And it was going to be worth it, since a whopping 18% (and rapidly growing) of all books are now purchased on audio. And as I found out, I could record the book in multiple, brief sessions.

The fact is that most people are uncomfortable hearing the sound of their own voice. But, how would my voice sound? Where would I record? And would anybody buy it on audio?

But despite my reluctance, I knew that she was absolutely right. “Since your book is really your story, who better to read it out loud than you?” Ugh. Even though the professional is polished, it’s the perfection that lacks the true emotional connection that the author needs to have to the reader. Nadine, an avid listener of audio books, argued that she could always tell right away when a book was read by hired talent versus the author. It’s always fear that stops people from taking risks, and in this case, it was almost stopping me from doing a voice over of my entrepreneurial journey. My voice will give out way before I get to the end of the 52,000-word manuscript.įrom my years of work in personal development, I knew that these excuses were driven by FEAR (False Evidence Appearing Real). I’m not crazy about the sound of my own voice.ģ. I had a few good reasons why I wasn’t the right person for the job:Ģ. That was my immediate reaction to my wife, Nadine’s, suggestion that I narrate my debut book, Running With My Head Down, rather than having it done by a voiceover actor, which is often the case with audio books. Written with wit, grace, passion, and an unflinching candor, Permanent Record is a crucial memoir of our digital age and destined to be a classic.There’s no way I’m doing the voice over of my audio book! Spanning the bucolic Beltway suburbs of his childhood and the clandestine CIA and NSA postings of his adulthood, Permanent Record is the extraordinary account of a bright young man who grew up online-a man who became a spy, a whistleblower, and, in exile, the Internet's conscience. Six years later, Snowden reveals for the very first time how he helped to build this system and why he was moved to expose it. The result would be an unprecedented system of mass surveillance with the ability to pry into the private lives of every person on earth.

In 2013, twenty-nine-year-old Edward Snowden shocked the world when he broke with the American intelligence establishment and revealed that the United States government was secretly pursuing the means to collect every single phone call, text message, and email. Edward Snowden, the man who risked everything to expose the US government's system of mass surveillance, reveals for the first time the story of his life, including how he helped to build that system and what motivated him to try to bring it down.

Permanent record audio book