Thursday, January 22, 2015

My AudioBook Journey (Part 3)

First of all, I'm featured on Story Finds today and you could enter to win some books (including mine) or an Amazon $20 gift card! Click here to enter.

So, last week I had messaged the narrator and we were talking about terms.  He is an actor that is touring right now, so we had to give a little leeway on deadlines, but in the end, we found a timeline that is great for both of us.  I offered him a contract and he accepted!

With the signed contract in hand I sent him the manuscript.  I also sent him a short character sketch of all the characters in the story so he can have a grasp on them as people.  I also wanted him to be able to see the cast of characters at a glance and have a reference to refer to.  Pronunciation guides for difficult names are obviously a great tool, too.  (Even my own name, since no one gets Bellon right!)

I will be getting the first fifteen minutes of the book next week and I'll be looking for several things when I'm checking that over.


  • Are the voices sounding right? Has he captured the character? 



  • Is he pronouncing names and phrases correctly?



  • How is his pacing?  Is he reading too slow or too fast?


Once we've gone over that initial check, we'll be finishing the book and it should be released in late March/early April.  I'm so excited!  I will definitely keep you updated.

Read the rest of my journey!

Part 4
Part 5

Meet My Narrator!

4 comments:

Jon Spell said...

That must be kind of surreal to hear someone else reading your book.

I, uh, don't know how to pronounce Bellon. Is it a Canadian pronunciation? (Bell-uhn-eh?) *

Catchphrase for your imprint: "I'll be there with Bellon's!" (for another potential pronunciation)


* Yes, I know, Coulter is probably your Canadian name. Poetic license to mangle.

Julie Coulter Bellon said...

It is SO surreal to hear someone reading my words, my story. He has such a great voice, though, I can't wait for you to hear it.

As for my name, it's pronounced like Bull-LAWN if that helps. It's French. :)

Debra Erfert said...

I was pronouncing it Bell-lawn. I guess I'm wrong. Glad you said something before we met. How do you pronounce Julie? … only kidding.

I'm so excited for you! I was telling my husband about your new book publishing imprint, and how I'm going to follow you in your footsteps. He is totally behind me. I can't tell you how many years it's taken him to warm up to me being a writer, and now he's more than cool with me being a publisher? Truly amazing!

I've never listened to a audio book before. I need to go to amazon and see if they have an audio book that will let me listen--without having to buy it.

Julie Coulter Bellon said...

Haha, you're just lucky your names aren't hard to pronounce, Debra! It is wonderful to have support! I've been thinking about checking out some audio books from my library. Great minds think alike!