I'm working, albeit deliberately, on a sequel to The Hero of Gucci Gulch. Called Killing the Beast, it features plenty of murder and mayhem just outside the halls of Congress and implicates leaders at the highest level. Who are the murderer or murderers? And who or what is the beast of the tale's title? That, of course, is the mystery that drives the action in this coming book.
I'm on chapter 22 now, with another few chapters yet to conceive. As is usual with mysteries, mine at least, even I don't know how it will end or the culprits will be found out. But that's the fun of writing!
Like The Hero of Gucci Gulch, now in production for an audiobook, I'll be releasing via Audible.com when it has been published, sometime later this year. I'll announce it here when it's available.
Showing posts with label Norman Reid. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Norman Reid. Show all posts
Thursday, June 9, 2016
Thursday, April 21, 2016
Creating an Audiobook
Recently, I decided to investigate releasing my novel, The Hero of Gucci Gulch, as an audiobook. Frankly, it's something I never thought could be possible. I imagined the process as being too expensive, or something I'd have to narrate myself with equipment and skills I don't possess.
Still, I came across an invitation from Audible.com to check out their service, called ACX. I was surprised by what I found. First, there are tens of thousands of what Audible calls "producers" willing to narrate books, far more than there are books ready for narration. Second, while you can certainly pay high fees to have your book read by a well-established producer, you can also arrange to pay for narration by splitting the royalties obtained from sales on a 50-50 basis. If you are able to negotiate that kind of arrangement with a producer, it makes the whole project affordable and, hence, feasible.
ACX allows you to specify the kind of voice you want for your book, including gender, age, regional accent and voice quality in a wide range of types. This is very helpful in letting producers know what you are looking for and narrowing down the potential producers from the thousands available.
So, I signed up (free) and created a profile on ACX and uploaded a short piece to be used by prospective producers for auditions. ACX then notifies me when their auditions have been posted and I can listen to them and decide which is right for my book.
So far I've received three auditions and am expecting at least one more in the next couple of days. I'll wait a week or so, then select the one that seems best for my book and start negotiations on terms, that is, whether we can agree to split royalties or whether I need to pay a per hour of narration fee to go along with that. My book is estimated to be 8.1 hours long when narrated and I offered to consider payments of $50-100 per narrated hour.
I have some work to do yet. I'll need to make notes for the producer on the pronunciation of key words and on the accents I want for key characters.
What will this do for sales? Frankly, I have no clear idea. But given that Audible.com is very popular and publicizes its offerings well, I'm hoping that sales may be good, even if the asking price is low. In any case, it seems to me that it's worth taking a shot at it.
Have you written a novel or a non-fiction book that's suitable for narration? If so, I encourage you to check out ACX at acx.com.
Still, I came across an invitation from Audible.com to check out their service, called ACX. I was surprised by what I found. First, there are tens of thousands of what Audible calls "producers" willing to narrate books, far more than there are books ready for narration. Second, while you can certainly pay high fees to have your book read by a well-established producer, you can also arrange to pay for narration by splitting the royalties obtained from sales on a 50-50 basis. If you are able to negotiate that kind of arrangement with a producer, it makes the whole project affordable and, hence, feasible.
ACX allows you to specify the kind of voice you want for your book, including gender, age, regional accent and voice quality in a wide range of types. This is very helpful in letting producers know what you are looking for and narrowing down the potential producers from the thousands available.
So, I signed up (free) and created a profile on ACX and uploaded a short piece to be used by prospective producers for auditions. ACX then notifies me when their auditions have been posted and I can listen to them and decide which is right for my book.
So far I've received three auditions and am expecting at least one more in the next couple of days. I'll wait a week or so, then select the one that seems best for my book and start negotiations on terms, that is, whether we can agree to split royalties or whether I need to pay a per hour of narration fee to go along with that. My book is estimated to be 8.1 hours long when narrated and I offered to consider payments of $50-100 per narrated hour.
I have some work to do yet. I'll need to make notes for the producer on the pronunciation of key words and on the accents I want for key characters.
What will this do for sales? Frankly, I have no clear idea. But given that Audible.com is very popular and publicizes its offerings well, I'm hoping that sales may be good, even if the asking price is low. In any case, it seems to me that it's worth taking a shot at it.
Have you written a novel or a non-fiction book that's suitable for narration? If so, I encourage you to check out ACX at acx.com.
