Long-time readers will feel no surprise in my belief in and usage of affirmations and visualizations! Daniela and I enjoyed the sort of deep, meaningful conversation I could have all day, and I hope you like it, too.

Of course, I have additional stories and many resource links to share! I’ll add the video timecode for your reference.

6:18
In the 1990s and 2000s, I listened to Wayne Dyer’s talks and books on CD as I commuted 30 miles to and from my thrival job in downtown Atlanta.

In his book called You’ll See It When You Believe It: The Way to Your Personal Transformation, Dyer wrote about how we have to change our belief system BEFORE we get the manifestation of our dream.

I met Dr. Dyer and he signed my copy of this book at a conference 10 days after my precious daddy passed away.

I didn’t think I’d get to speak to Wayne that day. A crowd of people were circled around him after his lecture. He said he could only meet people for a few minutes as he had to catch a plane.

It seemed like the crowd parted and kind of pushed me forward until I was right there, face to face with him.

I’m surprised I could even say anything to him, given the emotions I felt.

I told Wayne that I’d just lost my dad, and it meant a lot to me to be there with him that day. He surprised me with a hug and said “no one ever dies.”

As an aside to this story, I was wearing a bracelet that day that I think picked Wayne’s polo shirt when we hugged. I felt bad about that for years.

When I told this story to a friend, they said that if my bracelet did pick Wayne’s shirt, he would probably have viewed that as evidence that his work was valuable and that he had made a real connection with me.

Two other books from Wayne Dyer that made a big impression on me were The Power of Intention: Learning to Co-Create Your World Your Way and Inspiration: Your Ultimate Calling.

On 6 April 2006, I was helping a person who had car trouble when something extraordinary and enchanting happened, as I wrote in my journal the next day:

On the ground was a magnificent butterfly, which I learned in a later Google search was an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail. I wondered if it was alive because it was so still at first. When it moved, I began to wonder if it was hurt. [I was afraid the person I was helping would step on the butterfly.] Fortunately, she didn’t.

The whole time that I watched the butterfly, I was thinking of Wayne Dyer’s story of a magical encounter with a butterfly. He talked about it in his newest book “Inspiration”, which I recently read, and on the PBS special about the same. The whole book is about living in spirit and being of service. Here I was, being of service to someone who needed it, and I had a beautiful butterfly before me as a symbol of it. After all, I was inspired to act on the impulse to help this stranger, who turned out to be my neighbor.

The wind blew and made the butterfly’s wings stand straight up. He still didn’t fly away, so I thought more that he might be hurt. Drew told me to tap his wings (his meaning the butterfly, not Drew!). I told Drew a little about Wayne Dyer getting a butterfly to sit on his finger, so Drew said to put my finger down there and see if the butterfly would jump it on like a perch.

I did…and he did!

Then the wildest thing happened — he walked all the way up my arm and looked at me!!!!

It was just like the way it happened for Wayne Dyer. I wanted to get a picture, but Drew couldn’t get one fast enough with his cell phone. Wayne Dyer thought his butterfly was his dear friend Jack. It even seemed to me that my butterfly could have been Daddy [or at least sent by him].

The reason Drew couldn’t get a picture is because, after a minute or so of being on my arm, my beautiful butterfly flew off across the street, landing in a yard. Maybe he was just tired (like me!).

9:29 
I mentioned Louise Hay’s landmark book You Can Heal Your Life. She lists physical ailments, the thoughts that may have been behind the symptom, and new thoughts to think.

13:35
When Daniela referred to the Reticular Activation System (RAS), I was reminded of the first time I came across that phrase. Of course I read it in a book! Henriette Anne Klauser’s wonderful book Write It Down, Make It Happen describes the RAS as a:

…filtering system of the brain. Writing it down sets up the filter. Things start to appear — it’s a matter of your filtering system.

If you have never owned a Honda before, and you buy a blue Honda, all of a sudden you see blue Hondas all over town. You might wonder, Where are all these blue Hondas coming from? But they were there all along; you were just not paying attention to them.

Putting a goal in writing is like buying a blue Honda; it sets up a filter that helps you be aware of certain things in your surroundings. Writing triggers the RAS, which in turn sends a signal to the cerebral cortex: “Wake up! Pay attention! Don’t miss this detail!” Once you write down a goal, your brain will be working overtime to see you get it, and will alert you to the signs and signals that, like the blue Honda, were there all along.

I love her book because she offers different methods and examples of writing our plans and goals to give us clarity and aid our manifestations.

18:00
I talked about Louise Hay’s book Mirror Work: 21 Days to Heal Your Life. This book offers affirmations and journal prompts to help you re-connect with your true self.

20:47
I was discussing the energy you put out to the universe. If you’re obsessively thinking, feeling, saying, and writing words coming from desperation, you’re telling the Universe that’s what you expect to see mirrored back to you. I wrote about changing your mindset in my 2008 article Think/Write/Speak what you WANT into BEING!

In addition to the book linked in that article, I want to recommend Secrets of Success: The Science and Spirit of Real Prosperity by Sandra Anne Taylor. I read it in 2007 and copied these passages about obsession/desperation in my journal:

If you were to project a laser light through the hologram that is your own consciousness, what would that picture hold? What would be revealed in the front, in the middle, in the back, and all the way around? Would there be a confident image on the surface with fear hiding behind it? Would there be an exterior of optimism with an interior of doubt? If so, you need to know that the Universe sees your entire truth—every bit of it—and responds accordingly.

So if you’re visualizing meeting your perfect partner, yet a part of you thinks such a person doesn’t exist, then that consciousness of limitation overrides your specific intention and actually creates a stronger vision of lack (my emphasis).

If you’ve created the goal to attract a better job but you consistently doubt your ability to make it happen, then that failure-consciousness will move out into the Universe, projecting a dark void where no real value can come to be.

Your entire consciousness needs to be considered. You may send out intentions, treasure maps, and even prayers to make something happen, but all of that will go unanswered if it’s the only approach you take. Without a supportive consciousness, your individual desire will just float out in space, and your results will be hit-or-miss at best—or nonexistent at worst.

To get the Law of Manifestation to work the way you desire, you must consider the whole. It’s not enough to say, “If I only focus on what I want, then I’ll get it.” You need to support that intention with a positive multidimensional view of yourself. You must see yourself as capable and worthy of receiving—and perceive the world as abundant and willing to provide. You can visualize buying a winning lottery ticket all you want, but if you look in the mirror with judgment and self-doubt, your outcome will be consistently disappointing.

This is the holographic reality of manifestation: Your consciousness can’t create something that you’re not fully aware of deep within yourself. Your system of thoughts and beliefs is a driving force in the field of Universal intention, so it’s important to know that the value you seek in the external world can only come from a pervasive sense of value within.

If you’re always—or even often—focused on worry, lack, and unhappiness, then that is all that your consciousness can create for you. If you’re not aware at least on some level of the intrinsic value already within yourself and your life, it will be a constant struggle to create value in your destiny. This pit of self-negation is one of the biggest problems people face in trying to create a brilliant future.

You’ll see throughout this book that if you’re facing failure, this is usually the first place to start. Even if your self-esteem doesn’t seem all that negative, if you’re merely self-conscious or experiencing some self-doubt, or you’re just confused about your place and your power in the world, it can be enough to darken your energy and move your consciousness and your quantum psychology in a negative direction—and send out a holographic projection that attracts rejection.

