will focus on how to create characters who have depth.

Ziants will make his presentation at 9:30 a.m., followed by Rea at 11 a.m., on Saturday, Jan. 18, at the East Bank Regional Library, 4747 W. Napoleon, Metairie.

This event is free of charge and is open to the public. There is no registration.

9:30 a.m., Saturday Jan. 18, 2019
Michael Ziants, The Art of the Audiobook

Ziants will explain why authors should make an audiobook, audiobook formats and what they mean, the steps for making an audiobook, and where to sell and how to market an audiobook. He says that self-publishing an audiobook now is as easy as self-publishing a book. It has become cost-effective and approachable for self-published authors, and there is a range of options depending on one’s budget.

Ziants will explain the steps in making an audiobook: Prepping the book for audiobook recording; deciding who will record it, hiring an audiobook narrator, recording the audiobook yourself, working with an audiobook producer, and more.

Michael Ziants is a Metairie-based voice artist and voice engineer. Following a whirlwind major market radio career – through St. Louis (KSD), Nashville (WLAC), Philadelphia (WIFI), New Orleans (Q-93) and Harrisburg (WKBO) – Ziants founded the voiceover recording studio and production house Airlift Productions in NOLA in 1984. Michael also plays in the musical arena, producing artist/musician CD albums, MP3s and demos.

Ziants’ most recent voiceover work can be found in James Patterson’s thriller The Chef.

11 a.m., Saturday, Jan. 18, 2019
Stephen Rea, Creating Characters with Depth

During this presentation, Rea will discuss ways that writers can create characters that have He will ask the following questions: What is the character’s motivation? What do they fear? What do they value? What are their strengths and weaknesses? What are their relationships with others? Where did they come from? What is surprising about them? How do they change?

Stephen Rea is author of Finn McCool’s Football Club, The Birth, Death, and Resurrection of a Pub Soccer Team in the City of the Dead. Set against the backdrop of Hurricane Katrina, this memoir traces the stories of Rea and his friends and teammates. Rea's life has led him to more than 100 countries, all seven continents, and all 50 U.S. states. Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, he spent his childhood against the backdrop of bombings and shootings in that country during the seventies and eighties. At the age of sixteen, he went on tour with rock star Ozzy Osbourne and later traveled the world as his assistant road manager, contributing a chapter to Osbourne's official biography Diary of a Madman. In New Orleans, Rea served as the media relations officer for the Shell Shockers, the city's minor league soccer club.

For more information regarding this event, contact Chris Smith, Manager of Adult Programming for the library, at 504-889-8143 or wcsmith@jefferson.lib.la.us.