Q&A with Josh Lanyon discussion
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What we're listening to
I have to be in the mood to listen to audiobooks. I mostly listen during my commute -- some days I am in the mood for music and some days audiobooks. If I have a lot on my mind I can't pay attention to books.
Valerie C wrote: "I have to be in the mood to listen to audiobooks. I mostly listen during my commute -- some days I am in the mood for music and some days audiobooks. If I have a lot on my mind I can't pay attention to books...."I'm the opposite - if I have a lot on my mind, and I don't want to think about any of it, I like to listen to an audiobook. It's what I do when I can't sleep - I really focus on the book and it blocks out everything else.
K.Z. wrote: "I've been getting into my very first audiobook (which happens to be Josh's The Ghost Wore Yellow Socks), and I've noticed how very different listening to a book is from reading a book--for me, anyway. I have to pay closer attention and make a concentrated effort not to let my mind wander. Has that happened to any of the rest of you? I suspect I'll get "better" at this the more I do it, but right now I'm so used to visible words anchoring my focus, it tends to drift!"
When I listen to a book I cannot do anything else, otherwise I miss big chunks of the story. I usually sit or lie down, close my eyes, and concentrate on the narrator's voice.
K.Z. wrote: "I've been getting into my very first audiobook (which happens to be Josh's The Ghost Wore Yellow Socks), and I've noticed how very different listening to a book is from reading a boo..."Audiobooks take some practice and getting used to. I missed things at first when I first got into them. They are great for in the car or doing crafts or doing housework (except for vacuuming, heh).
Mod
Otherwise, like the others, I'm either doing the dishes (listening to a book makes doing chores more fun!), knitting or some other craft, or I'm on a four hour train ride where I'm too tired to be able to keep my eyes open for a print book. For some reason, listening to an audio book is easier and I'm more likely to not nap but perhaps knit for a bit during the ride.
But I do have to be in the mood for it sometimes too. On my walk home from work I used to always listen to music. Then when I started to get really stressed out, I didn't listen to anything. Not long ago I started listening to books, but I don't do it everyday. Sometimes if I've had a bad day I'll locate a book with soothing qualities (like CUTYS) and just listen to that until I feel better.
I've come to really appreciate audio books recently.
Mod
I don't know if there's a video for it, but I love the song Love Who You Love by Rascal Flatts. Perfect title and a fantastic band.
K.Z. wrote: "I've been getting into my very first audiobook (which happens to be Josh's The Ghost Wore Yellow Socks), and I've noticed how very different listening to a book is from reading a boo..."It is definitely a different experience than reading by yourself. I am rather new to the experience myself (and my first was Josh's CUTYS)but I have learned to love it.
Since English isn't my first language I find I have to concentrate hard at the beginning of an audio book to get used to the narrator's style and pronounciation. I usually do something else while listening, like knitting. If my hands are not engaged, I still prefer reading myself. But I do notice little details in the language that I miss when reading myself, not to mention I learn how certain words actually are pronounced :)
Jordan wrote: "I don't know if there's a video for it, but I love the song Love Who You Love by Rascal Flatts. Perfect title and a fantastic band."Apparently there isn't an official one, but here a fan vid, with lyrics, for everybody (like me) who didn't know this song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4ZOR2...
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I think that's true. It's easier to get distracted. To find yourself listening to a particular line, to start considering inflection, and the next thing you know, it's a different scene.
It goes the other way too. I used to listen to audio books on my drive to and from work, and I would get in the car and the next thing I knew, I would be pulling into my driveway. YIKES. :-D
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It's pretty shocking really.
https://www.change.org/petitions/www-......"
Still 99 signatures short.
It's fascinating in that -- as I mentioned elsewhere -- this battle is being fought and lost before most authors realize there's even something worth fighting for.
Because authors typically don't make money on audio books (the earnings are negligible through a traditional publishing contract) they don't realize that they're letting go of a potentially lucrative revenue stream.
