Nathan’s Novel Writing Month — that’s actually every month but November is a special kick. We’ll see how far I get.
In other news, I signed a contract with Podium to produce the audiobook versions of Ishmael Wang books. All six Shares plus the three Seeker’s. Make sure you’ve got your MP3s of my narrations because they’re going to come down when the new books go up on Audible. I fought it as long as I could but Audible – like KDP – is the 6000 pound gorilla. The upside here is that Podium has some of the best audio in the business and they hire only the best narrators. The downside is that I have no control over the process now.
It also means I’ll have more time to write new stories without having to worry about when I’m going to get the audiobooks done.
So I’ll be going mostly dark over November and working on cranking out as many words as I can while the November madness is upon us.
Let the wild rumpus start!
Downloading the MP3’s off podiobooks right now. I’ll miss your voice, going forward! I always thought they added a touch of humor to your words that is pretty unique. But a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do.
Good luck in November, sar!
I’ve always thought that Nathan was one of the best narrators for audio-books, period. Maybe you should submit a resume to Podium for when you get writer’s block?
Thanks. They weren’t interested.
Whoops, meant to reply to Nathan, not you Hade!
I know what a difficult decision this was for you, Nathan. But I also admit, I’ll enjoy having your books on my Audible devices, and it gives me yet another way to buy your books. (Yes, I could go get MP3s of them, but honestly, I’d actually _rather_ pay for them. )
Happy Writing Sar!
Congrats! This was the right decision.
I will miss you narrating your books, but you have to do what you have to do. Thanks for the update.
Is there any way you could provide a download for all of the audio files of your podcast version? I know that’s a big order, but I will miss hearing the narrations in your voice, and think it would be awesome if there were a more seamless method without the podiobooks outro stuff. I’ll be sure to download them anyhow, but this is just a wish. BTW, I fully support you moving to a paid medium for the audio version, so more power to you there. It’s going to be interesting hearing someone else interpret the narration of the books, I do have to say I’m looking forward to that as well. Just another reason to listen to them again!
The files come with intro and outro. Even my master files so that’s not an option, I’m afraid.
Itunes Music Store is your best bet in terms of automating the downloads. You’ll be able to keep the mp3s forever. If you’re feeling really ambitious, the license permits you to trim out whatever you don’t need.
Hi Nathan,
thanks for letting us know. AFter reading the post, I made a beeline to the Download Itunes button and promptly downloaded your collected works. I can’t imagine this was an easy decision though. I’m a little nostalgic that I won’t be able to find you on podiobooks because it was such a great find for me. Anyway, I hope the transition goes smoothly and I really hope Audible doesn’t gouge your listeners. I’m very excited that this will help you write more stories but I really enjoyed listening to you telling your own stories. It had heart and I hope the future productions can keep the story alive as you did. However, it will no longer be the Captain.
Personally, I don’t use Audible anymore because they are too expensive and I tend not to support companies that overcharge for their products as a matter of policy. I have used them in the past and have about 75 books from them since 2005. As a consumer though, I just don’t see the value in paying between $20 to $30 for an audiobook any longer. Having been acquired by Amazon, I don’t assume that their pricing will change. I will certainly keep tabs on your books and I can always read them. I thoroughly enjoyed Ashes and I’ll look forward to reading your other books.
Podium supports WhisperSync which allows people who buy the ebook to purchase the audio for a few dollars more without being a member of Audible.
That was an important factor.
Will they allow those of us who purchased In Ashes Born to get the audiobook version at the lower price since it was unavailable at the time of release?
They assure me it’ll show up as whispersync as soon as it’s available.
Keep in mind the contract allows them a year per book for production time. They’ve assured me that they generally are able to release a book every few months and that the one year stipulation is only for their protection if a narrator becomes incapacitated for an extended period. Of course, *that* language isn’t in the contract so I’m not holding my breath. At one year per book, they’ll publish the audio for Ashes around my 70th birthday…and if THAT happens, I’ll terminate the deal.
I’m counting on their greed and the realization that a property that’s not for sale earns no money to keep them honest and moving forward.
Fantastic! Thank you for the correction. I have seen Whispersync around but just figured it was a “Siri” type automated reader. I used some of these a while back and I was fairly clunky and became really problematic when reading scientific research.
Thank you for the clarification and I will be happy to try it out with your books. : )
BTW, I want to say that it is really great to be able to communicate with you as you are going through this process. I hope it is as useful to you as it is enjoyable for us. : )
I find myself as being the victim of my own success. That’s a good thing for me, but it means I have to – sometimes – make decisions that I know will have a direct effect on you — the people who’ve supported me all these years. This Audible situation is one of them – just as the KDP Select decision was another.
I really *want* there to be other options, but until there are, I have to make the best decisions I can that allow me to do the *one* thing everybody wants me to do.
Write more stories.
The least I can do along the way is tell you what’s happening and why. 🙂
Thank you Sar.
I just hope you find as much joy in writing your stories as we do consuming them.
As a frequent Audible listener I have no problems at all with your move there; actually if I had to make a choice I’d rather have you spend time on new stories over new narrations anyway. I’ll probably take advantage of the Whispersync deals since I already own the eBooks, but either way I think it will be fun to have another read through, even if it is in a new voice.