Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ

Emanuela ~plastic duck~ wrote: "Susinok wrote: "Emanuela ~plastic duck~ wrote: "Jake's voice in the audiobook of Fatal Shadows is eargasmic :)"

So is JX Moriarty. Sigh."

Everytime Jake spoke I almost stumbled because my knees g..."

LOL

I've got to say, it's worth getting the right narrator!

It's out, it's out! A Dangerous Thing is up on audible.

Thank you! Bought it.

Susinok wrote: "It's out, it's out! A Dangerous Thing is up on audible.

"

Thank you, Susinok! *offtobuyADT* :D

Bought mine, too. Soon as I finish my current audiobook I'm starting this one. I would pause my current audio, but it's JD Robb's latest. Can't do that. :)

YAY. Thank you all for buying it. I hope you enjoy it.

Susinok wrote: "Bought mine, too. Soon as I finish my current audiobook I'm starting this one. I would pause my current audio, but it's JD Robb's latest. Can't do that. :)"

That damned JD Robb! She's always in my way!! :-P

Josh wrote: "Susinok wrote: "Bought mine, too. Soon as I finish my current audiobook I'm starting this one. I would pause my current audio, but it's JD Robb's latest. Can't do that. :)"

That damned JD Robb! She's always in my way!! :-P ..."

LOL! Didn't stop me from buying it. It's next I promise.

I have to remember to vote for the Dangerous Ground narrator final round... even though I'm a little bummed that my favorite from the first round didn't make it. I knew I should have voted for him 3 times. ;-)

Josh, can you use the first round's number 2 narrator for something else? I thought he sounded shmexy. :-D

Well to be mildly ironic I am actually re-listening to Fatal Shadows waiting until I get paid so I can buy A Dangerous Thing.

Tina Kay wrote: "I have to remember to vote for the Dangerous Ground narrator final round... even though I'm a little bummed that my favorite from the first round didn't make it. I knew I should have voted for him ..."

I'm keeping all these guys in mind for future books. I'm not kidding when I said I could easily have gone with any of these narrators.

Amanda wrote: "Well to be mildly ironic I am actually re-listening to Fatal Shadows waiting until I get paid so I can buy A Dangerous Thing."

We'll be waiting!

Tina Kay wrote: "Josh, can you use the first round's number 2 narrator for something else? I thought he sounded shmexy. :-D"

I second this. He was my preferred one.

Susinok wrote: "It's out, it's out! A Dangerous Thing is up on audible.

"

YAY!!!!!!!

Susinok wrote: "It's out, it's out! A Dangerous Thing is up on audible.

"

I've been listening to it the past two evenings, but still have an hour and a half. Tonight or save it for the plane tomorrow? Decisions, decisions...

Karen wrote: "Susinok wrote: "It's out, it's out! A Dangerous Thing is up on audible.

"

I've been listening to it the past two evenings,..."

You could always relisten!

Josh wrote: "I need to do some playlists this year. I always enjoy them."

Pretty pleaaaase... that would be wonderful. :)

I still listen to your Fair Game, Dead Run and The Dark Tide playlists quite often. I've created those in Spotify. A lot of excellent songs in them!

Emanuela ~plastic duck~ wrote: "I have just finished the audiobook for The Darkling Thrush, my first audiobook. I've listened to it while exercising and it helped me not feel the pain :) I liked the narrator, he had such a range ..."

Yay, Manu. That's my favorite thing to do while listening to audio book: running on the treadmill. And when I'm listening to Josh's audio book, I could go on forever. No pain whatsoever. ;)

One of the fun things about the playlists, especially the early Adrien playlists, was readers would suggest songs to me that represented the AE books to them. That was very cool for me as a writer -- the idea that people heard certain songs and thought of my characters? Wow! -- but it was also great simply from the standpoint of listening to a lot of songs and artists I might otherwise have missed.

And then some of those songs ultimately found their way onto the playlists.

