Pamela S. Thibodeaux has been a recent guest here, but when she announced that she had produced an audiobook of her novel Tempered Hearts, I asked if she would mind describing that process to us. She kindly agreed, so I’ll turn the blog over to her!
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Nothing beats holding a book in my hands. However I’ve come to love my Kindle and appreciate the few audio books I own. I’ve heard that audio books sales are booming and beginning to take up more and more of total book sales across the board. That fact aside, I love offering my products in every available venue to attract readers of all kinds. But, thinking it was expensive or complicated, I put this venture off.
One day I read a series of blog posts by Nancy Cohen and thought, “What the heck?” I listed Tempered Hearts and then searched for a narrator, basically followed Nancy’s advice to the letter. Once I found a narrator I could work with, she recorded. I reviewed. She made corrections. I reviewed. I approved.
Then in about 2-3 weeks ACX sent notification that the book was available. All in all it’s been a harrowing but exciting venture and I can’t wait to get the rest of my books up!
I’m sure there are more complicated, or perhaps better, ways to produce an audio book. Using ACX ties me into a 7 year contract for distribution and royalty share. But for authors with limited budgets, I believe this is an amazing program and would recommend it to anyone who wants to expand their audience.
Blurb: Rancher Craig Harris and veterinarian Tamera Collins clash from the moment they meet. Innocence is pitted against arrogance as tempers rise and passions ignite to form a love as pure as the finest gold, fresh from the crucible and as strong as steel. Thrown together amid tragedy and unsated passion, Tamera and Craig share a strong attraction that neither accepts as the first stages of love. Torn between desire and dislike, they must make peace with their pasts and God in order to open up to the love blossoming between them. It is a love that nothing can destroy when they come to understand that only when hearts are tempered, minds are opened and wills are softened can man discern the will of God for his life.
EXCERPT: Tamera awoke in a mild state of panic and confusion. Glancing around, she realized where she was and who was beside her. A blush warmed her cheeks as she struggled to sit up. She released the filly and fumbled with the front of her gown.
“I couldn’t sleep.” she explained, glancing into the steel gray eyes. His gaze, soft and warm like liquid metal, made her blush harder as he brushed strands of hay out of her hair with a gentleness that seemed out of character.
Craig knew he was treading on dangerous ground, that people were expecting them, but couldn’t seem to get past the moment at hand. “I guess a kiss is out of the question,” he queried, his voice tender, gaze unwavering.
Emotions, raw and unfamiliar, shivered through her. Tamera attempted to scoot away from him, emitted a shaky little laugh and tried to quench the feelings escalating to frightening proportions. “A kiss? Why would you want a kiss? I didn’t think you even liked me.”
Craig wound his hand in her thick hair, stopping her movements. “Like has nothing to do with desire,” he moaned and crushed her to him as his mouth covered hers in a thorough kiss. “Absolutely nothing,” he assured as she clung to his shirt and trembled in his arms.
Purchase Links:
Audible: http://bit.ly/THAudio2
Amazon Print: http://amzn.to/1Elwhpx
Kindlehttp://amzn.to/1rdBRzW
B&N Print: http://bit.ly/1WpcBIp
Nook: http://bit.ly/1OdQyhT
Smashwords: http://bit.ly/16sLHL9
BIO: Award-winning author, Pamela S. Thibodeaux is the Co-Founder and a lifetime member of Bayou Writers Group in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Multi-published in romantic fiction as well as creative non-fiction, her writing has been tagged as, “Inspirational with an Edge!” ™ and reviewed as “steamier and grittier than the typical Christian novel without decreasing the message.” Sign up to receive Pam’s newsletter and get a FREE short story!
Links:
Website address: http://www.pamelathibodeaux.com
Blog: http://pamswildroseblog.blogspot.com
Newsletter: http://bit.ly/psthibnewsletter
Face Book: http://facebook.com/pamelasthibodeaux
https://www.facebook.com/pamelasthibodeauxauthor
Twitter: http://twitter.com/psthib @psthib
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/pamelasthibodea/
Amazon Author Page: http://amzn.to/1jUVcdU
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/pamela-s-thibodeaux
Congratulations, Pam, on attempting audio books. I wish you much success. Off to read Nancy Cohen’s post about how to do it. Thanks for the encouragement.
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It seems once you get the hang of one thing, something else pops up, doesn’t it? Good thing we love to learn. Thanks for visiting, Diane!
