I’m not a lawyer, but I have voiced an attorney in multiple audiobooks. Just because an author has passed away doesn’t mean you’re free to create the audiobook of her book!

Before you can record an audiobook, you must do due diligence to determine whether the book is in the public domain or still under copyright. When a work is still under copyright, the rights holder is the person or company that owns the audio rights to the book. The rights holder (RH) will receive the royalties from the sale of the audiobook.

If the book is still copyrighted, the RHRead More

If you’ve read my articles about Barry Manilow (here and here),  you probably suspect that music is an important part of my life. Did you know that I also play music? I ask your indulgence while I write about music for a few minutes. I promise that I do have a point that relates not only to audiobook narration, but to living the life of your dreams.

I started piano lessons when I was in second grade. My brother was taking them, and I thought I should do that, too. (By theRead More

Recently, several audiobook narrators discussed in a Facebook group how we do our pronunciation research. Like many narrators, I use the iAnnotate app for the text since it allows us to read the book from a tablet and noiselessly turn pages.

Most people in the discussion either added their pronunciation research to the PDF in iAnnotate or copied it to an Excel spreadsheet.

My method is different because I store all of my pronunciation research in Evernote.

Evernote is described as a note-taking app that works on and syncs across all of your devices.Read More

After reading my article How I Started My Audiobook Publishing Company, a couple of people recently wrote to me with questions about the process. With their permission, I am answering their questions here so more people can benefit from and join in the discussion.

Before you read further, I should state that I’m not a lawyer. I offer advice based on my experience in the audiobook industry, but anyone considering starting a publishing company may need to consult with an attorney.

1. Does ACX accept copyright audiobooks without the author’s consent inRead More

Each year, the Audio Publishers Association hosts an informative conference for its members. I was unable to attend this year due to family concerns. However, thanks to the many tweets from ACX.com and other participants today, I almost feel like was there!

Using Storify, I chronologically sorted all of the #APAC2017 tweets about these 5 sessions of interest to audiobook narrators:

In 2013, I heard client attraction specialist Fabienne Frederickson talk about determining your “Quadrants of Brilliance”. It’s a thought-provoking and highly revealing exercise that requires some reflection about those things in your business that you like and excel at doing versus things that you don’t enjoy and/or don’t do too well.

One of my friends is a well-established and highly successful audiobook narrator with years of experience working in commercial studios for traditional publishers. For the longest time, he had absolutely zero interest in setting up a studio and recording at home, largely because he is not comfortable with technology.

I often talked with him about the many merits of using ACX, including the:

To learn more about me, my narration, and audiobook production, please check out these interviews with me on other sites:

Acuity Training 9/12/17 Adobe Productivity — 69 Experts Reveal Their Top Tips

Business News Daily 6/15/17 Evernote: 7 Features You Should Be Using

FanGirlNation Magazine 5/24/17 Interview With A Narrator: Karen Commins

Stephen Campbell, author and host of The Author Biz podcast 1/30/17 Marketing and Promotion for Audiobooks, episode TAB104

Stacy Juba, author of Fooling Around With Cinderella 1/5/17 Read More

My super-talented and energetic narrator friend Xe Sands had this wonderful idea:

December…the time to give thanks for those things that have sustained us through the past year. For narrators, a huge part of that is YOU, the listening community! As we wind down 2016, we want to give back to you, our listeners, who help make our job so rewarding, and who travel with us on each audiobook journey. SO! Over 60 narrators have partnered to bring you FROM THE HEART – recordings of poetry, essays, stories, excerpts, songs, etc. – throughout the month of December.

In a recent Inc. Magazine article titled 7 Ways Successful People Have Better Mindsets, this quote practically leaped off the screen at me:

The biggest problem is thinking of problems as problems. Successful people know that when you focus on problems you have more problems, but when you focus on possibilities you have more opportunities.

It’s true. Our thoughts and words have tremendous creative power in shaping our lives. In fact, in one of my first blog posts 10 years ago, I wrote that nothing is more powerful on this planet than the words you thinkRead More