I started A Dangerous Thing audiobook this morning.

Susinok wrote: "I started A Dangerous Thing audiobook this morning."

I think Chris did an even better job on this one than Fatal Shadows.

It started off really well this morning. I don't have a lot of uninterrupted time at work today to listen, but will have it for 25 minutes on the way home.

It's been long enough since I've read the books that it's almost new to me. Me and my poor memory. :)

Susinok wrote: "It's been long enough since I've read the books that it's almost new to me. Me and my poor memory. :) ..."

I'm finding this more and more, and it means that I can really enjoy re-reading books which I know I liked first time round!

I've finished the Yellow Socks audiobook, and am now listening to JL Merrow's Trick of Time. I'm finding it less enjoyable than it should be because for some unknown reason they had an American read it!! Given that Merrow's books are particularly English in character this seems an odd choice, especially as the narrator adopts an English accent which is so over-the-top, received pronunciation as it used to be spoken in the 1930s-50s, that it sounds like he's taking the mickey! (Having a laugh.) I thought at first that he was trying to indicate that the book was set during that period, but it can't be given references to Google etc. And then he has to do a Victorian cockney accent... oh no. He also mispronounces some place names (Reading and Holborn), which they could have briefed him on.

I can see from Googling that he's a respected narrator who's very successful at audiobooks. But I just do not see why you would employ an American to do an English accent to read a book written entirely from the POV of an Englishman, when there are just a few English actors who could have done it.

I wander what Jamie Merrow thinks of it? Bet she wishes she had your control over the choice of narrator, Josh.

ETA Notwithstanding all this, the quality of the book manages to shine through! I love the MCs, and the story itself is gripping.

A similar thing has happened to Harper Fox. When I was just about to buy Life After Joe on Audible, I listened to the sample. Just. Awful. Someone trying to do a Geordie accent and not succeeding. I assumed it was an English actor from another part of the country who couldn't get the nuances correctly, but have just checked: he's an American, too.

Why?? There are a few Geordie actors who'd do a good job, and would know that the essence of the accent is not ending each and every sentence with an uplift. (Just listen to the sample.)

Hj wrote: "I've finished the Yellow Socks audiobook, and am now listening to JL Merrow's Trick of Time. I'm finding it less enjoyable than it should be because for some unknown reason they had an American read it!! Given that Merrow's books are particularly English in character this seems an odd choice, especially as the narrator adopts an English accent which is so over-the-top, received pronunciation as it used to be spoken in the 1930s-50s, that it sounds like he's taking the mickey! .."

Oh my gosh! That right there would prevent me from buying the audiobook. If it's British, it needs a British reader, hands down. JL Merrow also has a lot of colloquialisms in her writing that will sound just wrong read by an American.

Susinok wrote: "L Merrow also has a lot of colloquialisms in her writing that will sound just wrong read by an American. ..."

They sound even more wrong read by someone with an out of date accent! I've finished the audiobook now, and the story is brilliant. Although I avoid paranormals like the plague, I have a soft spot for time travel and JLM did it really well. There has to be a logic to it, and I loved hers.

I agree with you: "If it's British, it needs a British reader, hands down." It's particularly ironic given that JLM and Harper Fox (like Jo Myles) are unashamedly and defiantly British - they don't do the lost in mid-Atlantic could-be-anywhere books!

Equally, if it's American, it needs an American reader.

I wonder if authors can get publishers to agree to clauses in their contracts about audiobooks? That they should be performed by native speakers and that the authors have right of approval/refusal? In my eyes, it's a tremendous accolade when a book comes out in audiobook at the same time as its first release, but you don't want it to backfire.

With the publishers I know do audiobooks, there is no flexibility about choosing your own narrator. I'm not thrilled with the accents in Lion of Kent, either, but the Carina contract takes those matters out of my hands.

Hj wrote: "I can see from Googling that he's a respected narrator who's very successful at audiobooks. But I just do not see why you would employ an American to do an English accent to read a book written entirely from the POV of an Englishman, when there are just a few English actors who could have done it.
..."

