Michael Schmicker's Blog - Posts Tagged "audiobook"
Grab your earphones -- The Witch goes audiobook
Aloha all:
Our witchy heroine Alessandra gets a voice this July. I’m excited to announce that Tantor Media has bought the global audio rights to the Witch of Napoli. Just completed the negotiations last week. Tantor approached me out of the blue with an offer I couldn’t refuse, and we inked the deal in short order.
What sold me? The Witch will be joining some rather august company -- Tantor Audio titles include National Book Award winners, Man Booker Prize winners, Pulitzer Prize winners and New York Times Best Sellers.
The Witch debuts in July (can’t wait!) and will be available on Amazon and Audible in three formats -- audiobook, CD and MP3-CD. My sincere thanks to Tantor staffers Kristen Hummel (acquisitions), Brandy Lawrence (production), Nicole Broderick (contracts), and Brittany Hemingway (CD cover) for their cheerful, efficient professionalism in quickly putting the project together.
Next up? Select the narrator. I negotiated final say on choosing the “voice” of the novel and its extensive cast of characters -- Alessandra, Tommaso, Huxley, etc. I’ll be listening through Tantor’s list of over 250 pro narrators, sampling their work.
Want to help me decide on a narrator? Here’s the link where you’ll find the choices. https://tantor.com/narrator.html Click on a name, then one of his/her books, then click the “audio sample” button. Who would spin the Witch tale best – man or woman narrator? American or Brit accent? Someone specializing in historical fiction? Romance? Paranormal?
I’m always interested in your opinions. The book owes its success to you all!
Our witchy heroine Alessandra gets a voice this July. I’m excited to announce that Tantor Media has bought the global audio rights to the Witch of Napoli. Just completed the negotiations last week. Tantor approached me out of the blue with an offer I couldn’t refuse, and we inked the deal in short order.
What sold me? The Witch will be joining some rather august company -- Tantor Audio titles include National Book Award winners, Man Booker Prize winners, Pulitzer Prize winners and New York Times Best Sellers.
The Witch debuts in July (can’t wait!) and will be available on Amazon and Audible in three formats -- audiobook, CD and MP3-CD. My sincere thanks to Tantor staffers Kristen Hummel (acquisitions), Brandy Lawrence (production), Nicole Broderick (contracts), and Brittany Hemingway (CD cover) for their cheerful, efficient professionalism in quickly putting the project together.
Next up? Select the narrator. I negotiated final say on choosing the “voice” of the novel and its extensive cast of characters -- Alessandra, Tommaso, Huxley, etc. I’ll be listening through Tantor’s list of over 250 pro narrators, sampling their work.
Want to help me decide on a narrator? Here’s the link where you’ll find the choices. https://tantor.com/narrator.html Click on a name, then one of his/her books, then click the “audio sample” button. Who would spin the Witch tale best – man or woman narrator? American or Brit accent? Someone specializing in historical fiction? Romance? Paranormal?
I’m always interested in your opinions. The book owes its success to you all!
Alessandra Bewitched by Brit
It's a match made in heaven.
So proud to announce that award-winning British narrator Derek Perkins has been chosen to dramatize “The Witch of Napoli.”
Derek has voiced over 200 audiobooks, and sports a bookshelf crowded with industry awards -- multiple AudioFile Earphones Awards; AudioFile Best Voice (Biography & History); Society of Voice Arts double finalist; and Audie nominee in 2015 & 2106. As one Audible Editor declared, Derek’s voice is “both intimate and intellectual, immediate and poetically lofty.” I couldn’t agree more. You can sample his vocal talent here: http://www.thederekperkins.com/.
I had a fun email exchange with Derek when we inked the deal (he now lives in Massachusetts). “I think you'll enjoy narrating the Witch,” I wrote. “The narrator is an Italian, and the heroine is a fiery, tough, 40-year-old Neapolitan woman. She’s based on a real person, Eusapia Palladino (1854-1918). Curious to hear your vocalization of her.”
He’s a consummate pro, but graciously solicited my input.
“I’ll be starting to prep for the Witch very shortly,” he mailed back. “Let me know if there is anything else you would want me to be aware of, or take into account, as I start to record. Can I contact you if I am stumped by any specific pronunciations (my resources usually get me through most)?”
