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Do you remember my blog “Split Your Book Apart“? What else could you do with your manuscript and your copyright? One of the suggestions was to produce an audio ook. In other words: Re-purpose your manuscript and make more out of it than just a book and an e-book. Why not additionally create an audio-book from your novel or even from non-fiction? Audio-books are becoming more and more popular!
- Your readers can listen to your audio-books, which can easily double their book consumption because they are using time that previously was not available and turning it into valuable “reading” time.
- They can listen in the car, bus, train, plane… while exercising, walking or hiking, on the beach or while doing mundane tasks around the house or yard.
- Special needs readers, such as blind ones will have access to your written words in form of an audio-book.
- Audio-books can be listened to on an iPod or iPhone/SmartPhone or other MP3 player, even on most e-readers such as Kindle and Nook.
A membership at www.Audible.com (owned by Amazon.com) is a good deal for your readers. They can choose from various plans, and easily download digital audio-books to their preferred device. Or your readers can go to their local public library to get audio-books for free.
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There are three ways of producing an audio-book:
- You do it all yourself. If you are on a very tight budget you can make audios with some relatively inexpensive equipment.
- You use a narrator who is specialized on audio books and who gets a percentage of royalty after production of your audio-book (for which they charge too).
- You organize a professional production and keep all your royalties for yourself.
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Here are some tips to achieve a great audio book format:
- You should find an experienced sound editor and an audio director to get the most out of your studio time and ensure a quality production. Check the packaging on audio-books in stores to see if a producer is credited.
- Choose only the ones who are used to work with audio books.
- Get a good microphone and a screen to soften explosive sounds.
- If you choose professional help, try to find a trained speaker, such as a graduate from an actor school or drama school.
- A professional voice-over artist website has a large pool of excellent audio performers and will greatly enhance your project. Order sample audios, emailed to you, to evaluate talent. The ball park figure for an audio book production service ranges from $500 – $1.200, but can be higher, depending on the books’ length.
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To have your audio-book sold, check www.Audible.com / Amazon.com. You will be referred to ACX, the Audiobook Creation Exchange where you get tons of good advice how to narrate your own audio book or what to look for when outsourcing. I was positively surprised how well they explain in detail the whole process for author on their website, including case studies, how much you will earn, contract samples and how to promote your audio-book. Check it out before you start your project!
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Further Reading about Audio Book Production, especially in Canada:
Joanna Penn describes her studio experiences, creating her audio book
http://www.thecreativepenn.com/2012/07/15/how-to-create-an-audio-book/
Audio Books become an important substitute for old-fashioned reading
https://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/2013/07/27/do-you-want-8390-or-15-million-competitors/
Professional Audio Studio Listing for Canada
http://revolutionaudio.ca/store/recordingstudioscanada.php
Sorted by Canadian Provinces:
Greater Toronto Area (GTA)
Eastern Ontario
Western Ontario
Quebec
Manitoba
Saskatchewan
Alberta
British Columbia (BC)
Nova Scotia
Overview of the Canadian Audio Book Market
http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/005002/f2/005002-2100-e.pdf
Funding & Tax Credit Opportunities in Canada
http://www.pch.gc.ca/eng/1268230642921/s/q.s?l7c1l3=eng&S_S20RCH.l1ng91g3=eng&S_F8LLT2XT=audio+book&cn-search-submit=Search
Alternative Book Formats
http://snow.idrc.ocad.ca/node/188
Ontario Institute of Audio Recording Technology
http://www.oiart.org/
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Get a Sample of “Rabbit in the Jungle” available as e-book, paperback and now as an audio-book
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EEAVS4E
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Another way to leverage your manuscript is to let it translate into other languages, such as Mandarin, Spanish, German, Portugese or Japanese. More about this in a blog post tomorrow.
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If you would like to get help in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites: We offer all this and more for only $ 159 for 3 months. Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com/Seminars
Or visit http://www.e-Book-PR.com/book-promo to advertise your new book, specials or KDP Select Free Days.
Please check out all previous posts of this blog (there are 890+ of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and to StumpleUpon.