I don't understand that at all.

I will say, it was hard to find a narrator for Strange Fortune. There just aren't as many British narrators -- male, anyway. So maybe that had to do with the narrator choice.

Josh wrote: "Susinok wrote: "I started A Dangerous Thing audiobook this morning."

I think Chris did an even better job on this one than Fatal Shadows."

I think the overall production quality is better, too. There are fewer places where corrections were made where the sound level changes. Patton definitely is in the groove, too.

I forgot what a jackass Jake was at first.

Susinok wrote: "I forgot what a jackass Jake was at first.
..."

Funny you should say that. I thought the same thing listening to the files.

It had been a lot of years since I listened to those first two books. It was almost startling to hear them again.

Hj wrote: "A similar thing has happened to Harper Fox. When I was just about to buy Life After Joe on Audible, I listened to the sample. Just. Awful. Someone trying to do a Geordie accent and not succeedi..."

Mhm, that was awful, I loved the book and wanted to by the audiobook but not after listening to it.

Josh wrote: "I will say, it was hard to find a narrator for Strange Fortune. There just aren't as many British narrators -- male, anyway. So maybe that had to do with the narrator choice ..."

Interesting! I suppose I was thinking that most actors could narrate, but I guess it isn't as simple as that. There's an audiobook company called Silksounds which has (mostly) British actors reading classics, beautifully! That may give you some options next time you need a Brit.

Recorded Books has a lot of British narrators. Simon Vance, Fredrick.. somebody. They've read a lot of classics. Not sure if they do free-lance or if they just work for their company.

Hj wrote: "Josh wrote: "I will say, it was hard to find a narrator for Strange Fortune. There just aren't as many British narrators -- male, anyway. So maybe that had to do with the narrator choice ..."

Inte..."

Ah! Very good to know.

I have to say I'm falling out of love with ACX. In fact, I'll be blogging on that in a couple of weeks.

Not because of the production side -- I think the idea behind ACX is brilliant. That idea of a creative broker. Wow. But because they are an Amazon company, it's the usual tainted business practices.

The good news is I've found so many excellent production companies and narrators through ACX that I really don't need ACX anymore.

Oh wow. I just discovered that Audible has 8 Arthur W. Upfield mysteries! His detective was Napoleon Bonaparte, a half white/half aboriginal who when in the city was similar to Hercule Peroit in demeanor, but could also strip down to a loincloth and go fully bush.

They are amazing mysteries written from the 30s to the 50s. I can't believe I found them on audible!

I ordered one of the Napoleon Bonapart books. Which one was the first one?

Susinok wrote: "Oh wow. I just discovered that Audible has 8 Arthur W. Upfield mysteries! His detective was Napoleon Bonaparte, a half white/half aboriginal who when in the city was similar to Hercule Peroit in de..."

AND they have Joan Hickson reading a lot of the Miss Marples. Although I think I've bought them all now. I wish she'd done every one of the Marple stories.

Josh wrote: "AND they have Joan Hickson reading a lot of the Miss Marples. Although I think I've bought them all now. I wish she'd done every one of the Marple stories. ..."

Joan Hickson IS Miss Marple. It's a while since I read those stories. I'm tempted...

Murphy wrote: "I ordered one of the Napoleon Bonaparte books. Which one was the first one?"

The first one is not on Audio. Only8 of the32 or more books are on there. The Sands Of Windee is the second in the series.

Now these were written long ago as a series, and there is not a lot of story arch or backstory to each book so they can be easily read out of order.

Hj wrote: "Josh wrote: "AND they have Joan Hickson reading a lot of the Miss Marples. Although I think I've bought them all now. I wish she'd done every one of the Marple stories. ..."

Joan Hickson IS Miss M..."

Exactly. No one can touch her.

