Why Publish Public Domain book?
Just like other genres of voice over, when you are new to audio books, you need to build your street credit. The more titles you have under your built, the more experience you gain. It is hard, however, to book work without titles to your name. A great way to do this is to narrate books that are already in the “Public Domain.” That means that these books have been published more than 100 years ago and are free for anyone to work with. The other good news is that every January more books become part of the public domain! I had gone to Karen Commins’ site Narrator’s Roadmap, which can be found here https://www.narratorsroadmap.com/ and found a wealth of information. I have actually paid for access to her videos and am so thankful for that information. If you, like me, are new to audiobooks you may also find this site to be a blessing!
Find Content On Gutenberg
The easiest place to find public domain content is at https://gutenberg.org/. There you can search and download titles. I used this site myself to create a master spreadsheet of many titles I am interested in narrating. Then when I have downtime in between actual VO bookings, these are projects I can turn to to fill my audiobook goals. Keep this spreadsheet in a place you can easily access. You can have a lot of fun finding works in different genres. For instance, this week I recorded both a History title and a Poetry book.
Publishing on Kindle
You will want to upload your public domain book for kindle. In order to do this you need to do a few important things!! First, you need to create a separate and unique email address, different that the other address you use as a narrator on acx. Make sure that it is something that you can remember.
The other important step is that you need to make your version of the public domain book different than the existing versions in order to claim it on Kindle. For instance, for the books that I have done, I researched and wrote forewards that I found interesting. For the poetry book I just did, I wrote and article about why it is important for children to read poetry. Once you do this, merge the PDFs to create one version. Then, upload that version in a format that kindle takes, like epub. I use zamzar to do this. The link is in the list below.
Note, you will need to create your own cover art! I also create mine at this stage, prior to beginning the upload process. I like to make my cover art both on canva or on an app called word swag. I make it in a square shape and I tend to make two versions, one for the kindle and one for ACX. I love creating content for social media, so I actually find this step fun. You can be creative and really make this your own. Again, this is another way that differentiates your public domain version, so you might as well make it something that stands out to you. I very much enjoyed having a chance to create the two that I worked on this month.
Once you have completed these steps, as the rights holder you can go to https://kdp.amazon.com/ and publish your version of the public domain book on kindle. Once the book is live, which takes about 72 hours, you can then create the audio book.
Publishing Your Audio Book
Once Kindle has approved your ebook, you can go into ACX and upload the audio.
You still need to meet all of the ACX standards and have the audio divided properly (opening credits, closing credits, body to match table of contents, retail sample, etc….)
I have to say, having just completed my second project, I was elated to have finally figured it out. In a seven week period, I booked three titles on ACX and published two of my own. It honestly feels great!
To Make sure this is easy for you to follow, here is a breakdown of the steps that I took:
List of steps:
- Find public domain source to narrate using https://gutenberg.org/
- Download and save your version.
- Write a foreward or do something to make your version unique. Save that additional copy.
- Merge the two pieces of copy into one PDF.
- Save this as an “epub” file using https://www.zamzar.com/. You’ll need that format to upload.
- Create cover art. You can do this using canva or an app like Word Swag. You can save the file as a jpeg. Note that A CX has different file size requirements than kindle for this file and you can create one image and use something like preview if you are on a Mac to change the file size.
- Log in using your “Rights Holder” account. Publish your ebook at https://kdp.amazon.com/.
- Once the ebook is live, go to acx.com to upload the audio.
- Record your audio per ACX standards.
audio. So my audio was immediately flagged as being insufficient for their needs. You get a little orange or red, depending on the screen settings of your monitor, triangle with an exclamation point in it.
You might be wondering, as a full time voice actor with pretty stellar commercial bookings, why would I go after a new, and frankly uniquely different genre now? Well, if you are new to my blog you might not know that my twins left for college this year. So at the age of 45 I became an empty nester in the snap of a finger. My life was turned upside down and for someone life me downtime is not desirable. I need to be busy every second. The notion of learning a new skill set, something I could get lost in and spend hours studying, became very appealing. When I started in voice over many years ago, long before I ever had a single client, I looked at the study of the craft of commercial voice over as my full-time job. It served me well. My passion for a given genre can lead me to success when I apply that passion to the detailed study of it. So, non-fiction audio books, here I come!
In the midst of my break down in the booth, I heard from a friend and fellow coach Jack de Golia. G-d his timing was good. He told me I needed to reach out to George Whittam (AKA George the Tech) for a specific stack just for audio books. Hallelujah. There was hope in site. If you don’t know George, you can actually pay for 911 emergency service to get bumped to the front of the line in cases like this, otherwise it takes about a week.