I shared my two secret concerns. How would he, a male, handle the voice of Alessandra, an emotional woman? More importantly, how would he do Tommaso, the Italian narrator -- would he try to carry an Italian accent throughout the story? Would it end up sounding like a Mafia B-movie?
I was relieved by his answer. “It would be quite a stretch to maintain a full-on Italian accent for the duration of the book. I’ll play around with this a bit, but my sense is always to err on the side of what best helps the performance connect with the listener. If I think my accent won’t allow that to happen, I’d rather read it ’straight,’ or with just a slight intonation to denote the person is not English.”
I grinned as I hit the reply button. “Couldn't agree more. A pretty straight read for the Italians would seem to me to be best. The villain, however, is an upper-crust Englishman; that's an accent I'm sure you’ll have fun with. There's also French and German minor characters, tailor-made for your dialect skills.”
It’s Memorial Day weekend, and the ball is now rolling. Derek is cooped up in his studio, and I’m hitting the beach this afternoon to devour Derek’s new book. He just came out with a how-to manual for aspiring narrators. I’m going to educate myself a bit about the mysterious craft he practices so brilliantly.
Meanwhile, I just noticed that Tantor Media, the audiobook producer, has already started pre-sales on the Witch Amazon page. You click a button and they send you an email as soon as the audiobook is available (July 12, 2016). Unabridged CD and MP-3 CD versions will also be available.
Can hardly wait to hear Derek intoning the opening line of the novel: “Alessandra is dead.”
It’s going to be Christmas in July for this excited author!
Aloha all,
Michael
So proud to announce that award-winning British narrator Derek Perkins has been chosen to dramatize “The Witch of Napoli.”
Derek has voiced over 200 audiobooks, and sports a bookshelf crowded with industry awards -- multiple AudioFile Earphones Awards; AudioFile Best Voice (Biography & History); Society of Voice Arts double finalist; and Audie nominee in 2015 & 2106. As one Audible Editor declared, Derek’s voice is “both intimate and intellectual, immediate and poetically lofty.” I couldn’t agree more. You can sample his vocal talent here: http://www.thederekperkins.com/.
I had a fun email exchange with Derek when we inked the deal (he now lives in Massachusetts). “I think you'll enjoy narrating the Witch,” I wrote. “The narrator is an Italian, and the heroine is a fiery, tough, 40-year-old Neapolitan woman. She’s based on a real person, Eusapia Palladino (1854-1918). Curious to hear your vocalization of her.”
He’s a consummate pro, but graciously solicited my input.
“I’ll be starting to prep for the Witch very shortly,” he mailed back. “Let me know if there is anything else you would want me to be aware of, or take into account, as I start to record. Can I contact you if I am stumped by any specific pronunciations (my resources usually get me through most)?”
I shared my two secret concerns. How would he, a male, handle the voice of Alessandra, an emotional woman? More importantly, how would he do Tommaso, the Italian narrator -- would he try to carry an Italian accent throughout the story? Would it end up sounding like a Mafia B-movie?
I was relieved by his answer. “It would be quite a stretch to maintain a full-on Italian accent for the duration of the book. I’ll play around with this a bit, but my sense is always to err on the side of what best helps the performance connect with the listener. If I think my accent won’t allow that to happen, I’d rather read it ’straight,’ or with just a slight intonation to denote the person is not English.”
I grinned as I hit the reply button. “Couldn't agree more. A pretty straight read for the Italians would seem to me to be best. The villain, however, is an upper-crust Englishman; that's an accent I'm sure you’ll have fun with. There's also French and German minor characters, tailor-made for your dialect skills.”
It’s Memorial Day weekend, and the ball is now rolling. Derek is cooped up in his studio, and I’m hitting the beach this afternoon to devour Derek’s new book. He just came out with a how-to manual for aspiring narrators. I’m going to educate myself a bit about the mysterious craft he practices so brilliantly.
Meanwhile, I just noticed that Tantor Media, the audiobook producer, has already started pre-sales on the Witch Amazon page. You click a button and they send you an email as soon as the audiobook is available (July 12, 2016). Unabridged CD and MP-3 CD versions will also be available.
Can hardly wait to hear Derek intoning the opening line of the novel: “Alessandra is dead.”
It’s going to be Christmas in July for this excited author!
Aloha all,
Michael
