I have been a writer for more years than I like to remember.Let’s just say I’ve been scribbling for decades. I’ve won major book awards andpublished eleven books, nine fiction and two nonfiction, and a lot of peoplelike to read them.

I publish both paperbacks and eBooks, so why has it taken meso long to think about audiobooks.

Well, when I say I hadn’t been thinking about this, it isnot actually true. You see, I have been thinking about turning my books intoaudiobooks for quite a long time. I even at one point tried to narrate myown audiobook.

How difficult can it be to narrate my own book?

Now, as you know, I have a technical frame of mind, even tothe extent I build my own computers. So, the technicalities of producing anaudiobook weren’t beyond me. However, my confidence in the narration side ofthings was a totally different matter. So, although I narrated one book, Inever had the courage to upload it. I had to think of my other options, andthat was when it became difficult.

Job done - the computer build is finished

So, apart from doing it myself, what are the other options?Only two spring to mind:

1)    Pay a narrator to narrate the book; quite acostly exercise, particularly if you have several books and want to finance theaudiobooks from the money you make from your business as an author. And believeme, unless your name is Stephen King or JK Rowling, you don’t make that muchmoney from writing. Most authors don’t even earn the minimum wage from theirwriting.2)    Or enter into a royalty share deal with anarrator, which is the cheapest way to do it. But, of course, you then have tosplit the royalties you earn from the audiobook with your narrator, plus itties you to ACX for seven years, and it was that last bit I baulked at. I neverlike to tie myself to exclusive contracts. I prefer to go wide even thoughAmazon and Audible are the major sellers of books of all kinds. I just don’tlike to be tied down. That was probably the main reason I parted from mytraditional publisher as well. I prefer my freedom. Freedom to make my owndecisions, whether they turn out to be right or wrong.

Several years passed after I first thought about producingmy own audiobooks and it was always the cost which got in the way. And therewas no way I was going to finance this with a loan. I have an abhorrence ofdebt!

Then Covid struck, and we all went into lockdown. All myconferences were cancelled so I had fewer expenses. Conferences can be quite costlyeach year, particularly when you frequent the bigger ones, like Crimefest atBristol, Theakston’s at Harrogate, Bloody Scotland at Stirling, and the CWAconferences. You can spend a ton of money going to all of these and now I had anexcess of funds going spare, so you can guess how I invested them.

Yes, you are right. I found a lovely narrator, Angela Ness,and got my first audiobook commissioned, closely followed by the next two. So,now I have three audiobooks on sale and waiting for my readers, or should I saylisteners, to find them. And I’m saving up to get the next one done.

In the end, it wasn’t too difficult to make this decision. Ihad far fewer expenses by staying away from my usual conferences and I didn’tmiss them as much as I thought I would. As a result, I’ve sworn off conferencesuntil I make all my books into audiobooks so that my readers/listeners can reapthe benefit.

In conclusion, I’m glad I took the leap into audiobooks andif you happen to have an unused Audible credit lying around (hint, hint), itwould be great if you gave my audiobooks a try, and don’t forget to let me knowwhat you think of my narrator.

Until the next time.

Chris Longmuir

Website

Amazon author page

Audible author page