After I decided to publish Death Drop (I didn’t start off with that intention) I knew that I wanted to do an audio book version. Now, I tend to do things that I think are cool, and I don’t always consider all of the challenges that go along with producing a major work of art. But I have this hang-up where if I compromise on an idea, I end up being disappointed. And then I own this thing that I’m disappointed in. That’s never a good feeling. That said, I wanted to do a full-on, crazy theater-of-the-mind production of Death Drop (that means soundtrack and sound effects). I reached out to a major studio that specializes in this sort of thing, and it looked promising: one of the big cheeses at the company contacted me and said that they were looking over the half-download on my site to explore whether or not they would be interested in doing the project. Many months passed and I reached out a couple of times with no response. No worries. Death Drop is a big book with an ensemble cast, and both of those characteristics pose a challenge when it comes to the audio book version.

I recently posted the project on the Audio Book Creation Exchange website. I had a couple of awesome auditions (one of them gives me goosebumps; it’s amazingly good). Unfortunately, I can’t reach a deal with any of the narrators/producers. The upfront costs for real-deal narration and production are way more than this indie author dude and his small-time publisher can swing. So I’m facing two decisions here: do it myself or see if I can’t raise the money through a Kickstarter project.

I have some recording experience from my music days, and luckily, I still have some good quality gear. The major obstacles here are time and performance. I’m certain I can do a decent job, but I’m not a trained voice actor. And then there’s finding the time to do it while working  on getting the next book out…and the one after that and the one after that. Chances are the audio book version will take me 5 to 10 times longer to bring to market than it would a professional publisher. Here’s a sample of me fooling around with the Prologue to the book. Please feel free to let me know what you think. Please keep in mind that this track hasn’t been mastered for maximum audio quality, so a final version would certainly be tweaked to sound better.

A professional publisher can supply an amazing voice actor and deliver a finished product in less than six months. The problem is that voice actors and production are not cheap. In addition to paying for the studio and their mastering services, most actors want a share of the royalties from sales. I’m kind of torn. I would love the challenge of producing a Death Drop audio book myself, not to mention the immense satisfaction I would feel when it was all completed. But there’s the quality and time to consider.

What do you think? Drop me some comments with your thoughts.

Cheers!

Sean