ARC copies. Do You Need Them?

ARC copy of Protected

Indie publishing secrets revealed.


The first ARC I received was

by Lisa Mangum and she signed it and everything. So fun. Since then I get most of my ARC copies as eARCs because I love reading on my Nook so much!
I have 8 others sitting on my desk of honor. I love them.

One of the hardest things for an indie author is to get ARCs (Advanced Reader Copies) of your books out. But they are so important and readers love them, just like I do. They are a must.

ARCs are uncorrected proofs of your novel. They are usually made just after copy editing, but before the book is completely vetted for errors. Sometimes big mistakes remain, while other times, there are hardly any errors left. So, they aren't perfect books, but they are rare, not many are made, which is partly why people are so excited to get them.

Another reason people love to get ARC's is because they get to read the book before anyone else.  I was so thrilled when I was chosen to get an ARC of Hallowed by Cynthia Hand.

 I wanted that book pretty badly and I loved being able to read it a few months before anyone else. However, these books are not made for casual readers, friends and family. They are made to get the word out, build a buzz with reviewers and book bloggers. 

Publicity, baby! 

They are also sent to librarians so that they can check it out before ordering it. Booksellers get a preview of the book to help them decide if it will be a hit in their store (by the way, Barnes and Noble is notoriously slow in this arena. They need the book 12 weeks in advance to ensure your book will be available in their stores on your launch date, so get them out early)

As an indie author, the money to produce these ARCs comes out of your pocket and it's not cheap. This is a small run of 100 or so books and printing only 100 books is expensive.

One of the great things about the internet and ereaders is that indie authors can get their books to reviewers and book bloggers for free.  IF the readers and bloggers have ereaders. Smashwords lets authors create coupons that authors can give to people so that the book is free to them. Awesome, right?

Many bloggers/reviewers, however, do not have ereaders. Are they crazy? I love my NOOK. So handy! Don't get me wrong, I still love a good print book. So, you do need to have some printed ARCs on hand to get out to the public, but try to focus on eARCs. If a reviewer won't accept an eARC, move on, there are plenty who will and it really is the wave of the future. Save money wherever you can.

Createspace is a nice place to create your printed ARCs whether you choose to do 10 or 100.  You can even send them directly to the people from Createspace. Yes, you do have to pay shipping. Boo! But it is handy. It is also nice to give some ARCs to bloggers and reviewers to give away when they review your book.

I used Smashwords and Createspace to get out ARC copies of Protected. It worked out well. Also, there is something about a printed copy that makes it easier to spot errors. It is nice to have a print copy to mark up and do final editing on. It's also fun to keep that original book as a keepsake.

So, bite the bullet and get your print ARCs and eARCs out to reviewers, bloggers, librarians and booksellers at least 2 1/2 months before your release date. It is a must! Do not miss this step.

Do you own any ARCs? Do you love them? Did you buy the finished book when it came out?

PCN: Why you Want One

Indie Publishing Secrets Series


On the title page of books published traditionally, you will see something like this-

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012932337
Hogan, Cindy M.
Protected/Cindy M. Hogan.-1st ed.
p. cm.
Summary: When terrorists find Christy, she must enter the Witness Protection Program and become someone totally new while abandoning everything she has ever known.

You want this in your book, too and you can!

A PCN is a preassigned control number for print books only. The book must also be printed in the US and you must get the number before it is printed for the first time.

What is it exactly?


A Library of Congress catalog control number is a unique identification number that the Library of Congress assigns to the catalog record created for each book in its cataloged collections. Librarians use it to locate a specific Library of Congress catalog record in the national databases and to order catalog cards from the Library of Congress or from commercial suppliers. 


Why do you want one?


The purpose of the Preassigned Control Number (PCN) program is to enable the Library of Congress to assign control numbers in advance of publication to those titles that may be added to the Library's collections. The publisher prints the control number in the book and thereby facilitates cataloging and other book processing activities. The PCN links the book to any record which the Library of Congress, other libraries, bibliographic utilitites, or book vendors may create.