Hj wrote: "I've finished the Yellow Socks audiobook, and am now listening to JL Merrow's Trick of Time. I'm finding it less enjoyable than it should be because for some unknown reason they had an American read it!!"

I actually didn't even notice for Trick of Time. And I liked the guy's voice a lot.

The one that is amusing me is Tigers & Devils. It is read by an American with no attempt at an Australian accent. Every time he says "arse" I have to roll my eyes. Dreamspinner is not what you'd call perfectionist with audiobooks.

Charming wrote: "I actually didn't even notice for Trick of Time. And I liked the guy's voice a lot.

The one that is amusing me is Tigers & Devils. It is read by an American with no attempt at an Australian accent. Every time he says "arse" I have to roll my eyes. Dreamspinner is not what you'd call perfectionist with audiobooks. ..."

Do you mind if I ask if you're British? I suspect that any other nationality wouldn't have noticed the problems with the narrator, maybe because they think that's how we speak!!

I listened open-mouthed to the sample for Tigers and Devils (and didn't buy it, of course). I'm glad he didn't attempt an Aussie accent as that would be a recipe for disaster, but how pathetic that they didn't get an Australian to read it. For some books it really wouldn't matter, because the nationality of the author is irrelevant to the story as written, but T&D could hardly be more Australian!

Hj wrote: "Do you mind if I ask if you're British? I suspect that any other nationality wouldn't have noticed the problems with the narrator, maybe because they think that's how we speak!! ..."

I would notice. I've watched enough BBC TV and had British and Australian friends, and a fake accent, or at least a badly done one, really grates on my nerves.

Charming wrote: "The one that is amusing me is Tigers & Devils. It is read by an American with no attempt at an Australian accent. Every time he says "arse" I have to roll my eyes. Dreamspinner is not what you'd call perfectionist with audiobooks."

Tigers and Devils was on of the funniest books I've read, and yet when I listened to the audio book, I think I laughed maybe once. It was a BIG disappointment, which surprised me. I purchased other audio books from both Dreamspinner and that narrator and enjoyed them, so I was surprised T and D fell so flat. It makes me really appreciate the care Josh has taken for his audio books, and making sure each series has the best narrator for that particular series. It REALLY makes a big difference in the final product.

Hj wrote: "Do you mind if I ask if you're British? I suspect that any other nationality wouldn't have noticed the problems with the narrator, maybe because they think that's how we speak!!"

I'm American, and any lame attempt at a British (or Australian) accent is probably good enough for me.

So I got this off another list -- it seemed kind of interesting. I think more than anything it shows the impact of this GR group!

I plugged in "Fatal Shadows" to see what influence if any that book had on the rest of my sales.

>For those of us who like to analyze data, there's another one out there that give a visual picture of how sales work in Amazon.


It's call: . com

You type in the name of your book and it creates a picture of how sales occurred within Amazon based on the flow of traffic and how people bought your book. Basically, it shows if people are buying your book through the "Customers Who Bought..." suggestions that show up on book pages. The more arrows coming to your book, the better.

I don't know what you can do with the data, but I found it interesting to see. It definitely shows the influencers in your genre on Amazon.
>

Josh wrote: "So I got this off another list -- it seemed kind of interesting. I think more than anything it shows the impact of this GR group!

I plugged in "Fatal Shadows" to see what influence if any that boo..."

A... it's like a Josh Lanyon book constellation. :-)

Josh wrote: "It's call: . com

You type in the name of your book and it creates a picture of how sales occurred within Amazon based on the flow of traffic and how people bought your book. Basically, it shows if people are buying your book through the "Customers Who Bought..." suggestions that show up on book pages. The more arrows coming to your book, the better."

That is so cool! I typed in Wicked Gentlemen and got a very pretty map.

Unfortunately it uses the interface that Google Maps does, so every time I tried to scroll the map got tiny.

that is the coolest thing ever.

Johanna wrote: "that is the coolest thing ever."

It's fascinating. I wonder what the time frame is though?