Karen Commins

A Place For Everything…

5 November 2016

…and everything in its place. As you know, I do so love to be organized! In fact, many people have told me that I have an unusual talent for curating, organizing, condensing, and disseminating information that is relevant to them.

With that point in mind, I decided it would helpful to list all of my audiobook-related resources in one place. (Last updated 29 May 2017)

Guides:

Audiobook Resources For Authors is a curated list of articles that are grouped to take authors through the stages of production from thought to final product.

My Audiobook Marketing Cheat Sheet contains oodles of ideas for specifically publicizing and marketing the audiobook edition.

Authors and narrators will benefit from subscribing to 1 or more of my 5 Twitter lists of audiobook people and organizations.

Articles:

My blog articles are separated by those of most interest to authors and those more useful to narrators. Each section has a different sidebar.

I’ve also published a number of articles on other sites of benefit to both authors and narrators.

Videos for Authors:

Setting Sail In Audiobooks: A Guide for Authors and Publishers

In this 41-minute video, I:

— explore the audiobook landscape (beginning at 2:43)

— explain reasons every author should produce audiobooks of their books (beginning at 7:23)

— demonstrate Amazon Whispersync capability between an audiobook and Kindle ebook (beginning at 10:19)

— offer specific tips about ways to write with audio in mind (beginning at 12:09)

— advise the viewer about the audiobook production process and gives concrete information about using ACX.com to create an audiobook, including payment for production costs and distribution options (beginning at 22:04)

Demo of Kindle eBook and Audible Audiobook Whispersync (3:04)

Videos for Narrators:

I always run this test to check for graphic romance scenes in books before I audition. (1:18)

In this 2:26 video, I demonstrate how my editor and I use iAnnotate software during the corrections process.

If you’re editing your own audio, I show how to remove mouth clicks in this :41 video.

Upcoming Webinar on Acquiring Audio Rights

26 July 2016

Since 2006, I’ve had the dream of publishing my own line of audiobooks. I partially fulfilled that dream in 2014 when I used works in the public domain to start Jewel Audiobooks, my audiobook publishing company. However, I’ve always wanted to publish contemporary titles.

I haven’t done so because I don’t know how to acquire the audio rights needed to produce these audiobooks. I’ve extensively researched the topic on-line, and I even bought a book titled How Authors Sell Publishing Rights. Unfortunately, everything I found was vague and didn’t answer my questions.

I decided to consult an attorney who specializes in intellectual property and publishing.

Even better, why not talk to an attorney who’s also a Grammy-winning audiobook producer!

Best idea of all, why not host a webinar so other narrators can learn with me!

I’m thrilled to announce that Jessica Kaye will be my guest speaker on the webinar titled How to Acquire Audiobook Rights!

We’re meeting on Tuesday 9 August at 8pm ET/5pm PT, and the cost is $49 per person.

Jessica has over 25 years experience in audiobook creation and publishing. She’s the founder of Big Happy Family Audio, an audiobook distribution company, as well as an attorney in the firm Kaye & Mills.

If you’re interested in learning how to acquire audiobook rights, click here to get more information and to purchase the recording and materials.

How I Met the Love of My Life

25 July 2016

A few weeks ago, Drew and I finished narrating the audiobook 125 Ways to Meet the Love of Your Life by Dr. Jan Yager. If I were single and hoping the meet the right person, I would buy this audiobook in heartbeat!

Once we finished the production, we were inspired to create a 2:28 video to describe how we met in the style of the interviews from the popular movie When Harry Met Sally. Enjoy!

I #LoveAudiobooks!

16 June 2016

June is Audiobook Month! To celebrate, the Audio Publishers Association (APA) kicked off a video campaign titled “A Good Audiobook Speaks Volumes” in which authors and narrators share why we #LoveAudiobooks!

I had such fun in creating this 2:01 video, which premiered today on the Audiobook Community Facebook page. I hope you enjoy it! If you also love audiobooks, please tell me your favorite audiobook in the comments. I’m always searching for my next good listen! 🙂

3 More Networking Tips for Introverts

4 June 2016

After reading my article 3 Take-aways from APAC 2016 and 2 Networking Tips, a voice talent sent me a message. This introverted person is attending an upcoming convention in another industry and asked if I had suggestions about how to ‘…converse with a complete stranger and determine if they are a qualified lead (or can point me to one) without coming across as “Me, me, me, me me.”’

It’s a great question in an area where many of us — and I include myself — struggle.

The very next day, I read a wonderful story from Joanne McFadden in the June issue of the Science Of Mind magazine that illustrates a perfect way to approach networking events!

McFadden was going to a dance. Rather than thinking of the type of man she wanted to attract as her date, she decided instead to dwell on who she could be and what she had to offer. She thought, “I could be a great girlfriend to someone because I’m smart, funny, beautiful, and caring!”

She met a man at the dance, became his girlfriend, and later married him.

McFadden wrote:

Powerful things happen when we focus on being —

being peaceful, being happy, being loving, being kind, etc.

Here are 3 ways you can think about BEING at a networking event: [Read more…] about 3 More Networking Tips for Introverts

3 Take-aways from APAC 2016 and 2 Networking Tips

30 May 2016

The Audio Publishers Association Conference (APAC) is an annual event held on the the day before BookExpo America, the largest trade show for the publishing industry. This year, APAC was held in Chicago on Tuesday 10 May.

I debated about listing all of the panelists’ names below as I believe in giving credit where it’s due. I decided not to include the names because a main value in attending the conference is to meet and learn from people who are in a position to hire narrators. My freely sharing all that was said and the names and positions of those influential people would not be fair to the narrators who paid the conference and associated travel costs.

Instead, I’ll share 3 of my take-aways from the day and offer 2 ideas to help you plan for future similar networking opportunities.