It’s no secret that the world is rife right now with the fights for and against AI. In the publishing industry, this fight has largely swung in the direction against AI-narrated audiobooks.
No matter which side of the aisle you’re on, it’s understandable that many people are wary of AI-narrated audiobooks. As good as the AI voices might seem, they lack the warmth and…well, humanity that human narrators bring. They also create less work for talented audiobook narrators.
My goal has always been to get my books narrated by a human. A few of them are, such as Before Beauty, Beauty and the Beast: An Illustrated Fairy Tale Classic, Cinderella: An Illustrated Fairy Tale Classic, and the Legacy of the Time Stones Trilogy, which is contracted with Tantor.
Unfortunately, however, audiobook creation is VERY expensive, and though I asked several of the big audiobook publishing houses to consider other books, they have thus rejected them. (Probably because my fairy tales are slightly too long for their taste.) So I realized I needed to get creative.
Which brings us to the point of this page.
My goal is to pre-fund the audiobook narration of The Huntsman’s Heart, my upcoming retelling of Snow White. I’ve found a narrator who has a fantastic rate, and I absolutely love her voice. The book itself is done and in the editing stages, and even the cover is finished! The only problem is…
I don’t currently have the funds with which to produce a professional audiobook. And as I’m an audiobook addict myself, I do my best not to charge the same high prices as the big stores (which are often over $25/audiobook). So I’m hoping that together, with all the audiobook lovers out here, we can change that.
If you’ve ever seen a crowdfunding campaign on a very popular website (one that rhymes with, “Stickcarter”), this is basically the same idea–pre-selling the audiobook and its merch to raise the funds needed to pay for the audiobook production. Only, this way, we don’t need as much because I don’t have to pay the fees associated with using the website. Ideally, we’ll pre-fund the audiobook by selling the audiobook and merch at a discount ahead of time. Then, hopefully, I’ll be able to release the audiobook at the same time that the book launches! Still confused? That’s okay! Here’s how it works:
1.) You realize you need a new fairy tale audiobook to listen to while you fold laundry (because laundry never ends).
2.) You go to my website to choose the level of support you’d like to back. And you see that by ordering your audiobook goodies early, you’ll get a discount! So you look at the options and choose from what is essentially a Huntsman’s Heart menu:
3.) You order the audiobook product(s) you like best, and you receive them all as soon as the audiobook is published! The levels are:
Once this goes out, I’ll be posting to a goal tracker at the top of the page each time we get closer!
As I said, my ultimate goal is to pay professional narrators fair wages to give my readers fantastic audio experiences. But without the funds, that’s just not possible. By helping me pre-fund this book, you’ll be supporting not just an independent author but also a fantastic narrator, AND you’ll get the audiobook experience you’ve been asking for–at a discount. And any support to reach this goal, whether small or great counts!
I hope you’re on board with this little venture! I’ve had more and more audiobook requests in the recent years, and I’m hoping that this is a way everyone can be happy! Thank you, as always, for being awesome.
(Not an audiobook listener? That’s okay! You can still pre-order the ebook or the signed paperback here!)