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Today, we have a guest post by Kelly Irvin. She is the author of the Bliss Creek Amish series and the New Hope Amish series, both from Harvest House Publishing. With much research on those, she tells us about the fiction and … Continue reading
Last month, one of my mysteries, Cleansed by Fire, was released as an audio book. Oh, it had been released as a paperback book and then later as an e-pub. But there was still a bit of excitement when it came out in audio. Maybe it was because the narrator (Jonathan Mumm, an Emmy Award Winning TV journalist) seemed to capture the characters as I had heard them as I was writing the book. Maybe it was a hope to make additional royalties on the same book.
But, I think it’s more than that. A writer wants, most of all, to have his or her work read and enjoyed. I really like the book and this gives the book yet another avenue to reach readers, or listeners in this case.
I had an earlier book of mine turned into an Audio book. While it sold well, reaching number seven on the publishers list, the process was rather impersonal. I had no say in who narrated it. I had no say in what the cover looked like. I had no say – in anything.
That was not the approach at Audiobook Creation Exchange, or ACX. As the name implies, it is an exchange that brings together the rights holders of books and producers/narrators. It is part of Audible.com which is a subsidiary of Amazon.
If you own the rights to a book, ACX will post information about the book and a short selection from the book (something that can be read aloud in less than five minutes). Prospective narrators can then submit their rendition of that short piece, giving you, the rights holder, a chance to hear how they sound reading your work, interpreting your characters.
Please note, I am saying “rights holder,” not author. If you have assigned the audio rights to a publisher, ACX cannot deal with you, even though you are the author.
Having someone narrate a full length novel can be an expensive process. What do I mean by that? Of course, it depends on the length of your book. It might cost $350 to $450 per finished hour of the book. So, a 75,000 word book could cost between $2800 and $3600 for the narrator. Keep in mind that the narrator and producer (could be the same person) will spend a number of hours to produce one hour of the finished product.
ACX offers another path. You can offer to split the royalties with the narrator, 50-50. If ACX pays 40% royalty, then you would get 20% and the narrator would get 20%. It’s a gamble for you and for the narrator. Still, it offers the writer (rights holder) an opportunity to broaden her reach with no outlay of money.
Of course, you may not find a qualified narrator who will go to the work of producing a quality recording (ACX demands high quality) unless you do a good job of selling your book. This is much the same way you have to entice an editor or agent to work on your book for no guarantee of a return.
ACX does offer yet another possibility for you. You can narrate the book yourself. ACX does require a high quality finished recording and can return your effort with instructions of how to improve it. Their site even offers advice on how to set up a home recording studio.
ACX is trying to help authors get their book into audio. Once the product is released, ACX will make it available through Audible, iTunes, and Amazon.
The point here is, in today’s changing publishing world, you have more choices than ever before. One of them is a different route to an audio book. If you have a book on Amazon and you hold the audio rights, it is worth your time to investigate ACX and what they have to offer. Go to www.acx.com and check out how they work to bring your audio book to the marketplace. I did and I’m glad I did. Take a look at: http://bit.ly/1zsb0I0 Mumm, the narrator, also produced a great trailer for the book. You can see it here.
Leave a comment on your thoughts about audio books. And ask for a code for a free download of the audio book Cleansed by Fire.
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Today’s guest is Patricia Gligor, a Cincinnati native who enjoys reading mystery/suspense novels, touring and photographing old houses and traveling. But her passion is writing fiction. Desperate Deeds is the third in her Malone Mystery series. She’s giving away a free copy … Continue reading
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Today’s guest is Patty Wiseman, a lifetime member of the Worldwide Who’s Who for Professional Women and the author of historical romances. Twice she has won first place in romance with the Texas Association of Authors. Here’s some important advice … Continue reading
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Today’s guest post is from Jim Ainsworth, an excellent writer and a true gentleman. He got into writing while he was working as an accountant. A publisher approached him and ask him to write a book on some phase of … Continue reading
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The Very Inspiring Blogger Award First, I would like to thank Caleb Pirtle for nominating me for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award. Its purpose is both simple and important. It was designed to introduce authors to readers and to other … Continue reading
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Our guest today is Cindy Thomson, a writer and an avid genealogy enthusiast. Her love of history and her Scots-Irish heritage have inspired much of her writing, including her new Ellis Island series. Cindy is also the author of Brigid of … Continue reading
A Giant Passing
Over the past few weeks, I have written about two literary giant we have lost—first, Spanish literary giant, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, called Gabo, followed by Maya Angelou, an American icon.
There is an old saying that bad news comes in threes. 
It is with a saddened heart that today I write about another literary giant passing: Jory Sherman left this life June 28, 2014.
Jory began writing as a kind of therapy after his stint in the armed forces during the Korean conflict. He went on to publish more than 400 books with all the major publishing houses. His first publication was a book of poetry that
went through multiple printings. But his greatest contributions came in novels. Loren Estleman, nominated for two Pulitzer Prizes and winner of the National Book Award, called Jory “a national treasure.” Prolific author Janet Dailey said, “Jory paints word pictures with remarkable skill.”
Jory accumulated a plethora of awards, the latest coming just a year before his death. His awards included a Spur Award for his novel Medicine Horn. When The Grass Kingdom was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in Literature, his 
reputation as a distinguished novelist began to grow. He received many other awards along the way and in June of 2013, Jory received the Owen Wister Award for Lifetime Contributions to Western Literature, the highest award given by Western Writers of America.
Some think Jory only wrote westerns, but that hardly tells the story. Besides the poetry books, Jory wrote mysteries, suspense books, supernatural tales, literary novels, romance novels, and a few books to help writers. He was once featured on the center spread of Romantic Times, and was a special guest at the Romance Writers of America convention.
I first met Jory just before the turn of the century. He rode up on a motor bike, looking for the person who ran the Northeast Texas Writer’s Organization conferences. We became good friends. Jory and Charlotte had just moved to a place on a lake near Pittsburg, Texas.
Soon, his eyesight began to fade a result of his long battle with diabetes. I remember his leaving our house one day and when he got in the driver’s seat, I asked him how he could see to drive. He showed me his driving glasses. Each lens had what appeared to be a tiny telescope attached to it. I backed up, giving him plenty of room.
Even as his sight deteriorated, Jory pushed forward. He began to paint, taking lessons from a local artist. Several years later, he painted pictures for the covers of two of his books.
About a year ago, he and Charlotte moved back to the Branson area in the Ozarks, one of his favorite spots. Jory’s health was failing and this put them close to their son Mark Sherman. But Jory continued to write daily, finishing several books during the year. Earlene (my wife) and I visited their home there, on Bull Shoals Lake, and I photographed his Wister Award, pictured above.
Just days before he passed away, we visited Jory in a nursing home in Hollister, near Branson. His kidneys were failing, his diabetes was worse, his eyesight almost gone. He could no longer walk.
But he was still Jory. I asked him what he was doing and he said, “I’m writing books in my mind.”
The world has lost another gifted giant of literature.
If you have a story about Jory, please add it here in a comment. Thanks.
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Today’s guest blogger is Lynn Hobbs, an award-winning author. She writes about the importance of setting priorities if you are to achieve anything. She is the author of the powerful faith and family saga the Running Forward Series. The first two books have … Continue reading