35:57
I brought up Byron Katie’s book Loving What Is: Four Questions That Can Change Your Life. The 4 questions are listed in this interview with Katie, and she explains how they help you move to better thoughts.

41:38
I mentioned Mike Dooley’s courses and daily Notes from the Universe. You can view his offerings and sign up to receive the free, inspirational Notes at this link.

44:06
As I said on the Joe video, the Universe doesn’t deliver on our timetable and in the way we think things should happen. Since I used my house as an example of this statement, I thought you might like to see the house I dreamed about and the one I have.

I don’t remember when my dream of a Queen Anne Victorian house took root. I think even as a teenager I had pored over numerous books showing magnificent Victorian houses and subscribed to magazines devoted to Victorian homes. Starting on 11 May 2003, I began writing a house journal to describe my dream Victorian. As I came across or thought of aspects I wanted in my house, I added them to the journal.

My idealized house is pictured below. I affixed this picture to the tack board in my cubical for years during my IRS tenure so I would see it every day at work.

This second picture is my modern Victorian house, where we moved in 2018. It’s not the house I was dreaming of, but it is my dream house and better than I imagined in so many ways!

You’ll note that the architecture met my broad brush strokes with the turret and sharply pointed roofline, but this house was built in 2012 and has a spacious, modern floor plan; plenty of storage; central HVAC; and electrical and plumbing systems that are up to code! If you want to see the interior of the main floor turret room, head over to my Harp Videos page. My recording studio is downstairs in the back corner on the driveway side and is shown on my About Me page.

We replaced the front door with one that has a Victorian vibe. It looks like a vintage iron door but was made with materials to withstand temperature changes. We also recently painted the keystones and bricks over the windows to accent that feature. In addition, we painted the ceilings over the front stoop and back patio using the color that Southern Living called the perfect “haint blue”.

So, you see, even though the Universe didn’t deliver all the exterior details that I’d imagined, we’ve been able to make modifications to accentuate the Victorian characteristics. My HOA most assuredly would deny my desire for a “Painted Lady” color scheme, but I’m planning to request approval to make some minor changes to the façade, including installing a balustrade and railing on the porch and adding some gingerbread in the gables. We’ve enhanced the Victorian charm inside with ceiling medallions and our lighting and decorating choices.

62:09
Daniela asked me about my harp. The 5 points I discussed in my article Resonance between harp and voice-over are still true for narrators today.

When I bought a flute in 2017, I wrote The Still Small Voice. Audiobook narrators will find it an encouraging story to follow their own inner promptings.

I recently published the article My Life as a Musician, which includes a number of resource links that other musicians may find useful.

75:09
As I chatted about writing in my journal, I was asked about the type of pen I use. I actually NAMED the Taccia Paris Lilac fountain pen for the company! I told the story and showed the picture of it in this article.

Like I said at the beginning of this article, I love discussing these kinds of topics! I’d love to continue the conversation in the comments, so please let me know your thoughts!

The post Narrator’s Cup of Joe — Woo Woo Blend appeared first on Karen Commins.

When the obstacle in your way seems to have stopped you in your tracks,
it’s not a failure.
It’s part of what’s calling forth the necessary change
so you can move through, around, over, or under whatever is on your path to success.

— Christian Sørensen

This quote applies to my relationship to public domain books.

Although I started narrating audiobooks in 2002, it wasn’t until ACX launched in 2011 that I really got a foothold in the industry. Prior to that point, the market didn’t exist for a narrator who lived in Atlanta. You either had to be in New York or LA; otherwise, producers didn’t want to talk to you. With ACX, all of the rest of us could have a voice in audiobooks, too.

I soon burned out doing ACX projects since most of them were royalty share books where the rights holder was not promoting the audiobook. (Shameless plug: If you’re interested, I explain how to pick good ACX titles in my webinar Put Yourself in the ACX Drivers Seat, available on my Shop page.)

At the same time, I wasn’t getting traction with publishers. I decided to start recording more public domain books.

Public domain (PD) books are those where the copyright has expired. They belong to all of us, and anybody can do anything they want to with a book that’s in the public domain.

Over time, I’ve kind of become what I think of as the Public Domain Whisperer. I regularly search HathiTrust.org for interesting PD books. HathiTrust is a consortium of academic and research libraries with over 17 million digitized items, I often find a book that I think would be a good one for another narrator to do, so I send the link and the suggestion to them.

I’ve been gratified by the enthusiastic and excited responses to my finds. One experienced and award-winning narrator told me I had set them on a new path, and they’ve won a number of awards for their PD productions!

This article will be my Public Domain Narration Headquarters. I’ll start with ten reasons why I love, love, LOVE recording and publishing public domain books. Plus, check out the resources list below as well as the comments, where I answer your questions!

10. You’ll find an abundance of books that are ready for you to do.

Every year, new books come into the public domain!

On 1 January 2026, everything published in the United States in 1930 became public domain because the copyrights expired. What does that include? This page will give you a few ideas. Every book published in the US before 1930 is also in the public domain.

Books published in the US from 1931 to 1963 inclusive could be in the public domain, and the majority of them are. The copyrights had to be renewed during those years, and most people didn’t renew them. You must research a book’s copyright status to determine if the copyright was renewed. You’ll find info about research in the Resources section below.

If a book was published in 1931, you can start recording it today and be ready to publish it on New Year’s Day next year. You may find the early bird gets the worm!

9. You have complete creative control and freedom.

You can change words, including the way I did in a memoir. You can add or remove words. You can combine texts. In short, you can do anything you want to with a public domain book and are only limited by your creativity and imagination. I know people who have combined fairy tales or short stories (by theme or author) together to create a new compilation.

In a similar vein, one of my favorite projects of all time was one where I actually mashed up two public domain texts. Let me tell you the story to give you an idea of something you can do.

In 1889, Elizabeth Cochrane was a journalist for the NY World paper owned by Joseph Pulitzer. Her byline was Nellie Bly. As a publicity stunt for the paper, Nellie Bly challenged the feat set by fictional character Phileas Fogg to go around the world in 80 days. She was in New York and traveled east to London. She boarded a ship in mid-November, when the northern hemisphere was growing colder and losing daylight each day.

Meanwhile, Cosmopolitan, a rival magazine, didn’t want Nellie to get all the attention. So Cosmopolitan sent their reporter Elizabeth Bisland on a train that same day going west to San Francisco.

Nellie was trying to beat Phileas Fogg’s time, and Elizabeth wanted to beat Nellie! Nellie didn’t even know about Elizabeth’s trip.

They each wrote stories for their publication during their trips and later compiled their adventures in a book. Nellie’s book was published in 1890, and Elizabeth’s book appeared in 1891.

I mashed up their texts and put both women on the same timeline, which was so thrilling and exciting that I could barely stop to eat or sleep! I hired Melissa Reizian Frank to do a dual narration with me. In 2015, I published Bly vs Bisland: Beating Phileas Fogg in a Race Around the World in conjunction with the 125th anniversary of the end of the race. I love that whole project and still get chills thinking about it!

8. Public domain books don’t have any kind of external production deadlines.

If an idea sparks for you but you can’t work on it now, it will still be available when you have time for it. Be aware, though, why ideas love speed. Also, as another side note to that article, the Bly vs Bisland mash-up was an idea that woke me up!

Last year, another mash-up idea came to me. I’m slowly developing it in between narrating for publishers and continuing my self-publishing with ready-made PD books, as well as my continuous work on NarratorsRoadmap.com. A good PD book perfectly fills holes in my schedule!

