My Audiobook Journey - Meet Tristan Hunt

Part 5

Click here for Part 1, Getting Started
Click here for Part 2, Finding My Producer

Click here for Part 3, The Audition

Click here for Part 4, Reviewing

So it's nearly at the end and, after all this time, the book was done. Once the finished work is submitted to ACX, it has to go through a final review process before going live. They tell you it can take 14-20 days. You'll get an email telling when that happens.

Photo by Leslie Hassler - click to see more.

Now, I'd like to introduce you to my fabulous narrator, Tristan Hunt (aka Jason Downs). He was a delight to work with and made it a great experience for me.

He's been performing professionally for thirty years. He has appeared in films (Racing Daylight, Clara's Heart, Hairspray), on TV (Saturday Night Live), on stage (Romeo and Juliet, The Tempest) and in commercials. His first paid job was a voice over at the age of ten, and he has loved recording ever since. His voice has been featured in film, in advertisements and in video games. He was also signed to Jive records and released two albums as a singer/songwriter, resulting in a top 20 hit in the United Kingdom. He began narrating books in March of this 2014 and has twelve releases available so far. Telling stories is something he truly loves to do and looks forward to doing for a long time to come.

He's agreed to answer a few questions.


How did you become a book narrator? Did anything specific prompt you to undertake this career?

Yes, I had spent the prior ten years working for other people and I wanted to be my own boss... as far as my time was concerned. Obviously this is a creative collaboration between myself and you, the author, which was also my objective - to do something creative.

You work as a professional actor; do you find your profession helps you in narrating books?

Absolutely. All my years of training and working go into these books... as well as all the books I've listened to myself, as a fan.

Torn Canvas is set in a lot of different places. What's the most interesting place you've ever visited?

Hmm... that's a toughy since I love to travel and learn about new people and places. I'd have to say Italy if I'm forced to choose. So many interesting and beautiful cities. So much history and struggle and invention and beauty.

What kind of studio do you use in narrating books?

I created a small booth in a closet at home. It's really all you need nowadays what with technology advancing as it has. It's quiet and gets the job done... although it can start to feel pretty cramped after hours of recording.

Is there a character in the book you related to the most and why?

Well I spent the most time with Jori, obviously, since most of the book was from his perspective... so I felt closest to him. We certainly share some personality traits. : )

Do you have someone else do the editing, or do you have the tech savvy to do it yourself?

I'm very comfortable with editing... in fact I prefer to do it myself because it's so important, but I have so much work that it's not always realistic to spend my time that way. I have a trusted editor that I use too.

How did you go about finding a distinct voice for each character?

I let the writing and the character inform me. Sometimes it comes right away and sometimes I play around with it a little... but they always present themselves. It's part of what I love about this work.

What have you enjoyed most about narrating Torn Canvas?

Getting to know these wonderful people who become a 'chosen' family. It's beautiful!

And here is a snippet of the Torn Canvas audiobook:

AMAZON | AUDIBLE | iTUNES | GOODREADS | PINTEREST

Do you listen to audiobooks?
If you're an author, do you have any of your books in this medium?

My Audiobook Journey - Reviewing ... & an Update

Part 4

Click here for Part 1, Getting Started
Click here for Part 2, Finding My Producer

Click here for Part 3, The Audition

So. you've signed with your narrator, and the process of production has begun. There are different ways for your producer to submit the product for your approval.

1. Wait to submit the entire audiobook.

2. Submit the chapters one at a time or in smaller batches. My narrator, Tristan Hunt (aka Jason Downs), did it this way, and I loved it.

Either way you'll need to listen to your audiobook--with the manuscript open before you. Getting the chapters in smaller batches made it easy for me to go through a few chapters after work and get back any feedback. By the time he submitted the last of the book, it was almost ready to be reviewed by ACX before going live.

Something to consider--what if once in a while your narrator reads the words a little bit differently from how you wrote them? What if he uses a contraction when you didn't? You can certainly request that s/he fix it. Bear in mind that ACX allows a small percentage of differences between the ebook and the audiobook. Maybe 3%, I think Jason said. I forget the details.

Prior to starting this process, I'd seen a discussion where an author chose to accept some of those variations and changed her manuscript instead. I kept this in mind. I chose to be flexible and made several small changes to the ebook manuscript. There were some that I had him change back to the way I'd written them. So, it was a give and take.

