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How does an author go about creating an audiobook? Well, before the last AWP conference, I had
no idea either.
I was wandering the fabulous and overwhelming floor at the
last AWP in Seattle and I saw the booth for ACX (Audiobook Creation Exchange). (To be honest, I was showing
off a little, flashing the print and kindle versions I had created next door at
the Amazon booth.) I talked with the
nice folks there and they were tremendously helpful, and they gave me a
pamphlet to follow up online after the conference.
So what ACX is is a dating service for authors and voice
actors. You put your project up, voice
talent offers auditions, you choose each other, you agree on terms (either a
flat fee or 50/50, usually), and then the site guides you through the process
of creating the work. It’s also connected
with Amazon and Audible and iTunes, so your work automatically has distribution
~ that is linked to the listing you already have.
So I put up my short story collection for voice actors to
audition for, and right away ~ within 24 hours ~ P. J. Morgan auditioned. I was nervous about it. I mean, I didn’t want someone who was going
to have the traditional radio voice.
HEH, YOU OUT THERE, MY VOICE IS ANNOYINGY LOUD AND PERKY!! That is not the Wyoming sensibility at
all. We’re laid back and laconic and
understated. But P. J. just nailed it
right out of the gate. She’s amazing
that way. When I first heard her voice
reading the words I had written, I got tears in my eyes. Not only that, she’s
just a really great person and very professional and I am so lucky!
I didn’t wait. I
immediately accepted her five-minute audition and we agreed to work together. I
didn’t get any other auditions ~ but I didn’t give anyone time either. And so over the next couple months I gave P.
J. a script with any clarification I thought she might need and she produced
the audiobook. And did such an amazing job.
I had to only offer a few pronunciation corrections ~ which she made ~
and she made me realize I’d been pronouncing a few words wrong. Who knew the
weed kochia is pronounced “ko-KEE-uh” rather than “ko-CHEE-uh” as I had been
doing for years?
I have to tell you: I went down the hole of depression in
the middle of the process and I did that horrible thing ~ I was unresponsive
for a while. I apologize now and forever
to P. J. for it! She got the production done and I didn’t give her feedback for
a couple of months. Sorry, P. J.!!
Let me see if I can describe how I felt. I’m predisposed to be social phobic when this
happens. For whatever reason, it’s email
that gets me. I think about responding
to someone who needs someone from me via email ~ even if it’s just a note
saying, “Got your email. Everything’s good.” ~ and I have a bout of emotional
anxiety. So I had that going on, plus
hearing your words spoken is a wonderful but also nerve-wracking thing. I can’t tell you how amazing it was to listen
to it, but then, because of my frame of mind, I got very nervous. Something
about the concreteness of it all. I don’t
know how to describe it. It’s as if I
don’t deserve to take other people’s time and why would I have anything to say
anyway? All that childhood angst came back and heaped upon my head.
So, in case you had any illusions about my stability …
Anyway, I eventually got past that and P. J. made the
changes and here we are! We have this
amazing voicing of the words I set to paper, and I can’t tell you how wonderful
that is. P. J. is such an amazing
professional and I am so lucky. Thank you, P. J., and thank you ACX for the
service.
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