As things stand now, I don't make a lot over my costs, so this 10% might be enough to make financing audio books impractical. Especially given Amazon's push to get everything whispersynched where possible.
Amazon and Audible make money on the quantity of product they sell, so for them there is no pressure to ensure that any individual author makes money.
Mod
That's true! They are fantastic for falling asleep to. :-D
Josh wrote: "Alison wrote: "Josh wrote: "By the way, if you guys could maybe take a look at this and add your signatures? It's pretty shocking really.
https://www.change.org/petitions/www-......"
Signed. Btw, if the above link doesn't work, try here:
http://www.change.org/petitions/www-a...
K.Z. wrote: "I've been getting into my very first audiobook (which happens to be Josh's The Ghost Wore Yellow Socks), and I've noticed how very different listening to a book is from reading a boo..."I know I have taken the opportunity to purchase some of my favorites, as well as some new to me authors, in audio format, and I have found, depending on narrator choice, that some of my rereads have actually increased my enjoyment of a story.
I love having this option now, and my audible library is increasing and giving me something to look forward to when I commute or go on a walk :)
KC wrote: "Josh wrote: "Alison wrote: "Josh wrote: "By the way, if you guys could maybe take a look at this and add your signatures? It's pretty shocking really.
https://www.change.org/petitions/www-......"
Thanks, the original link didn't work. Signed now.
Anne wrote: "KC wrote: "Josh wrote: "Alison wrote: "Josh wrote: "By the way, if you guys could maybe take a look at this and add your signatures? It's pretty shocking really.
https://www.change.org/petition..."
Yes. I found I had to go back a page on the thread for the original link Josh posted.
https://www.change.org/petitions/www-...
K, it's down to 89 signatures ...here's hoping that my mass send out to the authors on my FB list gets more signatures.
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I've posted the link on a GR group about Romance Audiobooks. The thread was discussing the impact ACX's actions could have on readers/listeners, on the basis that fewer audiobooks might be made.
And I've just been to visit that thread and found this very timely link from USA Today with het romance author Grace Burrowes explaining her choice to not use ACX and to market her audiobooks herself - together with what strikes me as a rather defensive quote from ACX added as a response! What I find interesting is that the way she produced the audiobooks sounds no more work than Josh does on his (possibly less), and probably no less cost. I suspect that the flaw in the whole process is actually selling the end result. There is no information about sales volumes or whether she has recouped her cost, etc..
http://www.usatoday.com/story/happyev...
Mtsnow13 wrote: "Anne wrote: "KC wrote: "Josh wrote: "Alison wrote: "Josh wrote: "By the way, if you guys could maybe take a look at this and add your signatures? It's pretty shocking really.
https://www.change..."
The good news is that it's down to 43 signatures needed this morning. Hope we can get that soon! Is there a deadline or is it that it can't be challenged until it reaches the 500 mark?
Mod
It's pretty shocking really.
h..."
I'm not sure. I signed up for updates but haven't received any.
I just listed several projects for this year. I don't know that I will list any more once the royalty change goes into effect. I'll have to see how that works out. At the moment, I'm not inclined to work with them again after the rate changes.
Mod
As I continue to think about this, I suspect that most audio books (just as most ebooks) sell very few copies, and so the flood of productions may present more trouble than they're worth, given that ACX is resistant to hiring enough people to handle problems with customers/projects. It generally takes them 1 -2 days to even respond to simple emails, which is practically unheard of in modern day business, at least when you're dealing with a company of any size.
There's no data that I can find on the average earnings or even average number of audio sales from ACX -- there's no transparency at all -- so it's difficult to know for sure.
Any promotion efforts go to mainstream titles -- self-published titles are all but invisible. And way back in the beginning they did not want to handle self-published titles at all, so there are probably a number of things going on behind the scenes.
Mod
It does seem to me that she's over thinking a lot of it. :-) I wish she had shared just the information on whether she had recouped her costs, given that she's only selling through her own website.
