I'm an enthusiastic proponent of audiobooks, because I know there are readers out there who want to
listen to good stories in their car, in the shower, while doing housework,
jogging, walking, crocheting...pretty much anytime! Some people will read the
book on the kindle, switch to the audiobook while commuting and return to the
kindle version in the evening. It’s a rapidly growing audience and I want my
novels to be available for anyone who wants to hear them. I’ve even presented
workshops on the subject to other authors who were interested in the process.
Vicky Hensley of the Audiogals website says audiobook listeners are "double
taskers" who want a "seamless listen." In her learned opinion, the
narrator or voice actor is the key to enjoyment of an audiobook.
Four of my books are also available as audiobooks. The
first two, Priestess of the
Nile and Warrior
of the Nile, were picked up
from Carina Press by Audible and I had utterly no involvement in the
process and no connection with the person who recorded them. No fun!
When I began independently self-publishing my science
fiction romance novels in 2012, I knew I wanted audiobook versions as well.
Working through ACX (an Amazon company) I was extremely blessed to find a
wonderful actor to bring my books to life. Michael Riffle has now narrated two
of my scifi novels and is in the middle of recording a third. There’s nothing
like hearing my characters the way Michael embodies them. I knew he was the
right person to play the hero from the first words he spoke during the audition
for Wreck of the Nebula Dream.
I did a
series of blog posts about the process of creating an audiobook and here’s a
snippet of what Michael had to say regarding his preparation for bringing the
various characters to life:
Michael: I think the biggest influence on what I try
to do with my voice comes from your description of the characters. Not just how their voice is described, but
how they hold themselves, what sort of personality do they have, how they are
feeling during the whole process. I try
to equate each character to someone I know, or a character I’ve seen in a movie
or television, something to ground it in reality. I might be a little selfish by giving my own
voice to Nick. It’s hard to NOT want to
be the modest, able-bodied hero who gets the girl.
To read
more details about how the process went from beginning to end, here is the
link:
For the second book we did together, Escape From Zulaire, I had the heroine
narrated by Mary
Fegreus, another extremely talented actress, while Michael did
the rest of the book. I interviewed them about doing the recording for USA
Today Happily Ever After.
Here’s
what they had to say about the steamy scenes:
Since
this is a science-fiction romance, there were some intense and even steamy
moments between the characters of Andi and Tom. Did those scenes present any
particular challenge?
Michael: I don't
know if it's because Mary and I have a very comfortable relationship or if it's
because we recorded our parts separately, but I didn't find any of the romantic
or intense parts challenging. From a directing standpoint, there was a little
bit of challenge in the romantic scene because Mary wasn't entirely comfortable
with the intimacy.
Veronica: I know they always say the steamy scenes in the
movies or TV are among the hardest to do, because there'll be all the crew
members watching and the elaborate choreography of the action. I imagine this
must have been a bit similar, as far as comfort levels.
Mary: Mike's
being nice about it. Full disclosure: I did a lot of kicking and screaming
during Chapter 6, and I may have had a bottle of soju in the recording booth
with me. The outtakes from that scene are pretty funny. That's been my
experience as an actress with all romantic scenes. The moments that are the
steamiest in the final product tend to be the silliest behind the scenes.
The rest of the USAT/HEA interview with Mary and Michael is here.
In closing, if I could afford it, I’d have Michael narrate all my books
just for me while they were still Works In Progress, because it’s such a
pleasure to collaborate with him. Hearing how he interprets the dialog and
embodies the characters always gives me fresh insights and ideas. I’m
definitely going to continue having him record the final versions of the novels
so there are audiobooks for the listeners out there!
Great post! Do you pay your narrators up front or share royalties?
ReplyDeleteI've done it both ways. He and I prefer to do the payment upon completion of the audiobook, however. Less complicated overall.
DeleteI've been looking forward to your post all week, knowing that you're such an avid proponent of audio-books. You did not disappoint!
ReplyDelete~clicks off to read the additional info you provided~
Thanks KA! Michael and I would do our best to answer any other questions if needed, just let me know.
Deletethanks for the post. I just did my first audiobook and loved the narrator
ReplyDelete