Are you eligible?

Only U.S. book publishers are eligible to participate in the PCN program. These publishers must list a U.S. place of publication on the title page or copyright page of their books and maintain an editorial office in the U.S. capable of answering substantive bibliographic questions.

When you get a PCN, you are assigned a particular person to take care of your needs. Find yours under Liaisons

How to get yours

It is a two-step process.

First you must complete an application to participate here.

 **Note-You must be a publisher to get this number. You are the publisher of your book if you are an indie publisher. You should get a license (doing business as license) and make it official.

Next, when the application has been approved, you, as the publisher, will be sent an account number and password. Then you can log-in and fill out the Preassigned Control Number Application Form to get your number.

Then you print it on the title page of your book.

Easy Peasy! Go get yours today! Don't let your title page be bare.

Are you convinced? Are you going to get a PCN for your awesome book?

Go here to see the cover reveal of Protected  Watched Series: Book 2

I'm so excited to share it with you. Release date: March 24th. Yahoo!

ISBN's: Why you Need Them

If you are planning to publish your manuscript, you will want to be found.

The best way to be found is to get an ISBN. Also, you MUST have an ISBN if you have a print book. You can get away without one for Ebooks sold certain places, but without one, you will be excluded from certain sites.

Check out this cool barcode with the ISBN underneath. Fun, huh?

I was just going through the process of getting some new ISBNs for Protected and future books and thought I'd share the fun with you.

When getting an ISBN, it is best to go to Bowker.com. Createspace offers them for free, but then you are always tied to them. To get what they call a universal ISBN, one that you can take with you wherever you sell your book, you have to pay a lot of money.

Click on create an account and fill out the form.
Remember, you are the CEO of your own writing business.

Click on publisher services.
Click on the big ISBN on the right hand side.
Click on get your ISBN now and choose how many ISBNs you want.

If you only intend on publishing one book you will need 2 ISBN's. One for your print version and one for your E-version. It's true that not all sites require an ISBN for your eBook, but Apple does require it, and they are a huge force in the Ebook world, so get one. If you aren't doing a print version, you will only need one. It is cheaper to buy 100. Seems like a lot to pay at once,  but at only $5.70 a pop, it is much more affordable than 100+  bucks for one or $26 each if you buy 10. You'll save money in the long run. If you are a true author, you will use them all, right? *Big smiles*

After you buy them, you can find them in MYACCOUNT in your Bowker Account. You will need to go to MY ACCOUNT and then Manage ISBN's to assign them to each book you publish.

You will have to fill out all the information on each book and it is a lot. It will take some time. You need to upload your manuscript in PDF form, upload your cover in jpeg as well as a ton of other stuff. Be prepared.

Also, you will need a barcode to go with your ISBN if you have a print book. There are a lot of barcode creators online. Way cheaper than what Bowker offers. You need to know your price when you create one. My printer puts my barcodes on my books.

Here's another fun ISBN from Japan. What do you think of it?


Do you think it's fair that we have to pay for ISBN's when we have to have them to sell our books?

Indie Publishing Secrets revealed - The Process of Publishing

I am blogging on iWriteNetwork about this very thing. 
Thepost will help you see the big picture of the process of traditional publishing vs indie publishing. Go check it out here.

Indie Publishing Secrets Revealed - Copy Edits

Is there such a thing as an error free first edition?

I've never seen it.

With that being said, I can't stress how important it is to get a great copy editor. In fact, you might need two. For Protected, I'm actually using three.

Why?
Well, I'm not very good at editing-especially when I've made a thousand changes during plot editing. I get to a point where I can't see the problems. I'm too focused on the story itself.

So, after I get all my plot edits done, I give it to a couple of English geniuses to help me fix the copy errors they see. After I fix those things, I send it to a paid copy editor. Yes, it costs money, but it is worth it.

Because she finds so many errors (especially commas. I love them and use them way too often), after I fix all the mistakes she finds, I send it to another English wiz to catch anything my copy-editor missed.  It's easy to miss things when there is a sea of mistakes.

