I’ll begin this post by telling you that I’m a huge fan of audio books. My family–and especially my kids–listen to them all the time. It’s always been a dream of mine to have a book on audio and as the rights holder to This Quiet Sky, the opportunity presented itself. After a bit of research and helpful advice from others, I discovered ACX, a platform that connects books with professional narrators. It’s been an incredibly fun and rewarding experience! Here’s an inside peak at the process so far…
The first steps:
The first thing that I had to do was to create a profile for my title which would then go into a feed that narrators could find and audition for if it’s something that interests them. I loaded This Quiet Sky onto ACX and entered in all the details needed. One of these requirements was an audition script. I chose a portion early on in the story that had a good blend of narration and dialogue from the both of the main characters, Sarah and Tucker. That way I could hear all the elements that I needed. I loaded the script, hit submit, and within moments, had a live book profile that was accepting auditions. I was so excited!Â
ACX recommends that rights holders be proactive and seek out actors or actresses that they like, so I spent a few days digging through samples of narrators. I was able to refine my search to help me find just the right actresses to read the story based on vocal age and accent.Â
Auditions:
After listening to tons of samples, I landed on several that felt like great fits. Cue pinterest! I was able to save their profiles to a secret board and return later on over the next several days, to give each actress a few more listens. This led me to narrow it down to two ladies that really fit what I was looking for and I contacted them directly. They responded, shared that they would love to audition, and within days, I had the first demo. As a lover of audio books and as an author… it was a dream come true to hear something that I had written, narrated aloud. I was completely smiling from ear to ear when the first sample arrived!
And also, because the novella’s ‘script’ was live for auditions, I had several more demos come in from actresses who had found the project and chose to submit a recording for consideration. This was a fun surprise! Right from the start, there was one narrator that I had sought out directly who had struck me as quite possibly the one. I scoured through her samples and even hopped over to amazon to give her other productions a listen and the more I did that, the more I felt like she was the perfect fit for this project. More on her in a moment… 🙂
I was so impressed and blessed by the work of these ladies. Some asked me if I had any tips on the dialect I had in mind for the different characters so that they could incorporate it into their audition. Another narrator visited my website and read up on the Cadence of Grace series which inspired her to incorporate different vocal elements into her performance that were fun to hear. All in all, this was a delightful process. I enjoyed communicating with the narrators, hearing their thoughts on the story and for their kindness through the audition process. Which all led me to needing to make a decision.
The young woman who had been on my radar from the start was one of the last to submit her audition as she had been away from her studio and wouldn’t be able to record until the weekend after we chatted. When the notification came in that her audition had arrived, I got home, put on my headphones and cued up her sample. Let me tell you… I could hardly sit still in my chair,  so perfect was her read through of Sarah and Tucker’s scene. Right then and there, I knew I had found the narrator for This Quiet Sky. I emailed her, she wrote back, and we were a go!
She’s been a delight to work with and in part II, I’ll introduce you to my narrator, Gail, and share more about the production and let you know when the audio book and listening sample will be available! In the meantime, I’d love to hear your thoughts…
Do you listen to books on audio? What do you think about the process?
So excited to hear you found just the right one! We know them when we hear them, huh!? This Quiet Sky will be beautiful on audio.
We really do! It’s amazing.
I’m so glad I learned about ACX through Randy Ingermanson’s workshop. And I heard Becky’s amazing samples while there. She is so talented! I was impressed with all the different accents she can nail!
Joanne, that is so awesome! I’m glad you’re getting an audio book done for This Quiet Sky. I can’t wait to hear it.
I love audio books, but I don’t own any yet. I’ve listened to some from the library, but it’s been years since I rented one out. With you and Carrie Turansky getting some made, I’m definitely going to have to save up some money to get some.
Can’t wait for part two!
Andrea
Andrea, That’s where I typically get mine as well! Then we also go out and buy our favorites. The kids love the American girl books on audio so we own many of those and also the Little House books. 🙂
Because I’m doing TQS myself, ACX has 2 payment options you can choose from. One is paying the narrator up front which works great for some and the other is that you can split your royalties 50/50 with the narrator, which is great when you’re on a budget. Kind of a win/win for all ;).