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My experience with audio books has been different and I won’t detail it here.
But I have a question about the process you went through:
if you had NOT liked a potential narrator — and perhaps you did have to go through a few auditions — how do you let them down easily? And do you owe them any $$$ for their time in the audition?
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Hi Jeff, I don’t think you owe them for their time auditioning. I talked to several narrators but most of them charged a fee + royalty share. Since my funds were limited, I just let them know I couldn’t pay the fee. I guess you’d let them down easily by first Thanking them and be honest. Thanks for commenting!
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I have a friend who has been a guest here to discuss narrating audiobooks. Often, it needs to be done by someone with lots of time on their hands and who aren’t looking at it for real income, since it takes a great deal of time, which, if they have another skill, can be put to more lucrative endeavors.
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Maybe so, Tonette. Most I talked to were narrating on the side. Some, this was their main income – those are the ones who charge (some very high $amounts and some not so high) but they do charge a fee. The advantage is that if you pay a fee, you normally don’t share royalties OR share less. Best advice is to research and see what works best for you.
Thanks for commenting!
Good luck and God’s blessings
PamT
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Fantastic interview. I went and checked Nancy’s blog. Wow, what great information! Thanks for sharing that. Wishing you much success with your audio book.
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Yes, Diane, Patricia and Diana! Nancy’s blog is full of great information and made it SO easy for me to get this done. I’m about to put book 2, Tempered Dreams up too!
Thanks for commenting ladies and Thank you for hosting me Patricia!
Good luck and God’s blessings to ALL
PamT
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I’ve heard from authors that the money spent on audio is not worth the royalties received. What is your experience, Pamela? I’d love to get my books out to as many people as I can, but if the income from audio isn’t going to pay for the expense of doing one, I don’t see the point. Yes, people who cannot read have the benefit of hearing your book, but they can always put it through a read aloud program, can’t they?
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My book just came out in June and we’ve had a few sales. I haven’t paid for anything except resizing of the cover and some advertising so as of now, I’m ahead in the game. But hey, whether 1 sale or 1 million….EVERY sale is a soul for God and much appreciated!
Thanks for commenting
Good luck and God’s blessings
PamT
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Hi! I am listening to this book right now. It is my first audio book. It took me a bit to get used to it, but I actually am glad to have something to listen to while I drive on long trips.
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It took me a while and some are just not well done, but I found that good audiobooks have helped me get catch up on a great deal of reading while I could go about many chores.
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Listening to a book is definitely different than reading, Kara!
As an author I cringe at a lot of things in the audio version that didn’t bother me in the print or E versions LOL! But hey, Tempered Hearts was published YEARS ago and pretty much in line with the way books were written back then.
Thanks for stopping by and commenting!
Good luck and God’s blessings
PamT
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Welcome back, Pamela! We have discussed audio books here.I had a few bad experiences but when I truly needed to multitask, I found that GOOD audiobooks are marvelous.
As for finding the right voice actors, good for you! The way the royalties can be set up can be a problem for some.It surprised me how time-consuming voice-work can be,
I wish you continued success!
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Thanks Tonette!
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Hi Pam,
I think doing audiobooks is a great idea. One of my publishers did an audio of my novel The Inheritance as a free book on Audible. It has drawn readers. Hopefully, yours will do the same.
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I sure hope so Jacqueline. THANKS for stopping by and commenting!
Good luck and God’s blessings
PamT
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Pamela, welcome back to Four Foxes One Hound. I’m starting to listen to audio books now. I can listen to them while I’m at work and its nice to have a great story being told while I’m working, it makes a seven hour shift go by a lot faster and certainly helps me to not feel alone when I am. I’ll have to grab a copy of your book and listen to it soon. It sounds interesting.
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THANKS Angela! I hope you enjoy the story!
Good luck and God’s blessings
PamT
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Thanks for sharing your experience and your resources!
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Good for you! Your audobook of Tempered Hearts was great. I’ve worked with a narrator on one book, but I need to learn more about it. Thanks for the info!
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I read the electronic version of Tempered Hearts and really enjoyed it. Some of my books are in audio, but not too many. Whenever we go on a trip we always get an audiobook to listen to.
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Thanks so much Alina, Alicia and Elaine for stopping by! So glad you enjoyed Tempered Hearts Elaine!
Good luck and God’s blessings to each of you
PamT
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