I'm happy to say, that she didn't find many this go around. Yay!

Then, after it's published, I wait for my fans to tell me about errors that still remain. Yep. After all that, some mistakes still linger.

You might be thinking that I don't have a good editor. Well, it simply isn't true. In fact, there isn't one author I've talked to about editing who hasn't told me their editors, no matter how amazing or how expensive, miss things. It happens. So be prepared.

I happen to know some awesome copy-editors that are honest and very competitively priced. Check them out.
1. Tristi Pinkston  
In fact, you could win a 250 page evaluation from Tristi by signing up to attend a cool workshop THIS coming Saturday, January 21st. No joke. Sign up here. That'll save you a lot of dough!

2. Precision Editing Group

Have you ever read a book that had no errors? Not a single one? If so, what was it?

Fantasy Lovers Dream

Do you love YA fantasy? This is your chance to win lots of YA fantasy books and fantasy swag.


For Christmas one year, I may have been 8 or so, my big brother, Matt, gave me my first fantasy book.

The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks.

That book began my love of fantasy. Talk about a genius. That is one great series. Love! Love! Love!

What book started your love of Fantasy?

Here you can win a copy of either The Sword of Shannara or a fantasy book of your choice.

Easy Entry- less than 1 minute to do all. Yahoo
1. Follow this blog -mandatory
2. Like my Watched Facebook page extra +1
3. Like my Watched Amazon page extra +1
**Leave me a comment about which of the three you did and which book you'd like me to send to you.

On Monday, The Indelibles is launching their blog. You won't want to miss it. I will be hosting a great giveawy here and you'll be able to enter to win a Kindle Fire- No joke. As you know, I'm partial to the Nook-but, there is something to be said for 2nd best. Hee Hee.

See ya on Monday. Make sure you enter all the fun giveaways below and tell me about your love of fantasy in my comments.

Debutante Ball staring "Watched"

Welcome to the Debutante Ball, 

A Feast of Debut Authors Blog Tour.

The party Ends today with me. So cool!

We're all giving away our books and some awesome swag. So, enter each day on each blog below on or before December 31st to win.

Announcing Watched, a contemporary suspense Novel by Cindy M. Hogan.

Released June 6, 2011.

What readers are saying about Watched:

"Fantastic read, full of suspense and excitement."

-Bullard GMTA

"One of those books you don't want to put down."
-S. Hill

"Well written and suspenseful."

-A. Brown

"Usually I'm prone to murder mysteries by James Patterson, and this kept me just as enthralled as his books."

-S. McClure

"This is my new favorite book."

-A. Ahlstrom 

Just for this contest and to thank everyone who has made Watched a success and spread the word even more, Watched is only .99 cents for all e-readers.  

Yahoo! Go get yours today
Nook
Kindle

all other e-formats also available. Get it at your favorite spot.

All you have to do to enter is comment and tell others about the fun Each time you comment, Tweet, Facebook or blog about the ball during the rest of December, you get an entry. Just leave a comment with the link to what you did. Easy!

Have fun and go find out about all these authors. 
                  One a day. 
                              Enter their contests and win.


Have fun and enjoy the books and swag!

12 Elizabeth Mueller elizabethmueller.blogspot.com

13 Regan Guerra www.reganguerra.blogspot.com

14 Melissa Pearl melissapearl.blogspot.com

15 Claudia Lefeve http://www.claudialefeve.com/

16 Joseph Beekman http://josephsstoriesandtales.blogspot.com/

17 Pendragon Innmen PendragonWrites.com 

19 Alex J. Cavanaugh alexjcavanaugh.blogspot.com

20 Gillian Schafer gillianjoy-livingtowrite.blogspot.com

21 Fiauna Lund formyfour.blogspot.com

22 Anastasia V. Pergakis http://labotomyofawriter.com/

26 Tanya Contois http://speedyreader-allthingsbooks.blogspot.com

27 Patti Larsen pattilarsen.blogspot.com

28 Red Tash RedTash.com

29 Annetta Ribken wordwebbing.com

30 Cindy Hogan watched-thebook.blogspot.com 

Leave me some love and comment!

