Today (in conjunction with the release of her new novel this week), Emily's sharing a fascinating post on how she brought
Resist to audio. Feel free to interact in the comments then follow the links through to read more about her new book; and also be sure to enter her giveaway!
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Hello fellow authors! I’m Emily Ann Putzke, author of
Resist, a WWII historical fiction based on the true story of Hans and Sophie Scholl. I’m so grateful to Heidi for allowing me to guest post on her blog! I’m here to talk about the process of bringing my book to audio.
Back in December, I listed my novel on
ACX.com, an Amazon platform that connects authors with narrators. From there you can either ask a narrator to audition, or wait until they come to you. I sought out a narrators who would best fit my book by narrowing down the search: accent, age, tone of voice, etc.
Then I asked them if they’d be interested in auditioning for
Resist.
Jonathan Waters was one of the narrators I contacted and I really enjoyed his audition. He seemed like a good fit for my book. We agreed on a royalty share, then I made him an official offer.
But before he could produce the entire thing, ACX requires the producer to upload a 15 minute sample of the audiobook to be approved by the author. It’s really a great thing because it ensures that both the author and narrator are on the same page before the entire book is produced.
Once I approved the 15 minutes, he set to work producing the audiobook. Then I listened to each track, marked down spots that needed editing, and he quickly fixed them.
In an interview with my narrator, I asked him to share his side of things.
Jonathan Waters: I use a C-1u mic I picked up on eBay for about 60 bucks … I have a small desk stand and a pop screen … I use my mac laptop but would love to 1- get a better one and 2 - dual screen it. To kill some of the sound I have some old memory foam, egg crate, kind of stuff that I stole from my parents. The kind of things that you would put on your mattress to make it more comfortable. It helps. I've put one on my wall behind me. I'm also doing this all from my apartment's walk in closet so I also have some clothing that deadens the sound. Also - I use Skull Candy headphones that I paid about 12 bucks for pretty much anywhere. They, for my sake, get me the best sound when I'm speaking and hearing my voice.
I then had to make cover art for the audiobook, submit the audio for review, and wait for ACX to approve everything. Hopefully by the time this is posted the audio will be available on
Amazon and Audible. If not, you have only a few days to wait until it is!
Resist Audiobook Excerpt:
Giveaway:
a Rafflecopter giveaway
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Note from Heidi: Thanks so much for sharing, Emily -- this was great!
Heidi Peterson is a lover of wide-spreading land, summer dust, white pounding waterfalls, and mountain tops; also of good dark coffee and rich stories. Most of all she's a lover of the One who is the Word, the Word made flesh. You can visit her additional blog (where she shares more about books, movies, and further marvels of life) at: Along the Brandywine.