7. Public domain books are usually extremely well edited, and they have very few typos.

I particularly appreciated this aspect after narrating some contemporary manuscripts that weren’t quite up to that standard.

6. With PD books, I can record in genres that I love or in those where I’d like to work, all in a low-pressure setting.

Nobody’s waiting on this recording or looking to see what I’m doing. I can try something new, which in turn gives me something else to share with people on social media and in my marketing.

I devour biographies for pleasure reading, so you can imagine my excitement to find Diane Disney Miller’s The Story of Walt Disney from 1957. The copyright was not renewed, and she later said she didn’t really write it. It’s Walt’s story as written by Pete Martin. It’s as close to Walt’s memoir as there ever was. I recorded it and was thrilled to publish it on the 110th anniversary of Walt Disney’s birthday.

5. When I’m self publishing, I’m always working and improving my narration skills.

Language styles change over time. I seem to pick PD books with very complex sentence structures. With every book I do, I look for ways to present the material naturally in a way that aids listener understanding.

As part of APAC this year, I was able to have a short meeting with a producer. Their first question was, “Tell me what you’ve been doing lately.” I replied that I had recently completed a true crime book and a couple of biographies. I didn’t distinguish that the true crime book was for a publisher and the 2 biographies were self-published public domain books. It all counts!

4. You can still record a PD book even if there are other audio editions of the book available.

The beauty of public domain texts is that they belong to all of us! If it’s a popular book like The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, you may discover other audio editions available, sometimes MANY other productions. Nothing can stop you from recording another one! Your interpretation is going to be different than anyone else, and you’re making art that you’re proud of.

Current events can generate interest in an audiobook, for instance the news story behind this vague tweet where I went looking for a PD book. In 1915, explorer Ernest Shackleton sailed his ship Endurance to Antarctica. It got stuck in the ice and sunk. Over a century later, the ship was discovered. The History Channel showed a fascinating documentary about it in March.

My search for related books revealed Shackleton wrote about it in South. Several audio versions of it had been done, but I would happily record that book if I were a British man. He wrote another book about a different exploration that’s not on Audible. I also found a fabulous biography about him that’s not in audio.

An upcoming movie tie-in could be a great reason to publish a new edition of a book! The movie company’s marketing machine could put the wind in your sails and help your audiobook gain visibility.

3. I can submit my work for review.

AudioFile Magazine reviewed one of my public domain books and has reviewed many from other narrators.

2. I can submit my work for awards.

I entered So Big by Edna Ferber in the Independent Audiobook Awards and was thrilled when it became a finalist in the Classics category. I know narrators who have been awarded Earphones, SOVAS, and Audies Awards for their public domain audiobooks.

1. I keep all of the royalties.

I have to tell you, asynchronous (passive) income from public domain audiobooks every month is the gift that keeps on giving!

Like a royalty share book, you’re not guaranteed a book will sell, much less be a hit. It may take a while for it to earn out. It may never earn out. It’s always a risk.

But one PD book that does really well can make up for all the ones that aren’t selling as well! The more public domain books I record and publish, the more I want to do, and the more excited I am about my work.

Other resources on this topic:

As I continue to create content related to public domain books, I’ll update the list below.

Starting Point

I wrote the article Planning Your Trip to Public Domain World to give you a comprehensive guide through the 9 steps to follow to produce and publish your Public Domain audiobook.

Additional Info

• I include the most detail about public domain books in my Create Your Own Path video course and my webinar Public Domain Audiobooks and Self-Publishing, which are available to all paid members of NarratorsRoadmap.com.
  • In addition to talking about finding sources of books or even inspiration for your search, I also:
    • discuss how to research copyrights to determine whether the book is in the public domain
    • detail how and why I edit and update a public domain text
    • explain publishing considerations and distributor options
    • demonstrate the rights holder process of claiming a book on ACX
    • include 2 long lists of relevant resources not found here. Beyond linking to other sites with PD books, I’ve hand-curated and shared over 30 specialized collections of books on HathiTrust.org that narrators might choose to perform in the categories of:
      • Authors (16)
      • Subjects (11)
      • Years (6: 1925-1930)
      • More collections coming soon!
  • Members also can access my Audiobook Distributors Comparison Chart. I compare 9 distributors across 30+ points so you can decide the best distributor(s) for your audiobook.
    • Note that if you already have a narrator account on a marketplace site like ACX, you’ll need to create a rights holder account using a different email address. Both your narrator and rights holder accounts can share the same tax ID.
  • As a special enticement to join, you’ll find a discount on my Shop page in the “Rent My Brain” section.
• I participated in this June 2022 Clubhouse chat about PD books.
• I’ve long advocated creating your own work. In addition to my 10 points above in this article, you might read my articles Reasons to Create Your Own Stuff part 1 and part 2. The profound Eckhart Tolle quote that I highlighted in part 2 has proven true for me.
• Since public domain books have much in common with royalty share books, the 5 reasons I listed in this article to do royalty share books apply to public domain books. When I wrote I’d do a royalty share over a public domain title, I wasn’t commercially publishing PD books. Now, I’d publish a PD book before I’d narrate and produce an RS book!
• If you’re looking for shorter pieces to record, check out Finding Newspapers and Short Stories in the Public Domain.
• I wrote this article to help narrators understand some copyright basics.
• These 2 articles are overflowing with links you’ll use to research rights holders and copyright status:
  • Links to Help Narrators Research Rights Holders to Books
  • When the Author is 6 Feet Under

Amazon Edition

• If you distribute your audiobook through ACX or InAudio (formerly Findaway), which uses ACX to distribute to Audible, you must start the production process with an Amazon edition. Keep in mind that ACX is owned by Audible, which is owned by Amazon; as a  result, everything in ACX is part of the Amazon ecosystem. For this reason, you always have to claim an edition on Amazon in order to start the audiobook process on ACX. You can choose hardback, paperback, or Kindle. It doesn’t matter which edition you claim.
• This requirement for an Amazon edition is ONLY true when you distribute to Audible via ACX or InAudio, which goes through ACX to distribute to Audible.
• Other distributors like Big Happy Family Audio, Blackstone, and Spoken Realms do not have this stipulation. My Audiobook Distributors Comparison Chart for members of NarratorsRoadmap.com has much more info about distributors’ requirements and offerings.
• This article describes what I did to publish a Kindle edition. Be sure to read all of the extensive comments to get the workaround to publishing your own Kindle edition, along with more tips and info!

Cover Art, Supplemental PDF of Images, and More

• I detailed my experiences in finding and selecting art for the Kindle version of Fanny Herself: A Passionate Instinct in this article. At the time, I had change the title to differentiate it per Kindle Publishing rules. If I were publishing it today, I’d leave the original title as is so that it would get displayed with the other editions on Amazon.
• This article examines whether you can legally re-use the images in a public domain book for your cover art or supplemental PDF.
• When using art depicting a real person, you not only have to research the copyright for the image but also whether you would violate their Right of Publicity as detailed in this article.
• You can use public domain art for your cover. My article Tour of Sites with Public Domain Art links to a bunch of repositories with comments about the images available in each.
• This site shows the most popular font by year. I love using a font that is authentic to the period of the book!
• I share a few ideas to help you promote your public domain audiobooks with interesting pull quotes from critics’ reviews, publisher marketing text in your descriptive blurbs, and authentic cover art in this article.

