An Author’s Biggest Gift

A Finished Manuscript & Simultaneous Release

Giving feels great. Check your list twice and make sure you haven't forgotten yourself in the mix. As all of the holiday hustle and bustle comes to an end and the new year approaches, it's a great time to dust off your manuscript and publish. Maybe you’ve just finished NaNoWriMo. Maybe you’ve got a short story that’s been sitting in a drawer waiting to be finished. Maybe you’ve got the first draft of your memoir that needs an edit. Getting to “The End” after all the editing is an amazing feeling of success as a writer.

And what free gift could you give yourself for all your hard work?

Hearing your story read aloud by a professional narrator.

There’s nothing like hearing your story read for the first time. With Findaway Voices Marketplace coming in early 2022, you’ll want to have that manuscript ready to start receiving free narrator auditions. That’s right, auditions of your new manuscript, read by professional narrators.

But is it really worth it to you to take on the additional time and effort to create an audiobook? Isn’t print and eBook enough? For you, maybe. But not for your potential audience. Your faithful readers are different from potential audiobook listeners. While you may balk at the time and upfront cost of producing an audiobook, "People who listen to audiobooks are the most avid book engagers" says Bookriot and you could miss out on significant royalty opportunities if you don’t have one. Think of this as an investment in another stream of income for your book.

It’s also a good form to release your ebook, print, and audiobook at the same time. We call this a simultaneous release. Your author business is most complete when you publish in all formats, giving everyone access to your book. All of your marketing efforts will be maximized with a simultaneous release and our data shows up to a 30% increase in revenue for authors who do.

We’ve created a little holiday audiobook prep checklist to help you get ready to finalize that first draft manuscript and get ready to make it on Marketplace in 2022.

Check it and get ready!

• Editorial Assessment
• Developmental Edit
• Copy Edit
• Line Edit
• Proofreading
• Final Manuscript
• Read it out loud to a person or microphone
• Annotate manuscript for audio - your narrator will love you for this
• Audio Production Notes - Free template
• Record a pronunciation guide for your narrator
• Bonus materials - e.g. alternate ending, deleted chapters, bloopers
• Ending Credits
• Sign up to be alerted when Marketplace is available to authors!