That’s neat they give you a couple different options for paying the narrator. I was wondering about that.
Oh, the Little House books! I love those books. Do your kids follow along in the books when they listen to the audio versions? I think that would be a fun thing to do with kids.
Oh, what fun. I’m an audio book geek too. This is just fabulous. So glad you found the perfect reader, and I can’t wait to hear the finished product. Blessings to you, dear Joanne!
Thank you Lori!
And I love hearing that you enjoy audio books. Aren’t they wonderful? I’m listing to To Kill A Mockingbird right now, read by Sissy Spacek and it’s fantastic.
Missing you and hoping we can meet up one of these years again. I’m secretly hoping you are going to Mt. Hermon. 🙂
Best of luck, Joanne, and it was great auditioning for you!
Hi Michelle! My heart lit up when I saw your name! Thank you so much for auditioning and being a part of the process. It was my first time and ladies like you made it so enjoyable! Best of luck to you as well on your next projects. I look forward to seeing what comes from you next.
That is SO COOL!!!
Katie, it’s so much fun!!!
I know the audio book for our upcoming roadtrip. Woo hoo!
Ooh, fun! I hope it’s a short trip 😉 LOL
Hi Joanne! Your enthusiasm is contagious and I am so excited! I confess; I have only listened to one audiobook. It was a book I had already read and the narrator didn’t really fit the voice I had in my head. I can’t wait to listen to This Quiet Sky!! I am thrilled to know you found the perfect narrator and eager to meet her and find out more about this process.
Oh, Britney this made me smile! And yes, I know just what you mean. I have listened to many audio books that didn’t quite ring *right* to me for the story which has made this process such an important one for me. And it’s so different than the writing itself, that it’s been a blast. I’m excited for you to meet Gail and hear her performance!
So, first off…YYYYAAAAYYYYYY! I am all excited again for you 🙂 That is so amazing 🙂
Thank you for posting this! It is so easy to read and informative, it makes me feel like even I could do it! 😛 Is there somewhere I could hear like a short demo of the actress’s voice? Or even a bit of your book being narrated? 🙂 I know it’s super early in the process, but I thought I’d at least ask 🙂
Have a great day! <3
Kara! I’m so excited for you to hear it when it’s done! (and Kezia and Hadassah!) 🙂
And yes, there is a way to do that. Are you thinking of doing Pearl or Sentry? I’ll show you how to navigate ACX and start perusing options. It’s lots of fun!
Oh and I may have read that wrong 😛 I’m such a dweeb. Were you talking about TQS? Yes, I will have a sample soon!
Oh, Joanne – this sounds so exciting!! Congrats – I’m so looking forward to hearing an audio sample and also reading “This Quiet Sky”!!
I have a few audio books, all except one are older books – hate to say it, but don’t think I’ve even listened to them. Audio books are becoming so popular, I keep thinking I will learn now to add the app, or whatever is needed, to my Kindle and try some new audio books – but just haven’t taken the time to do it. My favorite book format is a paperback or hardback, but must admit – you’re stirred my interest to try the audio books!!
Love, hugs, and prayers!!
Bonnie,
It’s really exciting to hear that a new spark has begun for you with audio books. I do hope you get the chance to hear some great ones — one of my favorites is Anne of Green Gables, but I need to recall the narrator that I love best and if I can ask my librarian which one it is, I will send you the details on that one. I just downloaded the audible app the other day and the kids and I are enjoying it already! 🙂
I do hope you enjoy This Quiet Sky on audio and one thing that I’m extra excited about with this, is that because it’s a novella, it will be quite inexpensive which I hope will make it more accessible for readers to try.
Thanks so much for posting on the process, Joanne! 🙂 I’ve been on the fence with whether to go forward with ACX or not, and, while I’m still praying about it, this is certainly an encouragement in that direction. It doesn’t seem as confusing/difficult when you explain the step-by-step process. Looking forward to part 2.
I’m glad you enjoyed it, Alicia! If you end up with ACX, I hope you have a great experience. I think a lot of it is in the ground work and planning and choosing carefully as far as who you will collaborate with. Keep me posted on what you end up doing!