Remember, you are the author. This is your story. But the audiobook is a collaborative effort. If you've got a good narrator who's "getting" your story and your characters, be open minded. If it makes for a better end product, you might decide to accept a few changes.

I'll conclude with an excerpt from one of the early reviews because the third sentence made smile:

I really enjoyed both the story and the narrator. He added a lot of personality to Jori by just the tone of his voice. I might have a little bit of a crush. ;)
     ~K.R. Patterson

Next week, I'll be sharing an interview with Tristan, and you'll get to hear a sample of his work. 

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Update - Operation Underground Railroad

Source: ourrescue.org

Last month I posted about the tough issue of child sex slavery. I'm excited to see the movement is gaining momentum now that Timothy Ballard has become a spokesman for the program of rescuing these poor kids.

There's a great post here, I would recommend you check out. I love the concept of the Abolitionist Moms. She's got some great suggestions for ways to help. One is by joining the Facebook Group where various events to raise money to help free these children will be posted.

The words of Edmund Burke were never so true:

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil

is for good men to do nothing."

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What I'm currently listening to is White Dragon by Rebecca Shelley. This is the second book in Shelley's Dragonbound series. It continues the adventures of Kanvar from Blue Dragon. 

What do I think? Holy smoking volcanoes but there's a lot of action in this book. It's got me sitting right on the edge of my seat as I listen. Tren Sparks, the narrator, does a great job handling the mental communication between Kanvar and his dragon.

While Kanvar searches for his grandfather, Kumar Raza faces a savage Great White dragon that attacks his village. With no armor and only a fishing spear, Raza fights the white dragon but is mortally wounded in the battle. Raza's youngest son, Denali, must find a way to save his father and bring him safely out of the frozen wasteland. Lost in a blizzard, hunted by a pack of wolves, followed by a Great White dragon hatchling, Denali must use all his wit and skill to survive.

What have you been up?

Have you ever become involved in a social movement like Operation Underground Railroad?

  

My Audiobook Journey - The Audition

Part 3

Click here for Part 1, Getting Started
Click here for Part 2, Finding My Producer

As you go into the production of your audiobook, you may end up with a lot of people auditioning to do your book. Some of them are very experienced. Others ... not so much. As you listen to those auditions, ask yourself some questions.

1. Does it sound professionally done? In other words, are you hearing other sounds that shouldn't be there? Does the reader take a lot of breaths or swallow but not edit them out? Is that even an issue for you? Just so you know, they can be edited out if they bother you.

2. Does the producer's voice match what you think your character(s) sound like? If not, is it a problem? Sometimes, a producer can add depth that you didn't imagine when you wrote the characters, so it's not a bad thing. Necessarily. Be open and flexible. Your readers, when looking at an ebook or paper copy, won't necessarily be reading it the way you hear it in your head either. But, would you want to listen to the book read this way? If not, that's a concern. Communication with your narrator is key here.

3. Does your narrator "get" you characters? This is important. How dialogue is read can change the entire meaning of a scene. For example, is the character angry vs frustrated as the narrator reads some dialogue? Does that scene lead to action that, if read incorrectly, won't make sense later?

4. How quick is your producer in responding to your questions, concerns, suggestions? Just like on the dating scene, if you don't like the way your producer "treats you," be wary. If you have concerns about the narrator's attitude or responsiveness, don't assume it will get better later on. Remember, you're being courted for a job. Applicants should be trying to impress you. If they aren't trying now, don't assume they will later.

I had one advantage. I'd already heard and knew I liked my producer's finished product. I'd heard good things about working with him from that book's author. He let me know right up front that he had other commitments and if I was in a hurry to get the book out, I might want to look for another narrator.

So, this is another question you might want to ask yourself: how quickly do you want your book finished? I was willing to wait.

There are things you can do to help the narrator "get" your characters. I'll talk about that next week.

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What am I reading (listening to)?

As the title says, it's an Alzheimer's love story. What do I think? It's a poignant story and takes the reader through the Alzheimer's journey. It's a touching and frightening story and is driving home what this terrible disease steals from its victims and their families.

Did you have a nice weekend? Do anything fun? 

We got a new grandson on April 1st and got to watch his big sister for a few days.

My Audiobook Journey - Finding My Producer

Part 2

You can find Part 1 here.

There's a place on the main ACX webpage where you can go searching for producers (narrators). You have to put in information about the book like your genre, region, male, female, young, etc. Then your search will provide you with the names and audio samples that you can go through.

At this point, I hadn't yet listened to the book that made me seek out the producer I went after.