Marketing

• Since you’d be publishing your audiobook, you’d also be in charge of marketing and promoting it. You’ll find an abundance of ideas and tactics on my Audiobook Marketing Cheat Sheet.
• In this article, you’ll see how I promoted a public domain book based on something in it.
• You might find inspiring ideas in my articles Creating promo videos with public domain components part 1 and part 2.

Q&A

The comments section below is my Q&A about PD books. Got a question about public domain books? Leave me a comment!

Copyright:

• Can a 2nd publisher legally republish an audiobook I recorded for a different publisher?
• Can I change the title or text in a public domain book?
• Can I repackage a published anthology of short stories into a new book and record it?
• Could I run into issues if I use an edition that includes editing I’m not aware of?
  • Also includes comments about copyrights in other countries.
• Does your Audible listing state that it is a public domain book?
• How do you determine if a mid 1900’s book is in the PD?
• How is the copyright for new material different than the copyright on the book?
• If a book published in the US in 1930 is listed on Amazon, does that mean it isn’t Public Domain?
• If I don’t find a renewal for a book published in 1889, am I safe to record the book?
• When I see multiple versions of the same book, how do I know which one(s) are public domain?

Disclaimers:

• Do I need to include an explanatory note if I remove references to casual racism and problematic sections in the book?
• Would you ever write and record an introduction to a public domain book, for example as a way to address problematic language that you want/need to keep in? Or would you just put the disclaimer in the written description?

Distribution:

• On ACX, do you create a Rights Holder’s Profile as well as a Narrator Profile? And do you have to make a Direct Offer to yourself?
• Once you produce a PD book, how then do you distribute it?

Financial:

• ACX is withholding my payments. Do I need to copyright my audiobook with the US Copyright Office?
• If you work with a person who has already released the e-book on Amazon, how do you handle the royalty share percentage on Audible?
• Is it possible to make extra money from my narrations of public domain books?
• Would you create an LLC for your publishing empire?

General:

• Can you take a public domain book and make it more of a modern story?
• Should a newcomer do a public domain book as their first book?

Kindle Books / eBooks:

• Can I claim the free Kindle edition of a public domain book when I distribute through ACX?
• Do you make an e-book of a public domain book you’re making an audiobook of?
• How do I find contact info for the RH of the Amazon book?
• If a Kindle book includes a study guide, could I just narrate the PD portion of the book?
• If it says it’s “Annotated”, does that mean it’s no longer in the public domain?
• May I republish a Kindle edition from a PDF of a Public Domain text that was digitized by Google?
• What do I need to do to my Public Domain text so that I can publish a Kindle edition on Amazon (KDP) that I could then claim on ACX?

SAG/AFTRA:

• Do you have info about producing a PD project under a SAG/AFTRA contract?
  • This respondent offered his approach.
  • Since I’m non-union, SAG/AFTRA would only tell me that union members cannot self-contribute and that union members should ask their reps for any details.

Song Lyrics:

• If song lyrics are included in a public domain book, does that mean the song is also in the public domain?

Text Sources:

• Can I legally Project Gutenberg ebooks and sell the audiobook on commercial sites?
• How to search on HathiTrust
• How to download on HathiTrust  
  • If you’re a member of NarratorsRoadmap.com, I will download your book for you!

The post Public Domain Narration Headquarters appeared first on Karen Commins.

However, when I narrated Road to Tara: The Life of Margaret Mitchell by Anne Edwards, I learned one big reason for Mitchell’s later absence from the bookshelves of new releases: she was too busy responding to correspondence about her book to write another book!

I’ve read the 2 books of her letters linked below. I’ve also been collecting the pictures of her letters posted by eBay sellers.

Mitchell published GWTW in June 1936, and it instantly became a runaway bestseller. David O. Selznick then paid the highest price to that date for the movie rights, causing Mitchell’s celebrity to rise even higher.

Suddenly, all the newspapers and magazines wanted to do interviews with the reluctantly-famous author. In numerous letters, she described fans as jumping out of the bushes at her home to get her autograph.

She was so besieged by people who wanted her to sign their books that she stopped signing them after a couple of months. However, she replied to hundreds or maybe thousands of letters requesting an autographed book to explain why she wouldn’t do it — and then signed the letter!

Maybe Mitchell felt compelled to respond to almost everyone due to her inborn sense of graciousness and Southern hospitality. Maybe she secretly thrilled at being a celebrity and sought to keep more recognition coming to her.

Whatever her reasons, she spent all day, every day, immersed in and often overwhelmed by her mail. For instance, she fielded fans’ questions, as well as requests for speaking engagements and material mementos.

Although Mitchell vowed not have any part in making the movie, she answered and wrote a barrage of letters about it. She also kept eagle eyes and a tight rein on the foreign rights and translations of her book, initiating and participating in countless exchanges about those aspects of publishing.

I think of Margaret Mitchell often when I’m reading, replying to, and writing my email and communicating in online forums. I learned a few things from the way she dealt with her voluminous correspondence that I want to share with you.

1. Use templates, and then liberally copy and paste.

Margaret only had her trusty typewriter and reams of paper at her disposal. What might she have achieved and how productive might she have been with a computer? Rather than re-typing the same info to multiple people like she did, we have the luxury of copying and pasting from one message to another.

If you find yourself sending the same message on a recurring basis, create a template for that type of correspondence. For instance, I have a folder in Evernote containing my templates for numerous situations, including:

• prospecting emails to publishers and authors (they ARE different!)
• messages to authors who chose a different narrator from an ACX audition
• requests for reviews
• inquiries about licensing rights
• asking permission to add people to my mailing list

I even have a template for newcomers who leave me voice mail asking to talk with me about becoming a narrator! It’s super fast and easy for me to open my Evernote app on my phone, find that template, and copy and paste it to a text message back to the originating phone number. In the time it took for me to write or you to read that sentence, I could have taken those actions, responded to that query, and moved on with my day.

2. Create and use keyboard text shortcuts.

Facebook Messenger, WordPress, and other platforms don’t maintain my email signature. As pictured below, I set my keyboard text replacement to automatically and magically type Cordially, Karen Commins when I type the 3 letters ckc and press space or return.

I have created a number of text shortcuts for things that I type frequently:

• my email address
• sign-off sentence in email
• daily tasks like walking my dog
• my web site URLs

MacOS has text replacement as a built-in feature. From my quick Google search, it looks like you have to use a separate text expander utility in Windows to get this functionality. I saw this one recommended on several sites, and its capabilities go beyond simple text replacement.

I have multiple Gmail accounts, and I noticed that text replacement only worked in some of them. I Googled the problem and learned that you have set the Gmail Spelling setting to Spelling suggestions off.

3. Don’t answer everybody even when you know the answer.

Mitchell prided herself on the depth and accuracy of her historical research for GWTW. She felt compelled to set the record straight whenever anyone questioned the facts in her book. Instead of defending her previous research, she could have spent that time doing new research for a new project.

This tip is becoming one of my mantras! I remind myself of this point when I am reading Facebook forum threads. I’ve decided it’s not my job or even in my best interest to share my knowledge every time the opportunity presents itself.

In addition, I receive LOTS of messages from narrators, authors, and wannabes via email, text messages, and social media. As I’ve previously noted, if I personally assisted everyone who asked for my help, I would never have time to do any work of my own.

I state on my Contact page:

Due to the volume of requests that I receive, I may not personally respond to your message. I prefer to answer publicly so that more than one person benefits from the answer.