Interestingly, an early morning text from my nutritionist got me thinking about why positivity matters so much. At the end of her text, which happens to be the first text of my day, it said “No effort is too little in the big picture. It ALL adds up to progress. Keep your eyes on the goal and have a glorious day!” That is how my day started. Who wouldn’t feel great after such a message? And this got my wheels turning about the importance of what I put out to my own VO students. I am someone who has always responded well to positive reinforcement. More than that, I thrive on it. Feedback with a positive spin is something I can run with. Conversely, when I feel criticized or scrutinized I do not perform well. I have studied the psychology behind this in graduate school and in professional development workshops as a teacher, and I try to bring all this with me pedagogically when I coach. I do believe that for voice over students to get the most out of their experience they need positive reinforcement.
Before working in voice over, I actually taught middle and high school history at an all-girls school in New York City. For one of our teacher in service days, we had a neurologist come and talk to us about positive reinforcement. Did you know that there have been studies that prove that people respond better when their papers are marked with green pen than with a red pen? Further, students to respond better to encouragement to improve and build
I cherish building close relationships with people I work with. In the past few years, I have been come close with a “client” named Steve. First, I got to know Steve when he owned a production agency in Portland. Then, he opened a boutique talent agency. Over time, Steve became a close and cherished friend. When Steve opened his agency he actually decided to refer talents who needed coaching to me. Why? In addition to the curriculum I developed, he liked my positive way. Even recently, while in a period of transition onto a new path in life, Steve asked me if I would direct a session for a client because of my positive way. The point is that people need this kind of support and vibe, it makes it easier to work together. 
When I was in graduate school we also spent a lot of time learning about Howard Gardner and his theory of multiple intelligences, that different people learn and absorb material in different ways. I can tell you that as I get older I think the way that I myself learn has changed. But, the way that I relate to people and connect with people has only changed in degree and not manner. I would say that I am perhaps more sensitive now, than when I was young. I am a delicate soul, and especially something as personally as our art, well, we are all unique and while there are industry standards and benchmarks we need to meet, I would like, myself, to learn about it in a meaningful and engaging way that brings out my best, and is not belittling.
Last May the reality sunk in that in June my twins were graduating from high school. In August they’d both be leaving, at once, for college. While for some they were not going terribly far, for me, the three hours they’d both be going to Lancaster, PA was really, really far. They might as well have been flying to California. As a working mom who works really long days, and often works quite a few hours on weekends, spending six hours in the car for a single visit felt daunting. The other important piece of the puzzle is that for my entire adult life, I always have said that my kids were my motivation. They have been my why. So with them leaving, I felt like the ground beneath me was shifting in a fairly seismic way.
Around this time my neighbor across the street, Efi, organized a pretty amazing block party. It was great in all the ways a block party can be. Everyone showed up. Everyone was kind. And, the food was awesome. Efi happens to also be a working mom, an accountant who specializes in managing money for wealthy families. Another working mom was there too, my friend and neighbor Melanie who is a lawyer in NYC. Well, Melanie looked better than she had in all the years that I have known her. I was amazed. As I was gobbling handfuls of potato chips, I asked Melanie what she was doing. She began to tell me about her journey. I continued to munch on the chips while she elaborated.
So you might be wondering, how I am getting along with my kids away? Well, it’s actually been alright. I miss them, of course. But when your kids are happy and thriving, it is a joy to hear about how well they are doing, and we celebrate their successes. I have been visiting regularly, and when they are home I try not to work at all. That is new for me and not so easy, but as every moment with them is precious, I now fiercely guard this sacred time. I feel, with certainty, that my wellness journey prepared me for their departure. I was mentally and physically ready because I gave myself the gift of self-help, support, and wellness before they left. Having a team of wellness experts around you sets you up for success. Within such a framework, I gave myself a chance to thrive. I gave me chance to reach some rather important goals and to see a bright light was possible for me. When I saw that, I saw that this would be a positive time for all of us.
When I first heard about the sales funnel for voice over, I was elated. Basically, their funnel drew me in and it worked instantly. I had several thoughts. First, I loved the idea of paying less for pay to plays. I thought by starting a funnel I could change my pay to play strategy. To be clear, I do not think there is a voice over reality in which pay to plays cease to exist, I simply wanted to be less dependent on them. Next, I loved the idea of positioning myself to be found by the people who were hiring me. In all my years as a full-time actor, I spend A LOT of time doing direct marketing, and we all know this can be a craps shoot, a big roll of the dice. The sales funnel was appealing because I had hoped that through the marketing expertise of the folks I hired the people who needed me would find me and I could focus on what I love to do most, recording and coaching. It sounds great, right?
While working with Rob and Mary was as expected in terms of their bed-side manner, and they were responsive and kind, Rob over-promised and under-delivered in terms of the result of the funnel. It was actually shocking. We would look at the same numbers, and they would have a completely different analysis of them. Keep in mind the funnel was supposed to bring in dream clients with large budgets. It was supposed to weed out the undesirables. This was NOT my experience. My experience with the opposite. My dream clients were no where to be found. I had multiple people sign up for calls and not show up. I sent follow up emails and texts to those no-shows. 
