Karen@KarenCommins.com
470.737.NAR8 (6278)

Karen Commins

Atlanta Audiobook Share-rator™

"A Vacation For Your Ears"

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Blog Posts

For Authors

3 Reasons Authors Shy Away From Audiobooks

12 May 2017

Romance Narrators' booth at the Bazaar featured a variety of items from over 20 audiobook narrators.

It was exciting to attend the RT Booklovers’ Convention here in Atlanta last week with over 25 of my fellow audiobook narrators from across the country. Several members of the group organized and participated on educational panels about audiobooks, and we all contributed for a booth in the Bazaar.

 

In talking with people who came to our booth, I noticed 3 reasons authors shy away from audiobooks.

1) Authors aren’t sure about consumer demand for audiobooks.

One person who never listens to audiobooks asked me the average price for one. When I said it might be $15-$20,Read More

7 Players on Your Audiobook Production Team

26 March 2017

Audiobooks team shirt with 7 on it

 

Since many indie authors and smaller publishers are new to the world of audiobooks, I thought you might like to have a quick overview of the 7 players on an audiobook production team:

1. Rights Holder 2. Producer 3. Director 4. Narrator 5. Sound Engineer 6. Audio Editor 7. Proof Listener

One person may be responsible for several phases of the process. For instance, on ACX.com, Audible’s marketplace connecting rights holders with narrators, I’m the audiobook producer in addition to being the narrator.

My husband Drew serves as both the director and sound engineer in all ofRead More

Karen Commins’s Audiobook Resources For Authors

23 December 2016

smartphone showing Dixie Divas audiobookAre you an author or publisher who is ready to get your titles into AUDIOBOOKS?

The fantastic info found in this list of links will better prepare you for the task, especially if you plan to use Audible’s Audiobook Creation Exchange (ACX.com) for the production process.

If you feel overwhelmed about audiobook production, you may want to cut to the chase and hire an experienced narrator and producer.

Subscribe to the ACX blog and Karen Commins’s blog for on-goingRead More

Karen Commins — Your Audiobook Producer

17 December 2016

Want to create an audiobook of your book but feel overwhelmed about the process?

Concerned that you will pick the wrong narrator?

Afraid that you will need to spend hours that you don’t have in requesting changes to an unsatisfactory production?

Sit back and R-E-L-A-X!

In fact, you can head to the beach because you’ve found an experienced producer and narrator to whom you can hand off your book without worry!

As a full-time and Audible Approved audiobook narrator, I love interpreting your words on the printed page and creating a pristine recording that allows today’s ultra busy peopleRead More

Karen Commins’s Audiobook Marketing Cheat Sheet

27 November 2016

Last updated 6 December 2018

 

 

Don’t you just LOVE to market your audiobooks?

I think many people would answer an emphatic NO! to that question, in part because they feel uncertain how to proceed.

This page will give you plenty of creative ideas for promoting your audiobook!

Before we get to those ideas, I want to point out that the author and publisher should do most of the marketing and promotion of the title. Even on royalty share contracts, the narrator’s role in and effect from promotion is minimal. Narrators typically have larger portfolios than authors andRead More

How to Afford Your Editor, Proofer, or Narrator TODAY

9 October 2015

An author recently wrote that her fans were demanding audiobooks, but she couldn’t afford to spend any money up-front for the narrator’s fee and other costs of production.

Narrators frequently bemoan the fact that, instead of narrating the next book, they are spending too much time editing an audiobook because they can’t afford to hire an editor.

I’ve previously written about our words being a self-fulfilling prophecy and encouraged you to think/write/speak what you WANT into being.

Thinking or saying “I can’t afford it” is often a knee-jerk reaction immediately offered by Resistance to keep you from taking action toward theRead More

Setting Sail In Audiobooks: A Video For Authors

24 May 2015

In writing a response on author Elizabeth Spann Craig’s blog about tips for success on ACX.com, I realized I had been remiss in adding my latest video to my own blog!

 

Last fall, I spoke at the Georgia Romance Writers annual conference to help authors get started with creating audiobooks. I recently created a 41-minute video from that presentation which:

 

explores the audiobook landscape (beginning at 2:43) explains reasons every author should produce audiobooks of their books (beginning at 7:23) demonstrates Amazon Whispersync capability between an audiobook and Kindle ebook (beginning at 10:19) offers specific tips
Read More
Audiobook Marketing Ideas Twitter Chat

19 March 2015

On 18 March 2015, ACX hosted a Twitter chat about audiobook marketing with author assistant Kate Tilton. I used Storify to compile and categorize all of the tweets on this page so that the questions and answers are together.

 

Updated 12/21/17  Content moved to my Evernote account since Storify is discontinuing operation

 

Read More
Dual Gender Narrations in Audiobooks

21 February 2015

An audiobook listener on Goodreads wrote recently:

“I’m hoping the powers-that-be realize this (and care) and we’ll see more audiobooks being narrated by dual-gender narrators.

 

And I don’t mean simply dividing up the chapters between a male and female narrator to read…I like the dialogue narrated by the relevant gender.”

 

 

I can tell you why most books have a solo narrator: COST.

 

I produced and co-narrated the 4-book Blue Suede Memphis mystery series (fun, cozy mysteries with romantic elements) where I voiced all of the female parts, and a male actor voiced all ofRead More

How to Submit Your Audiobooks for Review in AudioFile Magazine

1 December 2014

ACX.com hosted a Twitter chat with AudioFile Magazine, the audiobook industry's oldest and best publication, so narrators and publishers could learn about AudioFile's purpose and review policies. I added all of the Q&A tweets that I could find, along with some headlines highlighting key points.Read More
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Other Articles

DigitalBookWorld.com:
  • 4 Ways Planning For Your Audiobook Can Make You a Better Writer
  • Make Audiobook Production Your Goal in 2016
  • How Amazon and Audible are Pushing Audiobooks Into the Mainstream
  • Authors, Can You Afford to Produce an Audiobook?
InD’tale Magazine:
  • Audiobooks: A Multi-tasker’s Best Friend!
  • A Week In The Life of an Audiobook of an Audiobook Narrator
ACX Blog:
  • A Narrator’s Look At Audiobook Marketing Part 1
  • A Narrator’s Look At Audiobook Marketing Part 2
Karen@KarenCommins.com
470.737.NAR8 (6278)
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