Indie Publishing Secrets Revealed. Effective Book Descriptions

Go enter a huge book giveaway here.

What should the description of your book include on Barnes and Noble, Amazon, and all the other sites your book is sold?

1. It should start with a few catchy review quotes that are short and sweet like: "I couldn't put it down.", "well-written", "fantastic read". Definitely give credit to those who reviewed it with a dash and their last name along with "reviewer". If you get the phrases off Amazon or already got permission to post the reviews, go for it. If not, then ask permission before posting the names. Check out Watched's description here.

2. Then, tease your reader. Get them excited to jump into your book. 3-4 sentences only. here.

3. Put the back blurb in if it's a good one (and short) and it better be. here.

4. End with 3-4 other quotes that speak to other great things about your book that weren't covered in the quotes you put in the beginning. here.

5. Add a call to action- buy this, without saying buy this. For example: Only .99 cents.

• Once you have it just how you want it, ask a lot of people to read it over and give their two cents. 
• Listen to what they have to say and then ask why they say it.Tune into the feelings your description evokes. That is so important. You want people to really want to buy it. Use your critique groups, your online groups, even Facebook and Twitter to try it out.

Good Luck and have fun writing your description. Make it perfect. 

Just remember, you need this at least one month before you release or launch your book.

Free Books for You!

Come join the fun! 
I hope you win all kinds of books today!
You can pick any book you want with a 
$10 Barnes and Noble gift card. 
I'd pick Divergent by Veronica Roth if you don't own it yet. It's my favorite book of 2011, besides my own, of course.(Watched. ebook only .99 cents right now! wow!)
Easy Entry- Do them all in under 1 minute.

1. Follow this blog -mandatory
2. Like my Watched Facebook page here +2 extra
3. Like my Watched Amazon page here  +2 extra
4. Follow my 7 things I love blog  extra +1
5. Join iWriteNetwork +1 extra- an awesome site for authors or would-be-authors
**Leave me a comment here with what entries you did and your email so I can notify you if you win.
This giveaway ends on the 31st, so hurry.

Good luck! Now go enter all the other giveaways

Indie Publishing Secrets Revealed - To Consider

Today I'm blogging at iWriteNetwork.


Click here to read my indie secret for today.

Click here to join iWriteNetworkning, a nuts and bolts site to support writers of all abilities.
Come on over and join a safe place to interact with other authors and learn all there is to know about writing, marketing and publishing. It's free and you'll learn a ton.

Every other week we interview an amazing author on Saturdays at 9 am MST. We post notes on the interviews on the site and you can ask questions during the interview. If you are unable to be there live, you can always listen to the BlogTalkRadio interview at any time.

Stay tuned for an awesome all day workshop coming in January. It will rock.


See ya at all the iWriteNetwork sites. Let's learn together.


Oh, and the merriest of Christmases to you all.  

Indie Publishing Secret- One Hour of Daily to Dos

I'm making a list, checking it twice....



It is so important that you keep up with all the little things. (That don't involve your manuscript)And remember, the little things are really the big things. I don't spend more than You can do it all in less than one hour a day. If you procrastinate, it will overwhelm you.

1. Yahoo/gmail other mail services.
      Make subfolders for all your mail and always move emails to the right
      folder. Check once in the morning and once at night.Don't wait to
      reply. Do it now. 10-15  minutes total.

2. Google reader (google.com/reader) A great tool for checking out all the blogs you
     follow in one spot. Scroll through and pick 5-10 to comment on daily 5 minutes

3. Facebook profile (Friends) 
     Post at least once a day and scroll through the news clicking "like" and commenting for 5 minutes max
     twice  a day. This is where you do more personal posts.

4. Facebook page (s) (Likes)
    Post something interesting about your book or what you're working on. It is writing or author related. 5
    minutes max

5. Forums/groups (Yahoo, Facebook, Linked-in)  you belong to. 
    Change your settings to receive digest versions of posts. Scroll through and comment on as much as you
    can in 10 minutes. Be disciplined.