If I can quickly point someone to a blog article or other resource, I am very happy to do so. Otherwise, since I have stated my policy, I feel no guilt when I sometimes need to press the delete key. I especially use the delete key when I know someone wants to sell me something or I can tell that writing a suitable answer would take more than 5-10 minutes. I make a note of questions that require more involved answers for subjects to explore here on the blog.

4. Don’t put others’ needs ahead of your own creative output.

I saw a quote recently that speaks to this thought:

“When you say yes to others, make sure you are not saying no to yourself.”
— Paulo Coelho

When I re-read my journals, I’ve noticed that I’ve said on too many occasions that I didn’t even start on my project for the day because I was helping other people.

Helping people gives me joy. I feel it’s a large part of my purpose.

I’m realizing, though, that I can help more people in the long run by prioritizing my creative projects (like writing this article!) ahead of helping a single person in the moment.

5. Get to the point quickly, and don’t bury the lede.

Mitchell’s letters show her immense strength and charm as a loquacious storyteller. She wrote the most chatty, lengthy letters and would wax on for paragraphs assuming that her recipient was devouring her every word with keen interest.

People today are too busy and get far too many sources of info hammering at us every day.

When I worked as the deputy branch manager in my government IT career, my boss complained that he received lengthy emails that left him wondering what the person wanted him to do. He often forwarded such messages to me to decipher and resolve.

At least once a week now, one of those kinds of messages appears in my inbox. If I can’t quickly figure out what the person wants from me, I delete the message.

A while back, I did some research to learn the ideal length for a prospecting email to a potential client.  One writer uses a 5-sentence rule.

The sweet spot falls between 50 and 125 words, which is not much longer than a tweet. I use this site to check the length of emails before I send them.

You also may want to compose messages on your phone because more people are now reading and replying to emails on their phones. If you have to scroll your message, it’s time to make some cuts!

If you wonder why your emails go unanswered, one article writer commented that, like my former boss, s/he felt anxious when seeing large blocks of text. Do they have time to read it? Would they get all of the sender’s points? Do they need to read it carefully? Do they have time to write a long response?

When I’m drafting a message, I may write it in linear/chronological fashion about the situation, which naturally causes my call to action to fall near the end. I then move that action to the 1st or 2nd sentence so it’s immediately clear to the recipient why I sent the message and the action I want them to take. I’ll also enter the action as the subject of the message. I’ll edit the message to use a journalism-style of inverted pyramid where the least important info is left to the end.

Applying these 5 guidelines to my own correspondence and forum participation enables me to spend more quality time on my own projects. How do you make time for your creative work? Please leave a comment!

The post 5 Things I Learned From Margaret Mitchell’s Letters appeared first on Karen Commins.

In 1889, Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland were female reporters in New York. Each went on a daring solo trip around the world at the same time. Nellie wanted to beat the time of Phileas Fogg, Jules Verne’s fictional character in Around The World in 80 Days. Rival reporter Elizabeth Bisland left on a solo race around the world hoping to beat Nellie’s time!

Nellie sailed east to England in the morning. That night, and unbeknownst to Nellie, Elizabeth took a train west to San Francisco. In Bly vs Bisland: Beating Phileas Fogg In A Race Around The World, I combined the narratives from both women into a single book with 1 timeline! Who will win the race?!

My journal entries tell Part 1 of the story behind the story between idea and implementation.

Sunday 16 November 2014 1:10pm

With no book in progress, I am officially on vacation.

Monday 17 November 2014 9:55pm

When a divine, inspired idea comes to you at bedtime, you can’t swat it away and say, “I’m on vacation!” Well, I guess you could do that, but only if you don’t value the Creator handing you an inspired idea!

I was lying in bed last night when an idea just magically appeared in my mind. It was raining outside, but this idea didn’t come accompanied by a thunderbolt, either real or imagined. It just quietly showed up for no reason I can recall. I don’t even remember exactly how it was worded at the time it arrived, but it was something like this:

Do an audiobook mash-up of Nellie Bly’s and Elizabeth Bisland’s books about their race around the world.

I had planned to do Elizabeth Bisland’s book earlier this year but then decided to do Fanny Herself first. Bisland’s book is not in audio anywhere. I thought Nellie Bly’s book was done…

On the 14th, Drew told me that he saw an article on that it was the 125th anniversary of the start of that race. He showed me that someone had done a board game…. I guess it was a bit of a delayed reaction because 48 hours later, the Divine made sure I knew that….Nellie Bly’s travel story isn’t on Audible! I had wanted to do it originally, but I thought it had been done.

However, this mash-up idea is completely original! I haven’t seen anyone create an audiobook out of 2 different books to make 1 cohesive story!…

I sent a long email to Melissa Frank to see if she would [narrate] with me… She responded quickly and favorably… she’s in!

Nellie left by ship going east. Elizabeth left by train going west…. I’ve spend part of the evening dividing the text into chapters. Nellie included a timetable at the end of her book, which certainly helps….

So far, the story is dove-tailing sooo well! The chapters alternate for the most part. I’m working to keep their timelines consistent. It’s also interesting to see how they were writing about similar things at the same time, like how other travelers treated them as women traveling alone.

Not only could I not ignore the divine, inspired idea, but it’s hard to disconnect when audiobooks are my passion, my vocation, and such a large part of my life!

Tuesday 18 November 2014 10:10pm

I sure am working a lot for a person who says she’s on vacation.

…I spent all afternoon working on my text mash-up of Bly vs Bisland….

In addition to matching their timelines, I’m starting and ending chapters at places that highlight contrast. [For example,] Bisland says how every plank in her ship creaked and groaned such that she couldn’t sleep. I start the next chapter with Bly saying she slept great on the train.

Wednesday 19 November 2014 10:45pm

I have spent at least 7 hours of this “vacation” day sequencing Bly vs Bisland. My shoulder hurts from being extended on the desk for my mouse all day. I got tired, cold, and hungry, yet I pressed on. I feel like an explorer myself as I read their accounts and try to figure out which day something happened and align the timelines.

I’m an explorer as I look at the maps to see where they’ve been, but I’m also a detective. I’ve Googled distances between 2 places like Singapore and Penang, and I’ve also called up calendars for Dec. 1889 and Jan. 1890 so I could plot the timeline based on references to “Sunday”, “the next day”, “on the fifth day”, etc.

Bly gave her timeline in the back of her book, but it had an error. She expected to arrive in Hong Kong on 25 Dec. but instead got there on 23 Dec. Bisland wrote less overall. While she was overly detailed in her descriptions of the people and their clothes, she was very sketchy about dates.

I’m excited about the project and increasingly proud of my editing to create chapters that make sense and often compare/contrast the journeys of both women. I hope to finish the text mash-up tomorrow.

Thursday 20 November 2014 11:40pm

I spent about 5 hours (I think) in finishing my text mash-up of Bly vs Bisland. I feel it is a monumental accomplishment! I might actually have something resembling a vacation day tomorrow!

Friday 21 November 2014 10:32pm

I went through every chapter with Drew for 2.5 hours or so. I found and fixed some chapter numbering problems.

Coming up in Part 2, I’ll share the stories about recording the text and choosing the cover art and music for the credits.

In the meantime, I invite you to listen to the retail sample of this audiobook and leave me any questions or comments about this audiobook on the blog. If you’d like a FREE copy of this fantastic audiobook, just click this link to start a trial membership at Audible.com.

The post Bly vs Bisland: The Story Behind the Story (Part 1) appeared first on Karen Commins.

In this roundup, I’ll link to my new magazine column and responses posted on other sites about my thoughts on setting boundaries in your voiceover business, how audiobooks allow you to read more books, which audiobooks about technology are best, and whether to read fiction or non-fiction. I’ll also unveil my latest video, which shows how to use the iAnnotate app during the audiobook corrections process.

Big news!  

I am thrilled to announce that my friend and fellow audiobook narrator Ann M. Richardson and I are now writing a monthly column about audiobooks for InD’tale Magazine! InD’tale is a gorgeous and well-established on-line magazine that, to borrow Ann’s perfect phrasing, offers great information for anyone interested in writing, reading, or now listening. We call ourselves Narrators Helping Authors. Our goal is to help indie authors and publishers learn about the industry and inspire them to create successful audio editions of their books!

Our column is called InD’ear, and we’ll alternate authorship each month. I wrote the first one, which appeared starting on page 30 in the June, 2015 issue of the magazine.

In Other News

If you run a voiceover business, chances are great that other people constantly ask you how they, too, can become a voiceover talent. I shared my thoughts about unpaid consultations in this update on LinkedIn titled Setting Boundaries in Your Voiceover Business.

I’ve answered a few questions about reading and audiobooks on Quora.com:

Here’s my answer to the question How can some people read so many books, do they actually read and understand or just briefly browse? You’ll note in the comments that a previous respondent took issue with my interpretation of the question.

As a former IT professional, I was happy to reply to What are the best audiobooks for computer science and programming?

I also responded to the question Are there any benefits to reading fiction over nonfiction?

Finally, audiobook narrators, this video is for you! I show you how my editor and I use Branchfire’s iAnnotate PDF app on our iPads instead of a spreadsheet during the corrections phase of the project.

Please leave me a comment if you found useful info in this article or have ideas about other topics you’d like me to address. My work is my passion, and it’s a joy to sit a spell and share it with you!
 

The post Stray Post Roundup appeared first on Karen Commins.

Like a lot of people, I often download free Kindle books so I can try a new author or genre. My Amazon order history shows me that I downloaded DIXIE DIVAS by Virginia Brown on 15 October 2010.

On Friday, 16 September 2011, I wrote in my journal that I had recorded 3 auditions on ACX.com, one of which was for DIXIE DIVAS. I wrote:

When I read this book, it was a freebie on Kindle. It’s set in Mississippi, and I remember thinking of the character voices for audio when I read the book. I was excited to see this title pop up today. I think it was a new listing and hope I was one of the first in line to audition. I feel I did well.

Two days later, I wrote:

WOOO-HOOO!!!! I was chosen to narrate DIXIE DIVAS from Friday’s audition on ACX!!!

I was (and still am!) so thrilled to see the message! It’s a royalties-only deal, but I’m okay with that. It relaunches my audiobook career in a big way!…I have a message from my book’s rights holder, which says:

Karen! Hello! Author Virginia Brown loves your voice, and we do too! She says your “Bitty” is perfect.

I’ve always said there’s no better praise in this job than when the author loves your interpretation.

Narrating this book has truly been a life-changing experience!

First, I had not narrated a commercial audiobook for several years, and my soul was yearning to return to audiobook narration. As I wrote in my journal, this book relaunched my audiobook career.

Perhaps even more significantly, I was returning to audiobook narration with a book that I had wanted to narrate even as I read it for pleasure! The story is interesting and funny, and the characters are very real people to me who have become dear friends!

In the intervening 3.5 years since that fateful audition, I’ve voiced 5 books in the DIXIE DIVAS series and eagerly await the next book! One reviewer commented about book 4 that I have:

“…expanded and fleshed out Bitty and Trinket way beyond what even the author had in mind. To read the text of the Divas would only be a shallow and two dimensional personification of Bitty and Trinket, whereas listening to Ms. Commins, they explode into your mind and come to life. Each book in the series is very long with a great deal of detail, again, to read the text could pall and become dull and lengthy but Karen Commins is such an extraordinary reader with true storytelling talent that time flies and you’re totally engrossed listening and visualizing.”

My narration of DIXIE DIVAS and then the other 4 books in this best-selling series has led to a wonderful, ongoing relationship with the publisher, for which I’ve narrated at least a dozen other great books.

The DIXIE DIVAS series also prompted me to have a fun trip last year to Holly Springs, MS for the annual Pilgrimage.

When I first announced the audiobook here on my blog, I wrote:  What could be more fun and intriguing than a murder mystery that starts with a pot of chicken and dumplings?

What happens at a Divas meeting stays at a Divas meeting….unless you pick up one of the audiobooks in this series, starting with book 1, DIXIE DIVAS!

 
DIXIE DIVAS is available for immediate purchase, download, and enjoyment from Amazon and iTunes, or get it for FREE when you start a trial subscription at Audible!
 

The post National Tell A Story Day 2015 — DIXIE DIVAS appeared first on Karen Commins.

Rebecca’s Bio:

Rebecca M. Douglass is an author and blogger with eclectic tastes, from children’s books to murder mysteries and non-fiction examinations of the natural world. She writes middle-grade fiction and adult murder mysteries and promotes her own work and that of other writers on her blog, largely in the form of reviews of anything and (nearly) everything she reads. Her own work maintains a humorous touch, whether it is the tall tales of the Ninja Librarian books or the absurdities of life on Pismawallops Island in Death By Ice Cream, or the wide variety of short stories published on her blog. Ms. Douglass writes from her home near San Francisco, which she shares with her husband and two teenaged sons, which is enough to drive anyone to invent new worlds to inhabit.

10 Questions For Rebecca

1. When did you start listening to audiobooks?

I have been listening to audiobooks for a long time, and don’t recall just when I started. I’m sure it’s been at least a dozen years. I listen when exercising, or when doing housework, which I detest but will do for the sake of continuing to listen to a good story. I began listening back in the days of cassette tapes and then CDs. My itty bitty MP3 player is a huge improvement!

2. What prompted you to start writing audiobook reviews?

I’ve been writing reviews for a couple of years now, and it never occurred to me to make a distinction between books I read and books I listened to, so I just naturally reviewed audiobooks. But I soon realized that I did need to comment, at least, when I’d used the audiobook, and that a mention of the quality of the audio and narration would be helpful to listeners. So I have gradually begun making two-pronged audio reviews.

3. Where do you write your reviews? If it’s a public place, why did you choose it? If it’s at home, describe the room and/or stuff on your desk. A picture would be fabulous!

I do almost all my writing at home, and all I will say about my desk is that I share it with my 15-year-old son…and he nags me to clean up my side of it. We have a somewhat chaotic little den (less chaotic since the teen cleaned it up recently), which contains a huge partner desk and a bunch of bookcases, full of classics, my favorite children’s books, and books on writing. I have a lot of inspirational quotes from author Chuck Wendig on my wall, because even though they tend to be profane, they are also profound. But I’m not sharing a picture of my chaos. No way.

4. How do you decide whether to read a book or listen to it? Do you ever do both for the same book?

I usually pick my audiobooks from whatever I stumble on in the library catalog, though sometimes I will select something because I love the narrator or because it’s the only copy available at the moment when I want it. I do often listen to and read the same book, though not at the same time—I might choose to listen to something I have enjoyed in the past, just to get a different take on it, or I might find and read a book I’ve listened to because I want to pick up what I might have missed when distracted while listening. I find that books are very different when read or heard.

