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Karen@KarenCommins.com

Karen Commins

Award Winning

Atlanta Audiobook Share-rator™

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AudioForAuthors.com

One Email That Isn’t a Scam

20 July 2017

When you receive an email from a Nigerian prince, you probably think, “This so-called prince is just somebody who wants to take my money.”

Other types of emails may cause the same reaction. Authors are inundated every week with solicitations from marketing and web site gurus, proofers, webinar hosts, and more. It could be easy to become jaded to the constant barrage of offers.

However, one email that isn’t a scam is the one from an audiobook narrator who wants to collaborate with you on producing your audiobook. The reaction to that kind of email should be one of giddy excitement, such as, “This is somebody who wants to MAKE me money! What a prince!”

touch screen mobile phone with email messages floating in the air

Although narrators routinely work with audio publishers, we are independent, freelance business owners just like you are. We don’t have agents who deal in audiobook work. Each narrator is on her own for ensuring she has a steady workload.

Until recent years, only about 5% of all books were made into audiobooks. Even though audiobooks are the fastest growing segment of publishing and have had double digit growth for the past 3 years, the overall number of audiobooks is still a relatively low percentage of the number of available books.

Consequently, the majority of authors do not have audiobooks of their titles and may not know how to create one. Narrators frequently do outreach with authors to help them learn about the production process. We speak at authors’ conferences and workshops. Some of us (ahem) write articles to share our knowledge and love of this medium.

We also prospect to line up projects on our own. We look for authors who are prolific in writing and releasing their books and treat their writing as a business. Once we find an author of interest, we research her work to find a book that:

  1. isn’t already available as an audiobook
  2. is a good fit for our voice, skills, and interests
  3. contains content suitable for an audiobook in a genre that is successful in audio
  4. could be expected to sell well in audio

With the research complete, the narrator will contact the author — usually through email — to inquire about the possibility of creating the audiobook.

If you’re on the receiving end of an unexpected query email from an audiobook narrator, you might initially think it’s a scam. What should you do?

[Read more…] about One Email That Isn’t a Scam

Filed Under: Audiobooks, Authors, Business Tagged With: ACX.com, Ann M Richardson, Audible.com, AudioForAuthors.com, Blackstone Audio

2015 Audiobook Wrap-up

31 December 2015

As we count down to a new year, I wanted to take a moment to update you on some of my activities this year. Much of this article originally appeared in my profile earlier this week on the Eargasms Audiobook Review site. I appreciated the great questions from audiobook listeners and encourage you to read them.

During 2015, I’ve drastically increased my efforts to help authors and publishers with a backlist understand the audiobook production process and get more of their titles into audio! I wrote a number of articles and created some videos, which I will detail in a moment.

New Links In My Discography

Rest assured, my writing and video production activities are mere extensions of my greatest passion, which is audiobook narration! I’m delighted to announce I released 8 new audiobooks in 2015!

My first release of 2015 was BLY VS BISLAND: BEATING PHILEAS FOGG IN A RACE AROUND THE WORLD, which the talented Melissa Reizian Frank narrated with me. It was a very special narration project, and the story behind the story still gives me chills!

In addition, I performed:

  • cozy mysteries — DEAD PAN by Gayle Trent and ONE HOOF IN THE GRAVE by Carolyn McSparren
  • suspense and romantic suspense — DEADLY BLESSINGS by Julie Hyzy and WHAT SHE DOESN’T SEE by Debra Webb
  • history —THE STORY OF THE STATUE OF LIBERTY by Benjamin Levine and Isabelle Story, THE TRIAL OF SUSAN B ANTHONY by Ann D. Gordon (I edited the text to make it more suitable for an audiobook), and Susan B. Anthony’s famous 1873 speech IS IT A CRIME FOR A US CITIZEN TO VOTE

You can hear samples of my 2015 releases in this Soundcloud playlist:


 

[Read more…] about 2015 Audiobook Wrap-up

Filed Under: Audiobooks, Narrators, New releases, Videos Tagged With: Ann D. Gordon, Ann M Richardson, AudioForAuthors.com, backlist, Benjamin Levine, Bly vs Bisland, Carolyn McSparren, Dead Pan, Deadly Blessings, Debra Webb, Eargasms Audiobook Reviews, Gayle Trent, InD'ear, InD'tale Magazine, Isabelle Story, Julie Hyzy, Melissa Reizian Frank, Nellie Bly, One Hoof In The Grave, The Story of the Statue of Liberty, The Trial of Susan B. Anthony, What She Doesn't See

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