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Why You Need Beta Readers
Why You Need Beta Readers and Where to Find the Best
Guest post by Lauren Sapala
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In the tech world “beta” means something that isn’t finished yet; a product that’s still in the testing stage. Authors have now commandeered this term for their own, using it to describe the first circle of readers to review the finished draft of a manuscript. So what’s the difference between giving your novel to a beta reader instead of your friends or family? Well, other than honest, objective feedback (which is one of the most valuable things any writer could ever ask for) the chances of success for your book go up enormously.
The ideal beta reader is usually another writer, and preferably someone who is interested and familiar with the genre in which you are writing. Getting feedback from another writer means you’re much more likely to receive concrete suggestions for improvement, along with comments on what is and is not working. Having a writer as your beta reader also gives you the chance to enter into an exchange. After they read for you, you can read for them. As you examine the weak spots in another’s manuscript with a detached eye, you learn how to logically approach the problems in your own.
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Bringing on beta readers, in short, helps you become a better writer.
So where do you find them?
Your Own Writing Group
Most creative writing groups focus on critique, and due to time constraints, each member is usually only allowed to submit a few pages at a time for feedback. Beta readers, on the other hand, should be reading your entire finished manuscript.
Ask around within your current writing group to see if anyone else has finished their novel and if they would be interested in doing a beta reading exchange with you. Since it’s a trade, both of you will benefit. And since it can be done in off-hours, make it clear that it won’t interfere with the regular meetings of the group.
Google+
Social media doesn’t have to be all about self-promotion. Google+ offers a variety of excellent communities for writers looking to connect with like-minded individuals. The Writer’s Discussion Group has over 14,000 members, and if that sounds too overwhelming for you, smaller communities like Poets of G+, Aspiring Authors, and Writers, Authors, Bloggers are always open to new people too. You can browse around the different communities to find beta readers, or make a post of your own asking for volunteers.
MeetUp Groups and Workshops
If you live in a metropolitan area, Meetup.com offers a dynamic assortment of options for writers. You can find workshops and writing marathons, as well as gatherings dedicated solely to beta readers. This is a great avenue for those writers who prefer face-to-face interaction, and who are also open to meeting new writer friends. If you don’t see a beta reader meetup listed for you city, you might think about organizing your own.
Online Writing Forums
For writers looking for very specific feedback from knowledgeable readers (in the genre of hard science fiction, for example), online forums are an efficient way to find them. Because participants tend to cluster around particular topics of interest, writers can post their call for beta readers in the area most relevant to their style and content. Writers’ Café, the Next Big Writer, and WritingForums.org or Wattpad.com are just a few of the online resources available that can help writers connect.
After you have found your handful of promising beta readers, make sure both of you have the best experience possible. Be clear on your expectations. Tell your beta readers exactly what you are looking to gain from their feedback, and exactly how detailed you want them to be.
Remember, beta readers are not editors. Their function is not to correct your work, or make any actual changes. The goal of bringing on a beta reader is for you, as the writer, to get a view of your own work through a reader’s eyes.
And that, for every writer, is truly invaluable.
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About the Author
Lauren Sapala is a writer, writing coach and blogger at www.laurensapala.com. She blogs about writing, creativity, and finding and holding onto one’s inspired passion in life. She currently lives in San Francisco, is working on her fifth novel, and in her free time facilitates the writing group she founded, “Write City”.
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If you would like to get help in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites: We offer all this and more for only $ 159 for 3 months. Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com/Seminars
Please check out all previous posts of this blog (there are 880+ of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Chime.in, Facebook, Tumblr and to StumpleUpon.
Thanks a lot for following:
@111publishing
http://on.fb.me/TvqDaK
http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+
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Posted by ebooksinternational on September 20, 2013 in Book Reviews, comment on posts, Marketing, post to public, posting, Self-Publishing, Social Networks, Writing
Tags: aspiring authors, beta readers, beta-reading, Google+ communities, Meetup.com, objective feedback, Poets of G+, where to find Beta Readers, Writer’s Discussion Group, WritingForums.org