Now, if you've never listened to audiobooks yourself, you might not have much experience with them. I think it wouldn't hurt to give some a try. I'll bet your local library has a collection, and I would ask your librarian to make suggestions about good narrators.

What are some things that were important to me?

How the male producer does female voices.

I know there are some ways of reading that I don't like. I love how Jim Dale did the Scholastic version of the Harry Potter series. His Snape and Dumbledore ... amazing. I wasn't a fan of the way he did Hermione. So, I wanted a male producer who wouldn't do the book's women high pitched and irritating.

Can the producer do decent accents?

An audiobook is a performance. It is not turning on the read feature on your Kindle with that horrible, mechanical voice. In my opinion, it should be a way to enhance the story experience and not just be a faster way to get through the book. Torn Canvas has people from different races and parts of the world. I wanted someone who could make listening to the book be more real.

There were other things, but one important one I didn't even think about until I was deep into the process. I'll talk about that next time.

I found one narrator that I thought would work and asked him to audition. Even though he'd come up on my list for my genre, he said didn't think he could do a romance. Well, Torn Canvas isn't a romance but it does have a strong romantic element, so okay.

The good thing is that I'd just listened to a book, and I LOVED the narrator. Seriously, he became my dream narrator for this book.

I contacted to author, and she told me how to send him a request to audition. And he said YES. Proof positive that sometimes an initial no is a good thing.

This was last August. My narrator's only challenge was the he had some other commitments that he had to finish before he could begin mine.

Next week, the process of audiobook production.

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If you missed out, don't forget there's a huge book promotion going on right now. Great opportunity to stock up on your summer reads. Click here.

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What have I been reading? Well, it's actually listening to.

This little romance isn't just a take off of a Jane Austen book. It's immersed in a modern-day version of Jane's world. The main character is Jane (she's crazy about book romances), and the love interest is Austen (he's practical and thinks all the romance stuff is crazy).

What do I think?

It's a cute and clever story. I'm at the stage where the silly stuff they do to convince the other are making me crazy, but the story's getting even more fun the farther in I get.

What did you do this weekend? I was at a writers retreat. 

My Audiobook Journey - Getting Started

Part 1

Torn Canvas (Safe Harbors #2) came out last June. My publisher had arranged for the audiobook production of A Change of Plans, but I had to do this one myself.

 I read 83 books last year, most of them audiobooks. Anyone who knows me understands how much I love them and why it was important to me to find a good narrator.

I'm kind of picky about narrators of any book because they can enhance the story or they can detract from it. You don't want your listener irritated by the reader.

And so the search began.

I logged into the ACX site, and listed my book, including posting a manuscript sample that potential narrators would use to audition. You can have potential producers (also called narrators or readers) apply, or you can go searching and invite someone to audition--or both.

One thing you'll need to consider is how to handle royalties. There are a variety of ways to negotiate the royalty shares (meaning you and your producer split royalties). If you're interested, you can check them out here. Or you can pay your producer outright.

Next week I'll talk about which path I chose and the search for my producer.

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Yes, the above means there's an audiobook for Torn Canvas. I'm going to be having a blog tour for the release of the EPICALLY AWESOME ...

*takes a deep breath and lowers the volume* 

... audiobook for Torn Canvas. If you think you could help by hosting me for the tour, please sign up here. I will be forever grateful!

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Aren't you proud of me? I didn't forget to share about the books I've been reading.

The first is an audiobook by Patricia Briggs. It's the fourth in the Alpha and Omega series, an offshoot of the Mercy Thompson urban fantasy series.

I'll admit I started this book with some trepidation. In book 3, Briggs threw in a (nongraphic) completely inappropriate-for-the-story sex scene.

Because of the circumstances, it lowered my opinion of the characters. Because it did absolutely did nothing for the story, it also lowered my opinion of Briggs's writing. And I love her books! It was like her publisher told her she had to put in a sex scene, so this was what she threw in. Ugh.

Dead Heat? So far, so good. I'm really enjoying it. Briggs is a great storyteller. Now, is she just doesn't screw that up ...

What's it about?

It's Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings meets Stargate.

What do I think so far? It's intriguing. There are two main groups that haven't come together yet, adults and high school kids. I'm sure there's a connection and they will eventually. Could be soon too.

It kind of has a Michael Crichton feel to the story.

What about you?

Have you ever thought of listening to an audiobook? 

Ever been disappointed by something an author does in a book? 

Do anything fun this weekend?