Biting the Bullet: Looking for a narrator for SEASON OF THE HARVEST Audiobook

I would love to help, but nobody -- and I mean NOBODY -- would want to listen to my horrible accent.  Deep fried GRITS just wouldn't cut it. 

But, hopefully someone who can actually help you will see this, if it's bumped back up to the top.

(By the way, loved your In Her Name series.)

Respectfully signed,

Sheila, who was once described as sounding like a hillbilly.

Sheila_Guthrie said:

I would love to help, but nobody -- and I mean NOBODY -- would want to listen to my horrible accent. Deep fried GRITS just wouldn't cut it.

But, hopefully someone who can actually help you will see this, if it's bumped back up to the top.

(By the way, loved your In Her Name series.)

Respectfully signed,

Sheila, who was once described as sounding like a hillbilly.

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LOL!! Well, we'll find somebody to take the job - I hope!

You don't have to wait for someone to come to you. You can listen to samples and invite auditions from there. That's my plan over the holidays.

A couple of things:

1. I hope you are able to find someone great, because that book is frickin' excellent.

2. What Gertie said. I decided to do an audio version of The Convert and found the perfect narrator on ACX by listening to samples and contacting the people I liked directly. I could not be more pleased with the narrator I ended up with.

Yes, be choosy. I got lucky and got "stipend deals" put on some of mine and it was really great to have a professional handle it. The more experience, the better, because it is fairly obvious who takes pride in their craft (and who is merely "reading.") Don't get seduced by smooth pipes.

I have done some stuff outside ACX and it was an expensive nightmare. ACX is basically no risk (although the exclusivity, if you choose it, certainly has a lot of unknowns ahead--and it kills the competitive tool of pricing. I feel their audiobooks are far too expensive, especially for mere digital downloads instead of shipped CDs.)

Good luck.

I am well regarded for my first-rate Michael Caine impression if that's the angle you're going for (well, people always tell me to "shut up" which I assume is because it's so good).  I also do a half baked Richard Burton which I plan to use to narrate the prog-rock inspired double concept album based on my own book.

A bit like Harrisonbooth (from Lancashire, UK) no one on t'other side of the Pond would understand half of what I said, so self narrating any of mine would be a definite no-no. I shall just have to wait until the ebooks make me a decent amount before I venture into this quarter.

Best of luck with your hunt, Michael.

Yeah, you should definitely go over to ACX and listen to people in the required age group/genres.  That's how I found my Junco narrator.  Her voice is awesome - and she's an actress - so she reads the book in character.  I'm very excited about my project.

I'm working with Robert Forge right now on two of my books and he's just outstanding. I'll ask him if he has time to look at a new project and submit an audition to you on ACX.

Coleman Ford did the narration for my novel, The Gorge. He did an outstanding job.

Thanks, all! I started listening to samples yesterday, but have quite a few left to go. Will take a listen to the suggested folks in this thread for sure!

Any luck?

wanna hire me?  i'll work for chocolate.

Have a couple nibbles. One audition is in, hoping to get another hopefully this coming week, and have to call a third guy. We'll see how it goes...

I just listened to a bunch of samples and invited two to audition.

Good luck to us both.

I'm doing my own VO for the ACX books. Once all of mine are done I may consider hiring out...but that'll be months away and I've other books to write, too. Oh, and yes...I'm a professional actor in another life.    Good luck folks, seems to be a really great opportunity. I've been suggesting that my colleagues take a peek at the opportunity there but as others say, it takes more than a voice. The right equipment, the editing skill, the mastering...oy!

Amyshojai said:

I'm doing my own VO for the ACX books. Once all of mine are done I may consider hiring out...but that'll be months away and I've other books to write, too. Oh, and yes...I'm a professional actor in another life. Good luck folks, seems to be a really great opportunity. I've been suggesting that my colleagues take a peek at the opportunity there but as others say, it takes more than a voice. The right equipment, the editing skill, the mastering...oy!

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Two of the samples I listened to had a bad echo. Disappointing because they were both decent readings. however, the two I invited were more than decent. If they both audition, I may have a hard time deciding between them.

Nicole Quinn read "Dalston Junction" and is wonderful to work with; Mary Jane Wells is producing "The Amber Cross" and is really good especially if you need a British classic lit vibe. Just putting names out there for those looking.

I haven't yet found anyone willing to consider royalty share, and the thought of putting out $1500 and (way) up per book up front is agonizing, especially right now (still paying some things off from the house and wondering how taxes will shake out this year). Well, it's not really agonizing, it just isn't going to happen. If I can't get someone on board with royalty share, I'm back to square one trying to record them myself. Sooooo, I'll be spending more time listening to auditions today and send out more "Hey, would you consider..." emails on ACX...