Dear Readers,
At long last, Amanda Cadabra and The Hidey-Hole Truth is out on audiobook, after 5 years. Why did it take so long? Now if you’ve been following the saga you may know much of this but here I reveal its ending as well as a catchup for new readers that I hope will enlighten and entertain everyone. So here it is, the Seven Hurdles ….
One: A Medley of Mics
It all began with a Snowball, back in the summer of 2018. was in its final stages before release, and my thoughts had turned to an audio version.
I did my research and ordered my first ever proper microphone: a Yeti Snowball. I chose it because it’s recommended, and many narrators have used it with success. It plugs straight into the computer with no need for a costly interface. It was to be the first of four. Using Garageband, I made the first test. There was some kind of background crackle. Blue – who make the Yeti – replaced it. But still no clean sound.
By this time, book four, Amanda Cadabra and The Rise of Sunken Madley was published, and I had resolved to upgrade to the Rode NT as recommended by ACX, who produce audiobooks for Amazon. I was on the right track.
Two: The Snake
It would be a Rode that would finally take me home. But not yet. Another test, and there it was – the bane of the home recording: the background hiss. Confident that my room was clear of snakes, I contacted Rode, who replaced the mic. Testing, testing … the serpent was still in residence.
Over the coming months, I worked with ACX and Rode to track down the culprit. I took my laptop and made a recording in my car down the street. But the ophidian had wormed its way into my car, and the hiss persisted even there. On the other hand, this was a successful experiment. It meant that the issue was not environmental. Â
I made test recordings using my laptop and my desktop, but the serpentine backing singer showed itself regardless. Nevertheless, there appeared to be nothing wrong with the microphone. By now, I had made contact with Matthew, a sound engineer across the Pond, who confirmed that the recording was just too bad to have anything made of it. There was also nothing else to try.
Three: Sound and Fury
‘Fury’ is rather an overstatement. Frustration and disappointment are much close to the mark. The audiobook project was moved to the back burner as books 5, 6, and 7 were written and published.
And then … in the winter of last year, in the flurry of the launch of book 8, Amanda Cadabra and The Nightstairs … drama! My iMac was suddenly in need of an urgent upgrade to the operating system and, consequently, the drive. The job was done in a matter of days, and my beloved computer was safely home on my desk. The upgrade meant that I was now using an improved version of Garageband. Was it possible? Could it be ….?
I made a test recording. There was a vast improvement. What would Matthew say?Â
The verdict was that it was good enough. Matthew cleaned it up, and it was as music to my ears. Recording began. But. There was background noise. No hiss but simply humans going about their daily lives. There was only one solution: record when they were asleep. This meant early morning session between 4-6 am.
Four: Choice Cuts
With the recording completed, it was time to listen and note down the many repetitions of phrases or sentences that I’d got wrong the first time. It also meant some re-recordings of mistakes I hadn’t noticed. Then each of the errors had to be edited out: cut. Often there was more than one version, and I had to decide which would be the best. It was a long and painstaking process, and winter melted into the spring.
Five: Breaking the Code
At last, it was completed and sent off to Matthew. Within 48 hours, it was done – beautifully cleaned up and tidied into one track per chapter. Now the time had come to take the complete recording of the book to ACX.
I must have opened an account in the beginning, back in 2019, because the site insisted I already had one. I set up a new account and began entering my details on the first page. And then …. I put in my address. Street and city were accepted. I baulked at the State as England was not listed and left it blank. I typed in my postcode (zipcode) and pressed enter.
‘Invalid’. Ah, I tried removing the space between two of the numbers. ‘Invalid’. I tried lowercase. It was still not happy. ACX support tried to help, but it was adamant. My postcode did not exist, as far as the form was concerned. I searched online for inspiration, and there on a helpful forum, someone said that after repeated re-entry of their postcode, they had been rewarded.
Doggedly I argued my point with the form and finally … success. It caved in and accepted my code. Â
Six: Loading
I’d got as far as the chapter loading page. Joyfully I uploaded file after file only to find that fast and furious was not how it liked it. Instead, the files had to be submitted slowly and gently. All 47 of them. I reached the end of the day with 46 chapters loaded. And one refusal. Stuck on loading. I emailed support and called it a day.
After a night’s rest, both the form and I were refreshed. The final chapter had loaded. I submitted the book and waited. Matthew had tested the recording thoroughly and assured that it would pass first time. But would ACX find anything amiss? I waited.
Seven: The Final Barrier
I yearned to be about to tell you the release date, and had been told I could appoint the day for this. However, it turns out that you can only do that if you publish exclusively through ACX and Amazon. I had opted out, electing for the freedom to make the audiobook available on multiple platforms, and so all I could do was wait.
Then, a week ago, I saw that I had received an email from ACX. Gasp! Had they found a problem? No. True to Matthew’s word, all was well, but they had a sale in progress and would publish once it was finished. I wrote back. Could they confirm a date? Silence ensued.
The weekend approached; Saturday passed, and most of Sunday when I saw the message. The audiobook was out, and it was too late to organise the party. No matter; there was time to prepare for today. I told my subscribers that it was out but to please keep it to themselves until the official date.
And here it is! Launch day.
Thank You, and Giveaway
I would like to extend my thanks to everyone who has encouraged me through the journey, the readers who kept asking for an audiobook version, who have kept up with my progress, and supported me along the way, to Matthew, Blue, Rode and ACX, Ann Solomon our Beta-Reader-In-Chief, and the friends both among my readers and readers-yet-to-be who have loyally endured the blow-by-blow accounts of motion forward and setbacks.
In case you’ve missed it, today is the last day of the Cozy Mystery Giveaway which is chock full of summer goodies. You can enter here:
Something New …
So the audiobook is out, but … something new is about to begin. Oh yes, book 9, the new sequel, is in progress, but this is something else, something more challenging to me than any of the books I’ve written. It’s coming with the summer solstice … hours away. And I’ll be back shortly to tell you about it.
Happy end of spring (or autumn)
Holly
PS If you want to start the series now:
