Thursday, July 5, 2012

No audio for you (or me, too)!

MurderOnHalfShelf.smIt's no secret that some of my readers are very unhappy that Murder on The Half Shelf was not published as a mass market paperback.  I say it's no secret because I posted it up on Facebook.  (You can't get much more public than that.)  And Julie Hyzy wrote a blog called "What Readers May Not Know About Book Publishing," which is quite thoughtful.  (Bet you didn't now how little control authors actually have over their work when they sign that coveted publisher contract.)

I'm not badmouthing my publisher.  Far from it.  They delivered a beautiful hardcover, they hired a fantastic cover artist (who has done all my Booktown mysteries--and right now is in the process of creating another wonderful painting for Booktown #7 "The Chamber Plot"), and they have treated me very well indeed.  I have a marvelous editor, and the staff at Berkley Prime Crime has worked very hard on my behalf.

So what's the point of this blog post?  As if the whole hardcover vs. paperback debate wasn't enough, and as three of my readers have already asked and discovered ... there will be no audio edition of Murder On The Half Shelf.  Why?  Not enough people downloaded the audio versions of the previous five books.

Am I heartbroken by this turn of events?  No, but I am quite disappointed.  Can I blame my publisher?  No way.  I'm  extremely grateful that they took a chance and made the first five books available as audiobooks.  I do wish they'd made the books available on CD, too, because I know a LOT of people don't have an MP3 player.  Hey, until Christmas, neither did I.  I still prefer to listen to audiobooks via CD ... but then, that might be because I haven't tried it on my MP3 player.  (I think I'd have to get a second one.  Mine's all clogged up with music.)

I was soooo looking forward to hearing what the narrator (Cassandra Campbell) would have done with one of my newest characters, Pixie.  In fact, when I was writing her part of the story, I had Ms. Campbell's voice in my head as Pixie delivered her lines.

Do I think audiobooks were expensive?  Yes.  If publishers priced them cheaper, the audio market would explode and authors and the publishers alike would make scads of money and our audio listeners would be ecstatic (the same with e books).  J.A. Konrath agrees, and recently wrote a blog post on the same subject.

Will my publisher ever put the rest of the books on audio?  My guess is no.  Not ever.  Don't even think about it.  That is ... unless there's a huge spike in sales of the first five books.

Well, a girl can dream, can't she?
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8 comments:

  1. I'm a Member of Audible.com but I NEVER found and don't find yet your books there to download?!?!?
    I would have, if I'd known. But it seems, that one will only get to your books when you are a NEW subscriber??
    Because when I'm not signed in, your audiobooks show. But when I signed in, I find neather a book by title, nor by your name! What is this? A kind of bad joke?
    I just contactet audible.com. Hope they have some good explanation. This can not be!
    I must be getting something wrong...?
    When I find out what's it all about, I will tell you.

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  2. Right now, with a subscription if either 12 or 24 credits/year audiobooks, at approximately $11/book), are less expensive for the reader than either e-books or hard cover books. A often stated comment by publishers that e-book & audiobook sales cannibalize sales have been proven wrong. For the visually impaired or people, like myself who often don't have hours to sit with a book (I do most of my 'reading' while traveling) the decision of your publishers not to do audio versions is shortsighted since many people will no longer purchase any version of your excellent books.

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  3. Hi there. I got a comment from Audible.
    'I understand you are looking to purchase titles by Lorna Barett but you are unable to do so at the moment. Further reviewing this issue, Audible is not licensed by the Publisher to sell these titles in your region at this time. Publishers specify which countries the Digital Download Rights were acquired for on any audio book. We understand how this may come across as an inconvenience for you but as a distributor of the audio content, we need to abide by the restrictions that the Publishers have placed on the audio book. Publishers are able to purchase “world” rights for a particular download; however, publishers frequently purchase digital rights for some countries and not others. In some cases, one Publisher will control the download rights to a title in North America and another Publisher will control the rights to the same title in other countries.'

    In my opinion the Publishers are shortminded! They would make a lot more sales if they make it accessible to all!?!

    I love reading, but I love to hear audibles while housekeeping, crafting or travelling. My first look is always if the books are available in Audible. If not, I buy them as paperback or e-book.

    Well - it would have been nice to hear all your books. But I read them nontheless :-)
    The newest one in next in line

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  4. If you'd like to write to my publisher, you can at the following address:

    Mr. Thomas Colgan
    Penguin Group (USA)
    375 Hudson Street--5th Floor
    New York, NY 10014

    Thanks.

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  5. Thanks for the adress. I will :-)

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  6. I started reading your books in paperback. When I saw them appear at Audible, I downloaded them all, even though I already read the books. AND I used real money, not Audible credits, because the credits cost $15 and your audio cost less. I've listened to all the audios twice (in addition to reading the books). I love Cassandra's "Angelica" voice. Right now I am reading Murder on the Half Shelf, but I've been checking Audible every day hoping it would suddenly appear. I guess not. Your publisher is crazy. Tell them to cater to the fans, not themselves. We want audio. Your Booktown books are comforting to listen to. Everyone's so familiar. Btw, I never read mysteries in my whole life (which is a long time). Yours was the first. Now, I'm hooked.

    So how many of us need to gang up on your publisher before they'll cave?

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  7. Seriously, it would take 10-20,000 people buying what's already out there for them to even consider going further with the audiobooks. Unless I become as famous as ... say Janet Evanovick (and that is never going to happen) ... there won't be any more audiobooks.

    I'm listening to Sentenced to Death right now, and feeling really blue that I'll never hear Cassandra as Pixie.

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  8. Hi Lorraine

    I wrote the letter. Well my english is good enough to read or listen books in english, but writing is another thing...
    I scanned the letter and send it to you. I would like you to read it first before I send it to your publisher ;-)
    I found an email-adress on your blog. My mail goes with the subject: Annina from Switzerland.
    Thanks for your time

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