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
A Return to Africa
Some years back, I went on safari in Africa, mainly to Kenya but also to Botswana and Zambia. While there, I amassed many memories, a number of stories and about 5,000 photos. I've longed to share these ever since. Finally, with the ability to publish eBooks, I've decided to convert my work into publishable form.
The text is written, pending some edits. I'm now in the process of selecting the photos that will accompany it, after which I'll edit them for final publication. Then will come the challenge of laying out the final publication using Adobe InDesign. This software holds great promise, but I am not yet fully conversant with all its features so there is on-the-job learning to complete.
My target for publication is April 1. When it's been released, it will be available on my web site at http://positives.biz.
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| A newborn elephant begins walking only hours after birth, keeping pace with the herd, which must move on to new feeding sites. |
The text is written, pending some edits. I'm now in the process of selecting the photos that will accompany it, after which I'll edit them for final publication. Then will come the challenge of laying out the final publication using Adobe InDesign. This software holds great promise, but I am not yet fully conversant with all its features so there is on-the-job learning to complete.
My target for publication is April 1. When it's been released, it will be available on my web site at http://positives.biz.
Sunday, January 26, 2014
Facing the Truth of Climate Change
The Hero of Gucci Gulch is a murder mystery set in the world of lobbyists, corporate representatives and members of Congress and their staffs. It takes place on Capitol Hill--sometimes known as Gucci Gulch--for the prized brand of Italian leather often worn by the well-paid corporate lobbyists who patrol its halls.
But the novel is much more than the story of murder, muggings and mayhem, though it has plenty of these. It is set against the backdrop of the global challenge of climate change and the need for meaningful U.S. policy to address out-of-control carbon emissions into the environment. It revolves around the struggles of environmental lobbyists to persuade a reluctant Congress to cap and trade legislation as a way to curb those emissions and bring the U.S. into better alignment with environmental actions being taken in much of the rest of the world.
The protagonist, Henry Wright, is an environmental lobbyist for a public interest organization. He coordinates his work with Alicia Cummings, a pretty young intern. But the impetuous intern gets too close to the nefarious secrets of the anti-environmental opposition. When Henry finds her body in a lonely Washington garden, the investigation begins.
While the police slowly follow up false leads, Henry tries to assuage his grief by working members of Congress to support environmental legislation. At the same time, he is drawn deeper and deeper into the murder investigation until at last his own life is put in danger.
Throughout, the story follows Henry's attempts to get a cap and trade bill passed over the objections of industry's heaviest polluters. In the end, the book not only traces the chase to find the guilty but also the difficult path of facing up to global environmental challenges.
The book is available from Amazon.com and the CreateSpace eStore. A Kindle edition is also available.
But the novel is much more than the story of murder, muggings and mayhem, though it has plenty of these. It is set against the backdrop of the global challenge of climate change and the need for meaningful U.S. policy to address out-of-control carbon emissions into the environment. It revolves around the struggles of environmental lobbyists to persuade a reluctant Congress to cap and trade legislation as a way to curb those emissions and bring the U.S. into better alignment with environmental actions being taken in much of the rest of the world.
The protagonist, Henry Wright, is an environmental lobbyist for a public interest organization. He coordinates his work with Alicia Cummings, a pretty young intern. But the impetuous intern gets too close to the nefarious secrets of the anti-environmental opposition. When Henry finds her body in a lonely Washington garden, the investigation begins.
While the police slowly follow up false leads, Henry tries to assuage his grief by working members of Congress to support environmental legislation. At the same time, he is drawn deeper and deeper into the murder investigation until at last his own life is put in danger.
Throughout, the story follows Henry's attempts to get a cap and trade bill passed over the objections of industry's heaviest polluters. In the end, the book not only traces the chase to find the guilty but also the difficult path of facing up to global environmental challenges.
The book is available from Amazon.com and the CreateSpace eStore. A Kindle edition is also available.
Friday, January 24, 2014
And Now Available on Amazon.com!
Today I discovered that The Hero of Gucci Gulch, my murder mystery novel set on Capitol Hill, is available for sale on Amazon.com. They had promised it would become available in five to seven days; they made it in one! It is even available for free shipping by Prime, if you subscribe to that service, so you can have a copy by Monday if you order today.
As I said in my last post, the book will also be available in a Kindle version, but converting the file will take me a while so I can't yet predict when that edition will be ready.
As I said in my last post, the book will also be available in a Kindle version, but converting the file will take me a while so I can't yet predict when that edition will be ready.
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