Audiobooks in 2021

[alhawke]

Happy New Year Writersanctum!

For 2021, I'm planning on dabbling a bit into the audio market. From past posts/Googling, it seems Findaway is the way to go for 2021. I get the lower royalty vs Audible, but there's a lot of complaints about delays and returns with Audible right now. And I'm already wide with D2D anyway. So, that issue's been checked off by me ... for now.

How about narrators? How do you find the best narrators? Do you go with the one's the distrubutors sample for you? Do you listen to audio book samples and contact the narrator direct? Do you bring them in from some other outside source?

I've also been mulling over how to release audiobooks. As I haven't done any, I have a full series I could sell all at once. This would be good in finding the same narrator and pushing sale through to the other novels. But, of course, being that audiobooks are super expensive, trying a first book out might make more sense. If I go with doing more than one book, is there any way to discount a multiple book project? Have any of you done that?

[R. C.]

My two cents...

I interviewed several narrators using the Gig market (Fiverr). I settled on a narrator who understood the requirements and gave me audio files ready to load. I had no problems with the files. I paid a LOT less. I ended up giving her a lot of narration/voiceover work.

Cheers,
R.C.

[alhawke]

Thanks, R.C. I'll definitely check out Fiverr.

edit: it looks like you had them done for a series. Did you have the series done already before audio? If so, did you release them all at once or sell them scattered over time?

[R. C.]

Thanks, R.C. I'll definitely check out Fiverr.

edit: it looks like you had them done for a series. Did you have the series done already before audio? If so, did you release them all at once or sell them scattered over time?

The short story series was complete. I released the audio as she completed the narration. Also, because she knows the tone of my writing, I used her for advertising voiceovers.

Cheers,
R.C.

[alhawke]

The short story series was complete. I released the audio as she completed the narration. Also, because she knows the tone of my writing, I used her for advertising voiceovers.

Hmm ... I like what she did for your books from the samples I listened to. I'll keep mulling it over. I'm caught between expense and options here. Thanks again.

[TimothyEllis]

Hmm ... I like what she did for your books from the samples I listened to. I'll keep mulling it over. I'm caught between expense and options here. Thanks again.

Until the Audible issue resolves itself, there is no point in spending money creating new audiobooks.

It sux for listeners, but as long as Audible is scamming authors, there is no point in spending the money.

[notthatamanda]

Can't you just distribute everywhere but audible?

[TimothyEllis]

Can't you just distribute everywhere but audible?

Yes, but that is the same as not putting your eBook on Amazon at all. You miss the lion's share of the market that way, and all you're putting your book in front of are the outlier listeners.

[alhawke]

Until the Audible issue resolves itself, there is no point in spending money creating new audiobooks.

It sux for listeners, but as long as Audible is scamming authors, there is no point in spending the money.

Well after further checking out the recent "Audiblegate" post, I can see 2021 might not be the time to publish my first audiobook 
I'll try to be patient.

[PJ Post]

Anyone recording their own audio?

[Al Stevens]

Anyone recording their own audio?

I had my voice studio set up to do that when health issues put me out of business for a while. Those voice problems are better now and I'm thinking of doing my series. It's a lot of work, and the Audiblegate thing has me wondering if it's worth the effort.

[PJ Post]

Anyone recording their own audio?

I had my voice studio set up to do that when health issues put me out of business for a while. Those voice problems are better now and I'm thinking of doing my series. It's a lot of work, and the Audiblegate thing has me wondering if it's worth the effort.

Perhaps there are other distribution channels?

[notthatamanda]

Or 40

https://findawayvoices.com/selling-audiobooks/#distributor-list

[JackT]

Anyone recording their own audio?

I've recorded a couple. It's a lot of work but quite satisfying to do. I'm still waiting for the second one to be published on Audible. I also have a paid-for one due out shortly. It will be interesting to see how they do. My thinking was - even if Audible doesn't pan out, I can always make a bit of money on Chirp later in the year!

[notthatamanda]

Not to be bossy but I suggest you try for the Chirp bookbub. Still free as far as I know.