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I think it's basically going to come down to whether anyone, other than Amazon/Audible, can make money on audio books. In the old days no one made money on audio. You earned pocket change, and were happy just to have a chance to find new readers.
That seems to be the model ACX/Audible is eager to reestablish. The difference is, authors/narrators were not previously financing the projects.
The dilemma here is that either authors or narrators must risk financing a project that they cannot control pricing on. Amazon wants everything price-linked and whispersynched so that a reader can buy the print book and then purchase both ebook and audio at greatly reduced prices.
Amazon gets to keep all the marbles and the author is earning vastly reduced royalties on two of their three products. It's definitely a problem. Amazon insists that this pricing helps authors sell more product, but unless you are selling HUGE quantities (and in this genre, we don't) you're simply conditioning your audience to expect everything for dirt cheap.
For Amazon earing .40 on a million items is still excellent profit. For me, earning .40 on a hundred items is not a livable wage. That's essentially what we're looking at.
Josh wrote: "By the way, if you guys could maybe take a look at this and add your signatures? It's pretty shocking really.
https://www.change.org/petitions/www-......"
Need 24 more signatures...
Mod
It's pretty shocking really.
https://www.change.org/petitions/www-......"
That's excellent.
Josh wrote: "Mtsnow13 wrote: "Josh wrote: "By the way, if you guys could maybe take a look at this and add your signatures? It's pretty shocking really.
https://www.change.org/petitions/www-...-..."
Needs only 10 more...so close!
Mod
It's pretty shocking really.
https://www.change.org/petitions/www-acx..."
Posted again to my FB pages.
Josh wrote: "Mtsnow13 wrote: "Josh wrote: "Mtsnow13 wrote: "Josh wrote: "By the way, if you guys could maybe take a look at this and add your signatures? It's pretty shocking really.
https://www.change.org/..."
I'm confused. Said only needed 500. Now they are at 543 signatures, and they are requesting 1,000 signatures. Is that typical of the way petitions work?
Enjoying this story 40 Souls to Keep by Libby Drew. The narrator is pretty good. Don't remember who it is. Will have to look...K. Looks like a Charles Carr. Pretty good.
K.Z. wrote: "I've been getting into my very first audiobook (which happens to be Josh's The Ghost Wore Yellow Socks), and I've noticed how very different listening to a book is from reading a boo..."I have slowly been discovering the activities I can actually do while listening to a book and they are few. I can drive, eat, do non-complicated cooking, exercise, and that's about all. I've tried listening while cleaning, sorting stuff, shoveling snow (Johanna's favourite!), and some other things, but I just end up standing and staring into space. Audiobooks seem to take up all my attention, and I am famously bad at multitasking.
Mtsnow13 wrote: "Josh wrote: "Mtsnow13 wrote: "Josh wrote: "Mtsnow13 wrote: "Josh wrote: "By the way, if you guys could maybe take a look at this and add your signatures? It's pretty shocking really.
https://ww..."
I'm confused. Said only needed 500. Now they are at 543 signatures, and they are requesting 1,000 signatures. Is that typical of the way petitions work?
Yes, I've noticed online petitions tend to count up to certain numbers, a goal, I suppose, and then once that number is reached, there's a bigger number. So I guess it's just a more interesting way of counting.
Mod
Absolutely! :-) Shoveling snow, mowing the lawn, other garden tasks and running on treadmill — those are my favorite times to listen to an audio book. Also some easy cooking and cleaning tasks like vacuuming and cleaning toilets works fine, but if I'm sorting stuff like papers in the study that doesn't work so well at all with an audio book — my mind tends to wonder too much then.
Antonella wrote: "Jordan wrote: "I don't know if there's a video for it, but I love the song Love Who You Love by Rascal Flatts. Perfect title and a fantastic band."Apparently there isn't an official one, but here..."
I love it when you guys post music. There's been a good run this week of songs I hadn't heard before. Please carry on. :)
Thank you!
