Remember when I decided to venture into the world of author-narrated stories on my YouTube channel as a means of providing a steady stream of affordable content? Well, I tried it, and it turned out I liked it.
My author-narrated stories are Abounds with Gaieties (2.9k views in four months-to-date), Wait for Love (4.2k views in two months-to-date), and my latest, The Means of Uniting Them (2.6k views in one month-to-date). I am delighted my author-read stories enjoy such popularity on my YouTube channel.
What fun indeed. But the thing is, I cannot count the number of times I thought wouldn’t it be nice if I could just pay a couple of hundred dollars to someone to master the audiobook files. What if I could just record them and pay someone else to do the editing heavy lifting? Even though I have managed to reduce the editing from one month’s duration per finished hour to a week or so, to a day or two, the process takes its toll on my sensibilities.
Happy news! I have the perfect solution to my dilemma! Despite spending prodigious time on the ACX (Audiobook Creation Exchange) website of late, I finally noticed the Find Talent tab. Bearing in mind that providing full-length audiobooks for my YouTube channel is my primary goal, I decided what do I have to lose?
So I started searching for the ideal talent at an affordable rate, which for the purposes of my channel is $50 – $100 PFH (Per Finished Hour). What a stroke of luck indeed, to discover such amazing talent. I selected the list of narrators whom I wanted to audition for several possible audiobook projects at the specified rate, posted them on ACX as PFH with no royalty share contracts, and went on to be amazed by the submissions. Despite the occasional AI submission, the majority of the auditions received were amazing! Indeed, they were very professional, wonderfully engaging in some cases, and overall, delightful.
I have four audiobooks contracted with four amazing narrators, including As Good as a Lord.
The others are Christmas, Love and Mr. Darcy, Which that Season Brings, and Christmas Sealed with a Kiss.
In addition, I have unedited audio files for four out of thirty-four chapters of another of my backlist stories, Irrevocably Gone. But then again, the reading part is easy. The hard work is in the editing. I’m pretty sure I will add Irrevocably Gone to ACX for auditions soon. And while I’m at it, the first of my author-read stories, Abounds with Gaieties, will be submitted as well.
Now that I know it is possible to produce affordable, entertaining content for my YouTube channel, with no worries about whether I will ever break even, possibly even make a profit, let the writing begin again in earnest. With four WIPs in progress, it’s about time.
Stay Tuned!
Giveaway Time!
If you’ve read this far, why not leave a comment? Doing so will let me know you stopped by and, more importantly, provide a chance to win your choice of one of the upcoming audiobooks.
One winner will be selected. Hurry! The contest ends Tuesday, June 4, 2024.
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