5. Do you have a go-to genre?

Cozy mysteries form a large part of what I listen to, and I also do a lot of middle-grade books, though they can be hard to find.

6. What is your review policy? Do you accept review requests from narrators?

I do accept review requests, but I probably turn down more than I accept. I need to actually want to read the book, as I am foremost a writer of fiction, and my reading is for pleasure, when it’s not for research or to improve my craft. So I try to be sure that my reviewing and blogging don’t become either a burden or the focus of my work. I do not accept payment for reviews (I do accept review copies of books), and I do not do “review exchanges.” A lot of what I think about reviewing is covered in a blog post from October 2013: http://www.ninjalibrarian.com/2013/10/reviews-and-review-policy.html.

7. Describe how you approach your reviews. Do you have different criteria for different genres?

I try to review with both an honest appraisal of how I liked the work and a more objective assessment of strengths and weaknesses, and a final recommendation for who might like the work. I hold all works to a high standard of writing, but I do consider genre. I don’t expect profundity from a children’s book full of goofy humor and silly situations, but I do expect things to make sense in their own goofy way. I have been gradually developing my format, but I try to always include a cover image, the author (and narrator or illustrator if appropriate) info, publication info, and a summary of the story, either my own or the publisher’s summary. Then I review, and end with a recommendation. I have stopped assigning “stars” unless I am publishing a review somewhere like Amazon that requires it, because I’d rather just talk about the book, the good, bad and indifferent, and let the reader judge from that.

8. Do you multitask when listening to books? If yes, what else do you do while you listen, and how does listening to books affect the other activity?

As I mentioned above, I like to listen to books while working out or doing housework (or yard work)—anything that requires the use of my body but not much of my brain. I can’t just sit and listen to a book, so if I’m totally caught up in a book and don’t want to quit, I will invent tasks, do handwork, etc., to keep listening! I have been known to stop short while running because something I’m listening to has made me laugh too hard to keep going, so I guess you could say that listening to book can affect what I’m doing!

9. Looking back through the reviews you’ve written, please share the link(s) of 1-3 that were favorites of yours and explain why they are special to you.

These are more about books that I particularly like, than reviews that I love. But I include here a range of review styles, to show what I may do.

Dana Stabenow, Restless in the Grave http://www.ninjalibrarian.com/2014/08/mystery-monday-restless-in-grave-by.html

This review handles a book well into a series, and talks about my issues with the series as well as why I like it and keep reading, and what a new reader might do.

Ivan Doig, Dancing at the Rascal Fair http://www.ninjalibrarian.com/2014/12/audiobook-review-dancing-at-rascal-fair.html

This is a fairly brief review, but one of my favorite books. I was delighted to find many of Doig’s books on audio only recently, and to find that his fantastic writing is enhanced by the excellent narrators.

And a less conventional review, of Brian Jacques’ Redwall books in general, and on audio in particular: http://www.ninjalibrarian.com/2014/11/redwall-audio.html

This review in part sprang from a discussion of kids’ audio books, and an issue I’d had listening to these long ago in the car.

10. As a narrator, I sometimes feel I have a spiritual connection to some of the characters in the books. If you were a character in a novel, who would you be, and why?

I’d probably have to be Jo March or Anne Shirley! I’d like to believe I’m the Ninja Librarian, but the fact is that he is far wiser than I am. It is funny—when I think about that, I always end up going back to the classics from my childhood.

Connect with Rebecca on these sites:

Blog: www.ninjalibrarian.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Ninja-Librarian/305808032816136
Twitter: I Tweet as Douglass_RM, when the spirit moves me, which it mostly doesn’t.

Thanks, Rebecca, for spending some time with us in this great interview! Do you have a question or comment for Rebecca? Please leave a comment on the blog!
 

The post Interview with Audiobook Blogger Rebecca M. Douglass appeared first on Karen Commins.

Sherry Spencer decides that she’ll call Kit and let her know that her phone number was being circulated along with the currency. Any woman would want to know that, right?

Only…to Sherry’s shock, Kit isn’t a woman, but a man. And he’s not exactly thrilled to hear her news or anxious to retrieve the bill from her.

The next day, she’s not exactly thrilled to see Kit again. I won’t say how or where they re-establish their acquaintance because I don’t want to give too much away!

For A Good Time, Call by Trish Jensen is a sweet romance that runs 5 hours and 38 minutes. It read like all of my favorite RomCom movies and left me smiling at the perfect HEA ending! I hope you’ll enjoy it, too!

 
Buy on Audible  iTunes

Here’s a different scenario:  What would you do if you were the last person left on Earth following a nuclear war?

For 19-year-old Lita Day, the choice is simple: continue singing to the TV camera every night in the empty Copa.

Her husband Bill had said a man might hear her and would come to her. However, Lita was shocked by the visitors who actually showed up.

Eddie For Short is a 41-minute short story by prolific American science fiction writer Wallace West that is sure to give you something to think about!

 
Buy on Audible  iTunes

In October, I released a couple of cozy mysteries. The first was Return To Fender by Virginia Brown.

This fun book is the 4th in the Blue Suede Memphis Mysteries and is set in the week or so approaching Halloween. In fact, one of the biggest scenes in the book occurs at a Halloween party.

One of the leading drag queens in Memphis asks our heroine Harley Davidson (yep, that’s her name!) to find out who is trying to kill him. Harley isn’t a detective. She’s a tour guide at Memphis Tour Tyme.

Her friend and co-worker Thomas “Tootsie” Rowell is adept with computers and helps her get information. Her former boyfriend Bobby and current boyfriend Mike — both police officers — try in vain to convince her that she should leave the investigations to them.

Whoever it is thinks Harley is getting a little to close to the action and tells her to back off — or else.

As with the first 3 books in this series, Drew Commins, the hero of my life story, voices all of the male parts in this book, which runs 9 hours and 44 minutes.

 
Buy on Audible  iTunes 

Next came Yip/Tuck , book #4 in the Pampered Pets fun, cozy mystery series written by Sparkle Abbey. Each book in this series alternates between the POVs of 2 cousins, pet therapist Carolina LaMont and pet boutique owner Melinda Langston. This time, it’s Mel’s turn to tell the story.

She and her best friend Darby find Dr. Jack O’Doggle, one of Laguna’s best known plastic surgeons, dead outside of her Bow Wow Boutique. In trying to unravel the mystery of his bizarre death and find his killer, they learn most interesting secrets about several people in town.

Meanwhile, in a sub-plot, Mel and Caro are fighting over a brooch left by their grandmother to her “favorite granddaughter”. Naturally, each thinks she is the granddaughter in question, so they keep stealing the brooch from each other. We’re in on the fun as Mel plots and schemes about getting the brooch back in her possession!

The story has a lot of charm and humor. I especially enjoyed narrating Betty Foxx’s lines because Betty White seems to have been the model for this character.

Yip/Tuck is set at Christmastime and runs 5 hours 15 minutes, making this a perfect companion on holiday trips to see friends and family!

 
Buy on Audible  iTunes

December saw 2 releases: one of mine, and one for my husband Drew, which I directed.

Dead In Boca by Miriam Auerbach is audiobook #3 in the Dirty Harriet cozy mysteries.

In Boca Raton, Florida, Junior Castellano, a big-time land developer, hires PI Harriet Horowitz to find the silver-haired gigolo who broke Mama Castellano’s heart.