Oh god! I just finished Whiskey and Wry and (view spoiler)I'm in shock..... I did not see that coming. The next book is a novella..... does anyone know what it's about?
Ame wrote: "Oh god! I just finished Whiskey and Wry and [spoilers removed]I'm in shock..... I did not see that coming. The next book is a novella..... does anyone know what it's about?"
I think the novella is about Miki and Kane.
And That spoiler? Surprised me too.
Jordan wrote: "Btw, all of those music videos are awesome! It's pretty awesome when a country music artist comes out in support. They don't make grand statements, but tend to do it in song. I think Nashville is s..."It is awesome! It's so good to see country musicians being supportive. And one day it won't matter who people are singing love songs to. And don't forget about Steve Grand. It's neat to see his out and proud music career moving forward. I applaud him for doing what he's doing and I wish him well.
And here's his country song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjiyjY...
He's doing a Kickstarter thing to fund his first album here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...
Johanna wrote: "Alison wrote: "shoveling snow (Johanna's favourite!)"Absolutely! :-) Shoveling snow, mowing the lawn, other garden tasks and running on treadmill — those are my favorite times to listen to an aud..."
Not that there's been much snow to shovel this year, but I did try it on your recommendation. I think it was maybe a bit noisy, because I kept stopping to listen instead. Oh well.
Susinok wrote: "Ame wrote: "Oh god! I just finished Whiskey and Wry and [spoilers removed]I'm in shock..... I did not see that coming. The next book is a novella..... does anyone know what it's about?"
I think..."
Oh. So do you know when the book related to the spoiler is out? BTW love those audio books. Really good work.
Ame wrote: "Oh. So do you know when the book related to the spoiler is out? BTW love those audio books. Really good work. ..."Not sure, I think late summer. I follow Rhys Ford on twitter and Facebook and saw her summary of releases there a few days ago.
I LOVED her Steampunk novella, Clockwork Tangerine. A very nicely realized world and a good story.
Mod
It's pretty shocking really.
https://ww..."
Yes, I saw that. That's discouraging, I think -- although I'm sure the intent is the opposite.
Mod
LOL
Alison wrote: "Antonella wrote: "Jordan wrote: "I don't know if there's a video for it, but I love the song Love Who You Love by Rascal Flatts. Perfect title and a fantastic band."Apparently there isn't an offi..."
I could post songs all day if I had the time. :-D
Here are some random songs I keep replaying lately:
Sam Smith - Latch (acoustic)
John Legend - All of Me
Ellie Goulding - Your Song
Kodaline I can't pick a favorite song - I love the whole album. It's like they wrote it just for me. :-D
ETA: I just noticed this version of Latch includes same sex couples. :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93ASUI...
I just finished Greenwode, first dsp audiobook I've braved in a long time. Well worth it, but be warned it does end with a cliffhanger. Onto Shirewode now.
Mod
Absolutely! :-) Shoveling snow, mowing the lawn, other garden tasks and running on treadmill — those are my favorite times to listen to an aud..."
I need to get out on the track and do some serious walking. Listening to audio books just might help! But so would warmer weather!
Mod
If I recall, I have Elton John's version of Your Song on record. Love that song, and I like this version too!
Thanks for sharing.
Jordan wrote: "That one guy from the Latch video was hot! Lol.If I recall, I have Elton John's version of Your Song on record. Love that song, and I like this version too!
Thanks for sharing."
The guy with the scruff?
I think John Legend is yummy. :-D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXvy8Z...
Mod
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Q&A with Josh Lanyon
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I agree with Stephanie. I have to do something else at the same time, something which doesn't require too much concentration. I can't just sit and listen. Driving, cooking, tidying, emptying the dishwasher, knitting - that sort of thing! In fact, if I plan to do that type of thing I am now conditioned to locate the iPod first.
But then you'll find that you're getting so much more from the book than you did when you read it yourself, no matter how often you've read it. I'm still not sure how or why that happens, but there seems to be a consensus that it does.