6. Twitter 
     Send out a tweet at least twice a day and scroll through the recent tweets and comment, retweet and reply
     to as many as you can in 5 minutes

7. Goodreads-
     Sign up for digests and look at it in your mail. Comment and update book statuses for 5 minutes.

8. Shelfari- Not mandatory, but nice to update your books and follow a few people here and there.

9. Amazon page (Author central) Check all your author info, sales info and page once a day. Make sure it is current and looks good. Update any appearances, signings, etc you have coming up. 5 minutes

Meet Awesome Debut Authors and Win

Welcome to the Debutante Ball, 

A Feast of Debut Authors Blog Tour.

The party starts today and goes all month long.

And we're all giving away our books and some awesome swag. So, enter each day on each blog below on or before December 31st to win.

Announcing Watched, a contemporary, romantic suspense by Cindy M. Hogan.

Released June 6, 2011.

What readers are saying about Watched:

"Fantastic read, full of suspense and excitement."

-Bullard GMTA

"One of those books you don't want to put down."
-S. Hill

"Well written and suspenseful."

-A. Brown

"Usually I'm prone to murder mysteries by James Patterson, and this kept me just as enthralled as his books."

-S. McClure

"This is my new favorite book."

-A. Ahlstrom 

(And I don't know any of these people. I get at least one email a day thanking me for Watched. So freaking cool!)

Just for this contest and to thank everyone who has made Watched a success and spread the word even more, Watched is only .99 cents for all e-readers.  

Yahoo! Go get yours here today

All you have to do to enter is comment and tell others about the fun Each time you comment, Tweet, Facebook or blog about the ball during the rest of December, you get an entry. Just leave a comment with the link to what you did. Easy!

Have fun and go find out about all these authors. 
                  One a day. 
                              Enter their contests and win.


Today you can find out all about Elizabeth's book and win, tomorrow, Regan's and so forth. 


Have fun and enjoy the books and swag!

12 Elizabeth Mueller elizabethmueller.blogspot.com

13 Regan Guerra www.reganguerra.blogspot.com

14 Melissa Pearl melissapearl.blogspot.com

15 Claudia Lefeve http://www.claudialefeve.com/

16 Joseph Beekman http://josephsstoriesandtales.blogspot.com/

17 Pendragon Innmen PendragonWrites.com 

19 Alex J. Cavanaugh alexjcavanaugh.blogspot.com

20 Gillian Schafer gillianjoy-livingtowrite.blogspot.com

21 Fiauna Lund formyfour.blogspot.com

22 Anastasia V. Pergakis http://labotomyofawriter.com/

26 Tanya Contois http://speedyreader-allthingsbooks.blogspot.com

27 Patti Larsen pattilarsen.blogspot.com

28 Red Tash RedTash.com

29 Annetta Ribken wordwebbing.com

30 Cindy Hogan watched-thebook.blogspot.com 

See ya tomorrow with a Indie Secret.

Searching for a Title

It is truly a miracle that I finished my Nano goal of writing a 50,000 word book in one month. I actually finished on the last day. Yay!!

Now, I need to name the book and edit it.

I'd love your help in naming it. Vote for your favorite.

1.Self-publishing: the nitty gritty

2.Self-publishing: the real nuts and bolts

3.Indie-publishing how to

4.Indie-publishing: the nitty gritty

5.Indie-publishing: the real nuts and bolts

6. The Definitive Guide to Self-publishing

7. Your suggestion here

Thanks for your help!

Oh, No!

Wondering where I've been? 

This has been one crazy week.

First, I got this horrible cold on Sunday.

On Mon. I was behind on my Nano goal and had a good 10,000 words to finish by Wednesday...

I'm subbing for three months for my good friend, Jen, at a junior high in Davis County.(She had the cutest little girl on Thanksgiving Day). So, I had to sub every day from 8-3, then, I had to be at a different Costco each day from 3:30-7:30.

On Mondays, I spend the evening with my family. This Monday was no exception. I was still sick.

