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Karen@KarenCommins.com

470.737.NAR8 (6278)

Karen Commins

Award Winning

Atlanta Audiobook Share-rator™

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Blog

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Blog Posts

For Narrators

Resolutions and Intentions

3 January 2018

Drew and his parents in June 2017

What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us

are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.

— Henry Stanley Hoskins (not Emerson as I originally believed)

 

It’s day 3 in a new year. Have you already broken your New Year’s Resolutions?

At the end of 2016, I took Michael Hyatt’s 5 Days to Your Best Year Ever course. (This book is based on that course.) On day 3 of the course, he wrote about New Year’s Resolutions:

The average person makes theRead More

Antidote For A Dry Spell

20 December 2017

 

As I wrote over 10 years ago, in order for your ship containing job contracts to come sailing in to your harbor, you have to keep sending out promotional and prospecting ships into the world. But what happens when you don’t see any results from your efforts? It’s so easy to fall into a negative mindset, especially when it seems that every narrator you know is announcing on social media that they had scheduled work through the next 6 months even before they were just hired for a 10-book series.

I still am notRead More

Is This Coach Right For Me?

13 December 2017

Professional fitness coach isolated on black background

 

When people ask my advice about getting training, I refer them to my article 10 questions to ask coaches and demo producers and this spreadsheet of vetted audiobook coaches and consultants. Recently, someone told me she wanted to develop confidence and wondered whether I thought a particular coach was sincere. I recognized that she really wanted to know if the coach was right for her before she committed to spend the money for the course.

I decided other people may find my answer with 4 additional questions to be useful, so I’mRead More

Finding Your Own Road to Tara

8 November 2017

Road to Tara: The Life Of Margaret Mitchell by Anne Edwards audiobook cover art

A few years ago, I started my audio publishing empire with a public domain book. Today, I am thrilled to publish my first contemporary audiobook ROAD TO TARA: THE LIFE OF MARGARET MITCHELL by Anne Edwards.

I’m not the first narrator to acquire audio rights and publish an audiobook of a current book. Nevertheless, I wanted to retrace my steps in this article to inspire more of you to follow a similar path. As actor/writer/director Bob Fraser used to urge people, you can castRead More

Links to Help Narrators Research Rights Holders to Books

9 September 2017

web research

Last updated 12/31/20

 

I’m not a lawyer, but I have voiced an attorney in multiple audiobooks. Just because an author has passed away or isn’t easily discoverable, or the book is out of print, 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 theRead More

The Still Small Voice

7 August 2017

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.

Introduction and Exposition

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

Why Use Evernote for Audiobook Pronunciation Research

12 July 2017

Why Use Evernote for Pronunciations?

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

Mailbag: 6 Questions About Audio Publishing

6 June 2017

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.

 

Telisha’s Questions:

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

Recaps From 5 APAC 2017 Sessions

31 May 2017

APAC 2017 logo on a phone screen

 

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:

APAC 2017 Keynote with Tom Webster + Bonus Content Getting to the Next Level Marketing Techniques Ask
Read More
Outsourcing From a Narrator’s Perspective

18 April 2017

Quadrants of Brilliance with 4 squares

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.

Read More
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  • Finding Your Own Road to Tara
  • 4 Keys to Becoming a Successful ACX Audiobook Producer
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More of My Articles

ACX Blog:
  • A Narrator’s Look At Audiobook Marketing Part 1
  • A Narrator’s Look At Audiobook Marketing Part 2
  • How to Act Like An Audiobook Narrator
LinkedIn:
  • Setting Boundaries in Your Voiceover Business

Erggo

Karen@KarenCommins.com

470.737.NAR8 (6278)

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