Meet Richard Rieman of Imagination Videobooks in Southwest

Today we’d like to introduce you to Richard Rieman.

Richard, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I’ve been a professional writer since I was in the 2nd grade. I wrote stories on notebook paper with my classmate’s names in them and charged them a nickel to read them. Voila! Comic book money!

I really wanted to be Superman, but I couldn’t fly, So, I decided to be Clark Kent. That started me on my 35-year journey as a radio news reporter and anchor in Chicago, New York, and Washington DC. The highlights included producing the Saturday morning Presidential radio addresses from the Oval office and traveling around the world with Presidents Reagan and Bush.

There were also sad moments, such as being at Roosevelt Hospital when the doctor announced “John Lennon was dead on arrival” and hearing the gasps and seeing the tears from my fellow journalists. I later began telling other writers stories in front of a microphone as an Audible narrator and producer and became known as “The Audiobook Wizard.”

Richard Rieman of Audiobook Revolution Productions, “The Audiobook Wizard,” is an acclaimed authority on Audiobook self-publishing. He has consulted and produced hundreds of Indie-published audiobooks. Richard is the author of the Global eBook Awards Gold Medal Winner in Writing/Publishing, “The Author’s Guide to Audiobook Creation.” He is also an Audible Approved Audiobook Producer (Top 10%), a 2019 Gold Medal National Ben Franklin IBPA Award Winner for Audiobook Nonfiction, and a 5-time winner of the Colorado Independent Publishers Association (CIPA) EVVY Award for audiobook narration and production.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I dropped out of Southern Illinois University in the middle of my sophomore year to support my family when my Dad died. I had to give up a full ride scholarship, and I thought my dreams of being a radio or TV journalist were over. But, I ended up working 8 days a week at WLS Radio in Chicago “the BIG 89”, ABC Radio News, and as an overnight beautiful music announcer on WWEL – “All is Well, on W-Well.”

When the FCC eliminated the requirement for all radio stations to carry news and public affairs in the late 90s, 90% of all stations stopped broadcasting their own local news. That’s when I left the radio world, and after a stop in sales, I used my storytelling skills in front of a microphone to narrate audiobooks.

Tell us more about the business.
Imagination videobooks is a new Denver based 501(c)(3) Nonprofit. We create and publish animated videobooks and audiobooks of existing illustrated children’s books. Our mission is to reinforce children’s core values, such as kindness and empowerment, through the creative forces of children’s book authors, illustrators, and narrators.

Sample: https://www.amazon.com/Wilhelminas-Wish-Lisa-Reinicke/dp/B07TZLF6CG

There are a few beneficiaries:
1. Children benefit by having digital access to illustrated books with great messages, on TV, Amazon Prime Video, smartphones, tablets and PCs.
2. Authors benefit by giving them a chance to bring their books to video and audiobook life.
3. The video editing and animators at the Denver Media School benefit, as they are taught by professionals and paid to create the videos.

Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
My lucky break came when I was 19 years old and I had to leave college. WLS Radio in Chicago hired me as a newswriter because they liked the broadcast reports I did from SIU during the campus anti-war riots.

“I’m standing inside the ROTC building and (‘crash!) students are throwing rocks through the windows all around me. (‘Crash!’) There’s one widow left. I’m standing in front of it. I’ll call you back.”

My next lucky break came when I moved to Denver 7 years ago after decades of skiing here – one great snow day at a time.

Contact Info:

• Address: Richard Rieman, Founder & President
  Imagination Videobooks, Inc. 401(c)(3) Nonprofit
  Denver, Co
• Website: https://imaginationvideobooks.org
• Phone: 7205075970
• Email: richard@imaginationvideobooks.org

Image Credit:
Jade Alexander

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