I wrote every chance I got on Tues and finished my 50,000 words on my indie publishing book on Wednesday afternoon. Nano completed! Whew! Boy, did that feel great! My critique group came from 8-10 p.m. Still sick.

On Thursday, hurricane winds showed up at my house about 2 am. The winds were so loud, no one slept. They hung out until about 2 pm. No kidding. Winds up to 100 miles an hour crashed against everything in their path.

Our 40 year old pine tree bit the dust, landing on my little fruit trees, flattening them. Something hit our chimney and broke it off, our fence fell right before our eyes, one section at a time, our pool house collapsed, shingles went flying, along with our trampoline that crumpled up in a small ball and we have no idea where our wooden bench went-not a leaf remained in our yard.

Even though trampolines were flying through the air, the School District did not close the schools and so, my car being pelted by all kinds of debris, I drove to the junior high. It only took me 30 minutes(it usually takes me 10). I saw three semis on their sides on my way and my car swayed precariously the whole way there.
We were in class for 1 hour and the power went out. We played games in the dark (the window did cast a bit of light).

At noon, they finally let may teachers leave since most of the parents had already picked up their kids.

The power was also out at my house. Once the temperature hit 50 degrees in our house, we headed for my mom's to spend the night.

Luckily, the school district closed the schools on Friday. I spent the day at Ogden and Bountiful Costcos.

Today, Sat., I spent the day at the SL Costco and my cold is still hanging on....

But, I'm back...hooray! Tuesday I'll have some fun indie news for you.

Happy Winter!

We have a winner!

The winner of the Thankful Hop has been notified via e-mail. Congrats. See ya tomorrow for some indie news.


I hope you all had a fabulous Thanksgiving.

Indie Publishing Secrets Revealed - News!

Before I reveal the secret, I'm going to remind you to enter the thankful giveaway here. Over 300 amazing prizes up for grabs.Easy entry.


Now, drumroll please,
the secret is...
I am not working on my 3rd novel in the Watched Series for Nano, I am working on something totally different that I am also completely passionate about-
.

A nuts and bolts book about indie publishing.

This will not be your ordinary, run of the mill, how-to book. This will get down to the nitty-gritty.
Every last tidbit I can possibly share with you to make it as easy as possible
to launch your book successfully will be included.

Nothing will be held back.

I'm about 2/3 of the way through. I'll be done before the end of the month and I will win Nano. Then, I will finish the edits on "Protected', the 2nd book in the Watched Series and keep chugging along with #3.

Come back next week to help me pick the name of the book. I hope to tell you I'm done with the 1st draft.

Happy Nanoing!

Giving Back

Welcome to the Gratitude Giveaway Hop where we thank all our followers with the simplest entry EVER.

Just follow this blog and leave a comment where you can be contacted if you win. That's it! Good Luck.

What can you win on this site? A 

$10 Amazon Gift card.

Now go enter all the other blogs' giveaways.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Big Indie Publishing News

Go check out these amazing indie authors' giveaway first, and then read this post.

  OK! This is 

The other day, while signing books in a Costco, I was talking to a manager about getting ebook scanners into stores. He told me that they are actually looking into a machine that prints dvds and bluerays while you wait. He says they lose so much money on theft of dvds and especially bluerays that it is a plausible option for them.

Well, it's also in the works for BOOKS. No kidding. Read this article. It is amazing.
POD in stores ?

It's a reality already. So cool! I love this idea. It costs a bit more, but is reasonable, don't you think. Sure the emphasis is on backlist right now, but just think what it could do for indie-authors.

Yeah! I thought you'd like that!

MY SECRET? Next week....I promise.

Halloween fun in the spirit of "Watched"

Sorry to make you wait for the secret for another week, but in the spirit of Watched and becoming someone other than you are...perhaps someone you've always wanted to be...here are some Halloween Pics of me, my family and my friends. Go enter a bunch of giveaways here.(These are the easiest ever)

Halloween 2006

 The witch and the ghoul?



Experiments anyone?

