“Immerse yourselves in the ocean of My words, that ye may unravel its secrets, and discover all the pearls of wisdom that lie hid in its depths.”
~Bahá”u’lláh
(P 118-119 Proclamation of Bahá’u’lláh)
HearTheWritings.com is focused on making exceptional audio books of the sacred, historical and secondary texts of the faith. We all know that we are called on to read the sacred word each day… but sometimes finding those moments of quiet stillness to dive into the writings can be a challenge. HearTheWritings is seeking to change that. Using the tools of technology, we are creating a resource that provides opportunities for people to access and experience the writings in more ways and more times than ever before. For those with long commutes; their drive time can now be a time to commune, for parents with kids who cant find the time to sit and read; now there is a resource, for those organizing community deepening sessions there is now a great tool, for our community
members with vision impairment, for those who are more inclined to auditory learning, and for the countless others who are looking for more time to experience the sacred word there is now a resource. Our focus is transforming these moments of mental availability which we all experience into greater opportunities to deepen our knowledge, connect to the writings and develop a closer relationship with Bahá’u’lláh. The feedback that we receive from individuals and communities alike serves as a confirmation and as fuel to move this endeavor forward. We hope you will find something here that touches your heart…and can help play a role in bringing you closer to Bahá’u’lláh. Thank you for supporting this endeavor and for helping us promote Bahá’í scholarship.
Welcome!
HearTheWritings.com is a Bahá’í owned family business. It started with a passion for audio books and has developed into a mission to transform all the sacred, historical and secondary texts into high quality audio books. What you see is the start of that endeavor. We are continually seeking to improve what we offer and make the service rendered by our audio books even more significant. You can read more about how and why we got started here. If you have ideas, feedback or other encouragement.. please send us a note through the contact page. We would love to hear from you!
Sincerely,
Jon & Auntieclare Rezin (+ Children!)
Phillip Hinton
A master of the craft, Phillip Hinton has been working professionally for decades.
Aria Bruss
With a soothing voice and charming demeanor, Aria is making her mark on Hollywood.
Nabil Jurney
An award winning voiceover artist and exceptional narrator, Nabil Jurney’s voice is unique
Adam Mondschein
A graduate of the distinguished UCLA Theater Program, Adam is has a voice that commands.
Jinous Khadivian
Passionate and powerful. Jinous is a fresh voice, brimming with promise and talent.
Ata Farhadi
An amazing actor with a mesmerizing tone and a British accent… what more could you want?
HearTheWritings.com is a passion project… and like so many passion projects it’s growth and development depend on the incredible contributions of so many talented individuals. If you are as passionate as we are about audio books and want to be a part of helping us create more amazing Baha’i audio books, click one of the tabs above and lets get connected! We are always looking for new collaborators and are looking forward to hearing from you.
– Are you an aspiring voice over artist?
– An Actor who has a passion for making the sacred writings come to life?
– A Professional in the Voice Over industry looking for an opportunity to create something to serve the community?
If you answered “yes” to any of these questions.. then we would love to hear from you!
We are always looking for unique and compelling voices to read the writings, historical texts and communications from the House of Justice. Here is how to submit for consideration:
1. Make a recording (a paragraph or two) of a key text from Baha’u’llah, Abdu’l-Baha, and Shoghi Effendi. The recording doesn’t have to be professionally produced… it can be on an iPhone or portable recorder (though we don’t look down on pro production if you have it) High quality MP3′s tend to work best… but if you don’t know an MP3 from an apple tree than just send us what you recorded. You can send files over to us via the form below or services such as WeTransfer.com (opens in a new window) (Our email address for those services is HearTheWritings@gmail.com )
2. Fill out the Voice Talent Submission form to the right. —->
3. We will review each submission and add your demo to our library of potential readers. There are so many voices and so many different texts.. please don’t be disappointed if we are not able to use your voice right now. Since we keep track of each submission, we will be able to contact you if the right book or letter comes up that we feel you would be a great fit for.
4. Lastly: One of the challenges to making great audio books is having a professional studio to record in and be directed by us. If you have such a studio, access to one, or would be willing / able to record in the Los Angeles area it will make it much easier to collaborate. If you can’t make it to LA and don’t have a studio to access don’t worry… it may still be a possibility to record you at some point… but it might take a while to coordinate. We direct all recording sessions to help maintain the quality, accuracy, and overall feel of the productions. Technology will allow us to do this remotely in the right circumstances.
- Are you a recording engineer with access to a recording studio?
- Are you an audio editor looking to apply those talents to the writings?
- Are you a graphic designer who feels compelled to participate in the creation of audio books?
- Are you a web designer / coder who would love to help us develop our site and UI?
- Do you design mobile apps?
- Do you have some other technical ability that would be invaluable to the technical production of HearTheWritings.com’s audio books?
If you answered yes to any of the above questions we would love to hear from you!
Please fill out this form to the right ( —> ) and we will contact you. Please allow a few weeks for us to get back in touch.
NOTE: If you don’t have a website which shows us what you do.. please upload it to us manually via WeTransfer.com (opens in a new window) (Our email address for those services is HearTheWritings@gmail.com )
Looking at expanding into another country and language, can be a big task, so we want to see a few things in place before we think about jumping in: 1. There are at least two individuals in the proposed country who would be willing to coordinate all production efforts on that end. 2. There is voice talent among the community in that country 3. Someone in the community is a competent audio engineer and has access to a recording studio 4. Someone is willing to handle all the administration of the project in that country. This could include things like:
- Translation of CD cover text
- Sending audio books to the NSA Review Committee in your country
- Listen to the final audio book for accuracy
- and other administrative tasks.
(These tasks are all necessary since we don’t necessarily know your countries language)
If you think you might have these sort of resources and have a couple people (yourself included) who are committed to providing this service in your community and want to discuss the possibilities of having HearTheWritings.com release audio books in your language please fill out the form to the right ( —> ) and let us know a little about your community and how you might be able to assist in the process. We will read every submission and get back to you as soon as we can.
HearTheWritings.com is our passion project. We are currently churning audio books out as fast as our resources will allow. More resources equals more books faster. Please consider making a donation. All the money will go towards our expenses as we expand our audio book offerings. (All donations made will go to HearTheWritings.com which is a Bahá’í family owned business. HearTheWritings.com is not an Institution or Bahá’í fund)
ONE TIME CONTRIBUTION
Click below to make a ONE-TIME contribution. On the following page you will be shown a form with a blank ‘Amount’ field. Simply enter your contribution and click submit to help us create more audio books!
RECURRING CONTRIBUTION
Want to Make a Recurring Contribution? You choose how much and how often… Simply fill out the form below and Click the contribute button.
CONTRIBUTE IN ANOTHER WAY
Interested in helping us expand more significantly? Send us an email with your thoughts and lets see how we can collaborate!
Some Additional Site Credits
All photos used throughout this site appear with the express permission of the photographers or via creative commons license. Please click on the images or links below and support the artists work who make this all possible.
Photo courtesy of Ramine Hossaini
Photo courtesy of Ramine Hossaini
Photo courtesy of Rick Seidel
Photo courtesy of Adrienne Warren
Photo courtesy of David Preston
Photo courtesy of Vinoth Chandar