Have you ever thought about producing your own audiobook? If you've been dreaming about it, but then thought, "Nah. Too daunting!" Think again! I actually released my first audiobook this week. It was something I wanted to do from the earliest days of writing The Ranfurly Mysteries.
When people learned about my new book series, many would say, "You should make this into an audiobook!" But I would say "I wish. Maybe when my book makes me enough money to justify spending money like that." I had no idea what it might cost, or how to find a narrator.
I decided to do some research, and after watching numerous youtube videos and reading several articles about producing an audiobook, I sort of had my head wrapped around how I might actually make the dream come true BEFORE my book makes money.
CREATING
My first thought was that I wanted a full cast with music. Laugh. Out. Loud. Looking back, that was just super naive of me. That is one dream that will have to either wait, or die.
But before that reality hit, I visited ACX.com and Voices.com and found a whole cast that I wished to invite to apply to my project. I also googled some audiobook narrators that I'd heard in the past who were my favorites. I came up with some alternate plans.
Plan A - full cast.
Plan B - hire two talented narrators to do a duet narration, a male and a female.
Plan C - hire one male to do the third person perspective, and I would attempt to narrate the female perspective myself.
One thing I knew was that if I ended only able to afford one male actor, he would need to be extremely versatile, able to do all the accents of my diverse cast.
Only two of the narrators I reached out to replied! But to my heart's delight, one of them was one of my favorites! Tim Campbell.
When I mentioned to Tim that I was hoping to have a full cast, he explained that would cost a fortune. We're talking 10k to 20k US dollars. That's when I mentioned to him that I had considered doing the narration of the female perspective myself, and he told me that would definitely save me the most money.
He didn't dissuade me, tell me I was crazy. and that I should leave narrating to the experts, as I secretly feared he might. Of course, he is very professional and kind, so that might have had something to do with it. But since I like saving money and deep down really wanted to narrate the female perspective, I decided to give it a shot.
Tim is a seasoned voice actor and narrator, and he gave me some wonderful tips which helped me navigate my way through creating my first audiobook. He works with a team, and has a producer who gets all the levels smooth and balanced, so the tracks can pass the audio tests of ACX, Findaway, PublishDrive, etc..
I thoroughly enjoyed narrating! I suppose that fits my personality, since I have a background in theater, and I'm a singer with a four octave range. It just so happens that I also have a home studio because I'm a recording artist.
For me it made sense to co-narrate my book, but some of you might not have any desire to do that. Don't be discouraged! Search up narrators on ACX.com or Voices.com or do what I did, and google search your favorite narrators. They usually have websites. Your favorite narrator could end up narrating YOUR book!
PUBLISHING
A couple things you might want to think about is whether you want to publish strictly through ACX, which means you will release your audiobook exclusively on Audible.com, or if you would like to publish wide. Wide means you also want your book on Spotify and elsewhere. FindawayVoices is the site that publishes audiobooks to Spotify. Since I listen to Spotify in my car, I knew I wanted my audiobook on both Audible and Spotify. In order to do that, I would need to choose Non-Exclusive with ACX when signing up.
It is important to bear in mind that if you create your audiobook with a narrator on ACX, you can't publish anywhere else. You're limited to release it only through ACX. The narrators hired through ACX are exclusive to ACX.
I wanted to publish wide, so I hired Tim Campbell through his direct website, which meant I wasn't bound to publish exclusively with ACX. However, ACX has an affordable option when you hire their narrators, and some people are very happy to go exclusive with them. That is something to think about.
If you would like more information about creating audiobooks, there are many great resources on youtube that I've found to be helpful. Dale L. Roberts https://selfpublishingwithdale.com/ has a ton of videos and books that cover the topic.
I loved working with Tim Campbell and his team. They made the creation process of doing an audiobook easy and fun. They work fast and on schedule. I highly recommend! Some of the accents Tim has mastered are American, German, French, Scottish (his Scottish brogue might be my favorite), and British. He is also an opera singer and has a beautiful vocal range, which gives him the ability to cover children's voices and females as well as bass and baritone males. You can listen to his large selection of samples and contact him through his website. Â http://www.timcampbell.me Keep in mind, he is in high demand, so it might be a few months before he can get to your project.
Here is the link to my audiobook, Danger Lies Within - The Ranfurly Mysteries Book One.
Want to be the first to hear my audiobook before it releases on December 24, 2024? I am giving free audiocodes to people who agree to review it. Write to me at hello@kmkrenikbooks.com to apply to be a reviewer and listen for free.
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