Is there a doctor in the house?

I want to suck your blood...AhAhAh

Peace brothers

Ye good for nothing pirates

Be careful of an old man's smells

Discover yourself

Dave Farland's in the House!

If this looks familiar...sorry, Dave's launch was pushed back to today. He'll answer all your questions

Audiobooks

I've been looking into turning my book into an audiobook because so many people have approached me at signings and asked when it will be in audiobook form. (I also listen to my fair share of audio-books) They assure me that they will galdly buy it because they just don't have time to read anymore. 

Have you looked into getting an audiobook made? Wow! Those services are expensive and you're not even guaranteed a great reader.  They can run you around 20 grand. Yep! Take that deep breath.

So, when Dave asked for volunteers to host him this month I was so excited to have him address this very issue.

Here's what he had to say..oh, and if you leave him a question today, he will answer you, so be sure to click the box that will send you his response when you ask a question in the comment form.

Breaking into Audio Books by Dave Farland

As an indie author, how do you break into audiobooks?    

Ah, that’s an easy one!  Most indie authors are afraid of what it might cost to hire a celebrity actor to read a book.  Really, folks, there are other ways.  A few years ago, I had some readers ask if I would ever be willing to podcast my own novel.  I’d never thought of it.  I’m not an actor.  But I did a little informal survey over the next few weeks, and found that 55% of the people who asked about audiobooks said that they would prefer to hear the author read it in his or her own voice.

Of course they would!  I’d love to hear Tolkien read Lord of the Rings to me.  I’d much rather hear it from him than from the finest actor.  In fact, I’d love to listen to both, one after another. 

The point here is that you can do it yourself.  You can either get your own recording equipment or find someone to do it for you.  If you have a local college nearby, find someone who is already working in sound for films.  You can probably hire them to use their own equipment and even mix it for you, taking out your “um’s” and “ah’s.”

Don’t be afraid.  Take an acting class or two if you feel that you must.  As you record, just make sure that you read it the way that you wrote it—with the names spoken the way you want, the stresses put in the sentences the way that you imagined it, and so on.  If you don’t get it right the first time, you can do multiple takes of the same line.  It’s really not that hard, or that scary.

If you really feel that it would be better with a professional actor, just look around.  I have a friend whose voice would be wonderful for broadcast work.  I knew an actor years ago, a fellow in a motorcycle gang, whose “look” would only let him play crazed villains in movies.  He was a big old monster of a fellow, with an enormous beard, and biceps the size of beer kegs.  But he was a sweet guy, and his voice was amazing.  Many times, great voice actors just don’t have the face needed to be popular stars.  So you can often get them to work for you inexpensively or even free, so that they can boost their own resumes as they go seeking other voice-over work.

Your audiobook doesn’t have to be expensive to produce.  You can edit in sound effects if you like.  With my latest book, we had a professional composer create a full soundtrack for it, which is a first for me, but you don’t need all of that.

Once you’ve made your recording, you can post it to the internet from your own website, and even sell it on places like iTunes.  You might even submit it to professional audiobook publishers like Audible.com. (Please see the various vendors for their own rules on how to submit.)

If you haven't read any of Dave's books, now's the time! His new book has arrived! Get it now. Oh, and go like his facebook page.

 www.facebook.com/Nightingale.Novel

David Farland’s latest novel, Nightingale, tells the story of a young man who is abandoned at birth, and raised in foster care.  At the age of sixteen he is thrown out of his house, and meets an extraordinary teacher, a woman who recognizes that he is a “Nightingale,” a creature not quite human.  The novel is available in audio format, enhanced novel, e-book, and hardcover.  Check it out, along with the soundtrack, at http://www.nightingalenovel.com/

Do you have any questions for Dave? You have his undivided attention. Just leave your question in the comments and he'll answer you.

I wouldn't dare do my own audiobook, but I sure know a lot of high school drama whizzes and college production majors....how about you? Would you be the voice of your book?

Want more of Dave? Hop over to my friend, C.K. Bryant's site-she's hosting him today too.