Simple enough, until the Boca police find Junior bulldozed at one of his construction sites. Was Junior killed by his mother’s con man? Or by a bitter ex-wife or spurned ex-girlfriend? Maybe by his estranged sons got the old man out of the picture for good.

The book has lots of laughs during its 6 hours and 49 minutes. I particularly enjoyed Harriet’s HELP test — the Horowitz Ersatz Lovers Profile — in which Harriet asked funny questions to determine whether Junior’s mama, Miss Lil, was getting scammed.

 
Buy on Audible  iTunes

After the success of Plague, a story about a terrorist unleashing the Ebola virus in Atlanta, Drew was excited to narrate H. W. “Buzz” Bernard’s latest suspenseful offering.

In this stand-alone story, Chuck Rittenburg is a washed-up, former tornado chaser/tour guide. A film director offers him $1 million to find the biggest, baddest F5 tornado within a 2-week window. Chuck hopes to not only find the tornado, but to regain the respect of his estranged son Tyler, who decides to help Chuck in this venture.

At the same time, an FBI agent wants to tag along on the quest. She isn’t tracking storms. Instead, she’s chasing the criminals who follow them and pretend to be emergency workers. The only help these so-called EMTs offer is to help themselves to the victims’ valuable possessions.

Bernard is a former weather forecaster, and he sprinkles his immense knowledge of and love for weather phenomena in unique metaphors throughout the book. His writing style really adds to the drama.

This is a great listen on a trip (especially in sunny weather!) as it runs 9 hours and 45 minutes.

 
Buy on Audible  iTunes
 

The post Audiobook Releases Fall 2014 appeared first on Karen Commins.

When you have the courage to put your art out in the world, you know you will get a mix of reactions to it in the reviews.

I have never written a review (and don’t intend to start), but I’ve certainly read plenty, including many left for my audiobooks on Audible.

However, I do look at reviews for 2 primary reasons:

1. to prepare for an audition of a book I’d like to narrate
2. after my audiobook is released so that I improve my performance in future books

If I’m reading the reviews for the print editions before an audition, I look for comments about:

• grammar
• spelling
• typos
• correct word usage
• amount of graphic sexual or violent scenes
• amount of foul language
• plot and character development

Helpful comments include things like comparisons to TV shows and movies, where if you liked the other medium, you’d probably like this book as it has similar character development.

I also like to know that the reviewer reads/listens in the genre for the review. Some people who have never read/heard a cozy mystery JUST DON’T GET IT! They think all mysteries are full of violence and fast action. They leave negative reviews and ratings for books that don’t meet that expectation.

The review is also not the place to complain about the price of the book/audiobook, though many people write one for that very reason.

Whether the review is left for a print edition or the audiobook, it doesn’t help anyone if it doesn’t offer constructive criticism. With an audiobook, if the Audible listener doesn’t like the story, s/he will usually trash the narrator, too, and vice versa.

Those types of reviews usually have 1-star ratings and don’t offer anything helpful to either the author or narrator. They usually just say something generically mean that could have come from a MadLibs, like: “The [story or narrator] was [negative adjective like horrible, atrocious, terrible, awful]! Don’t waste your money!”

It’s like the reviewer is completely outraged that they spent money and then didn’t enjoy the audiobook for whatever reason. They feel it their sworn duty to warn off other people from making the same tragic mistake, yet they can’t articulate the reason the audiobook didn’t meet their expectations.

Whether a reviewer is writing from the heights of wild enthusiasm or from the abyss of negativity, what’s the point of writing a review if a person can’t say what s/he liked or didn’t like about the book? Writing “I liked/didn’t like it but don’t know why” is not a review; it’s an opinion.

Even in a discussion with one’s friends, just saying “I liked or didn’t like it” wouldn’t be enough. Someone who might be interested in the book would almost certainly ask what about it did you like/not like.

I’m not trying to tell anybody to write any certain thing or certain way.  Even the 1-line opinions of “loved it” or “hated it” are valuable because your art made somebody feel something, which is really the point behind creating it.

Since I haven’t written reviews, though, my opinions about them may not matter to anyone but me!

For this reason, I am thrilled to announce a new series of interviews with audiobook bloggers! These people love audiobooks and write thoughtful reviews of the audiobooks they hear.

April Holgate, prolific listener and author of the Eargasms Audiobook Reviews blog will be first in the interview hot seat. Look for her interview here on Sunday, 28 December. Coincidentally (or not!), I’ll be interviewed on her blog that day as well and hope you will check out both of our sites.
 

The post Upcoming Series: Interviews with Audiobook Bloggers appeared first on Karen Commins.

You may remember from this post that in order for me to publish an audiobook from a public domain book on Audible.com  — my end goal — I have to create a new Kindle version of the text. This version must be distinguished from the free version in the Kindle store in 1 of 3 ways:

1. annotated with substantive, hand-created content
2. illustrated with 10 or more pictures that are relevant to the text
3. translated into another language

I had illustrated my first book The Heart of The New Thought and decided to illustrate Fanny Herself.

Monday 31 March 2014

When it comes easy, you know it’s meant to be, and the Universe was certainly smiling on me this afternoon to make it easy for me to illustrate Fanny Herself!

Last night, I started looking for stock images to illustrate the book. I thought it would be easy to find a Victorian, plush photo album shaped like an acorn. I’m sure I’ve seen such a thing in a magazine. I spent at least an hour and maybe even 2 looking for that one picture but came up empty. As we went to bed, I thought I should plan to annotate my Kindle book instead of illustrate it.

I started researching the famous violinist Schabelitz to see if he really was a violinist or an imaginary character. Ferber mixes real and imagined people and things so easily that I don’t know where fiction ends and facts begin.

I found info about the German influences in Wisconsin and a journalist in Cincinnati named R. E. Schabelitz. These were interesting finds, and I thought of other things to add.

I saw several links to the book and looked at a few. One was the Emory Women Writers Resource Project, which might be a useful repository of future publishing projects.

Another link was the JACKPOT! I found Volume 83 of The American Magazine containing their issues from Jan.-June 1917. Fanny Herself, I quickly learned, was serialized in that magazine starting in April 1917! And guess what?! Within each month’s portion were hand-drawn illustrations by M. Leone Bracker! I found 10 between April and June, which is all I need to offer the book on Kindle. I also found a picture of Ferber and made copies of the magazine cover and some promotional paragraphs.

I looked for volume 84 in Google. They have digitized a number of volumes of The American Magazine, but they weren’t in order. I never could find volume 84. I was thinking about checking libraries to find it.

I decided to look on eBay. I queried “American Magazine 1917” and got 41 results, most of which were for different magazines like the American Magazine of the Arts, Mentor, etc. Someone had the April 1917 issue of The American Magazine for $20.

I about jumped out of my skin when I saw the holy grail:  Volume 84, bound like a library copy, of the July-Dec. 1917 issues of The American Magazine!! I didn’t even read the description! I saw the pictures and the price of $18 plus $3 shipping, and I bought it!

I then saw that the front and back covers of each magazine are missing, along with about 12 pages throughout the book. The probability that those 12 pages were the pictures I want is too remote to even consider. It’s coming from North Carolina, so I should have my book later this week.

When I think of the probability of the very book I need being on eBay at the precise time I looked, my astonishment and elation increase. What are the odds?! Obviously the Universe and perhaps Edna Ferber herself want me to have an easy time of bringing new life to this book! I’m soooo excited that I will be able to include the original illustrations from the magazine in my book!!

The post The Story Behind The Story Part 1: Illustrations appeared first on Karen Commins.