AJC Audiobooks
Are you a self-published author considering making your published print or ebook into an audiobook?
Audiobooks are an exploding area of book sales.
Especially for the indie market.
(or scroll down to the calculator for an instant quote)
You’ve come to the right place.
As a trained vocal professional, with over 20 years experience in the entertainment industry, AJ provides a seamless full production service from narration to mastering, including uploading your audiobook to 46 major sites, such as Audible, Spotify, Google and Apple.
AJ works from a home studio with professional equipment and software, producing a warm, quality listening experience for readers. The service is limited to female narration at present, but we are looking at adding a male narrator in the near future.
AJ will keep you updated every step of the way, from ensuring you and your book are a good fit for her voice and style, to helping you set up a Findaway Voices account for you to distribute your audiobook.
Samples
Fiction sample: The Marriage Gap Year
Memoir sample: Memoir: A Gradual Grace
Fiction sample: YA novel: Oleanders are Poisonous.
Advertising voice over sample: Cocktail Connoisseur’s Message Cards.
Non-fiction blog sample: AJC Beta Readers
Voice over sample: Children’s book Where’s Pa by Sally Hetherington.
Music: CJ Collins. Video: SBPRA Publishing.
To be considered for an audiobook
AJ is discerning about which audio projects she accepts.
- You book must already be published on a recognised platform (such as Amazon).
- Your book must have been professionally edited and proofread.
- You must hold the copyright to your book.
What does it cost?
You might be surprised to know that each finished hour of an audiobook takes several hours to produce. The industry standard ranges from 7 – 10 hours of production time for each hour of finished audio, depending on the complexity of the work. AJC Audio works on an 8-hour basis for most projects.
For example:
A book of 50,000 words would equate to 5.38 finished hours equating to between approximately 43 hours of production work, including recording, editing and mastering to Audible’s stringent sound requirements.
The quote calculator below will provide you with a complete costing for your project, including full production. The only extra costs would be a nominal fee if you require assistance creating a Findaway account to distribute your audiobook, or any extra editing beyond the initial agreement.
How does it work?
- Apply for a quote and provide a full synopsis of your story with a link to your published book.
- If AJ thinks your book is a good match, she will send you detailed information on how the process works.
- You pay 50% deposit to secure your booking.
- AJ will provide you with an audio sample to ensure you are happy with the quality, the tone of the work, character voices (if applicable) and pronunciation of names.
- Project then goes ahead in full.
- AJ will create an author account on Findaway Voices (distributor) for you and load your audio files as they are become available. Or you can do this yourself if you feel competent.
- You listen to the recordings and report any issues to AJ.
- When recording is complete, you pay balance of fee, and AJ will release the final audio files for distribution.
- You hit the publish button on Findaway Voices.
- You start collecting royalties. Yay!
Interested in becoming an audiobook narrator?
No, I’m not hiring, but here are some resources for research and practice.
Software
Starting out, I recommend Audacity as it’s free and fairly simple to use. You can add more plugins to it as needed from sites such as the RX suite from Izotope. You can learn Audacity here: Learn Audacity and there’s a forum here: Audacity forum
The Narrator’s Road Map
The Narrator’s Road Map is a comprehensive collection of articles, videos and courses that provide excellent advice from professionals.
Emma Newman
Emma is a English narrator who works for a professional producer.
Being an audiobook narrator – Part One.
Being an audiobook narrator – Part two
Angela
Angela is an American narrator who narrates and produces audiobooks from a home studio.
VoiceOverAngela
Bill DeWees