So I heard you want audiobooks...
Okay lovelies, LONG ASS POST ALERT!
TL;DR (but you really should read it). We're doing a fundraiser to get me the mini recording booth I need to do audiobooks in my office, and possibly a podcast but that's like... still in the development stage. The links to donate are below.
But I mean just read the damn post lol you already read my long ass books you might as well.
EDIT: The fundraising page on my website is up now. There is a donate button and a graphic to show how we’re doing so far. Graphic isn’t updated live though, just when Joshua is awake or not at work lol.
Hello, my lovelies!
WELL! I have been putting off this post for like a week now lol trying to figure out how to word it properly. No, no, don’t worry, nothing is wrong. Actually, if all goes well… a lot of things will be right!
Because you see… I have a plan to make The Fallocaust Series, and eventually The Gods’ Games Series and Silent Ground into AUDIOBOOKS. Yes, you heard that right.
As I had said a couple of months ago, to hire someone to do even Fallocaust Book 1 into audiobooks would cost upwards of 12,000 USD (about 16,500 Canadian), which obviously I do not have, so the only reasonable choice was for me to narrate the audiobooks myself. I have always been interested in doing this. I love learning new things and learning how to narrate and how to edit, and just the process in general fascinates me. Back when I first published Fallocaust, my spelling and grammar were awful, yet I couldn’t afford an editor. This was a huge embarrassment to me because I wanted people to focus on the book not the spelling/grammar, but I couldn’t expect people to look past it. For a little context, I was homeschooled for most of my life, which consisted of me having to teach myself everything. I never could grasp grammar rules and had been taught previously to just ‘sound out the word’ which meant a word I didn’t know how to spell could be spelled several different ways in a single page.
So, once Book 1 was published I spent two weeks learning as much editing as I could, grammar, spelling, and editing Book 1 multiple times, continuously uploading new editions of Book 1 every 6 to 12 hours. And even once I was done this binge, I continued to learn editing and all it entailed until, well, I think I’m pretty decent at it now. I taught myself not just how to edit after the first draft was done, but how to just not write those mistakes in the first place.
What's my point you ask? My point is that when a financial obstacle is in my path, a path to making my books better or more accessible to people, I want to climb over it. When I know I can’t afford outside help, my solution has always been to teach myself how to do it and then go fucking rock it.
So now that we’ve established my motivation, another obstacle in my path was space. I live in a small two bedroom apartment/suite with the second bedroom being my ‘office’ and there was just no space at all that I could transform into a suitable mini recording studio. And if I am going to be spending hundreds, and eventually thousands of hours recording, I want the audio to be as professional as possible. I am not going to half-ass this. If I’m doing this myself, I need a sound proof recording area that will give me consistent levels, and sound proof enough to cut out the sounds of crickets chirping, echoes, distressed cats upset that I’m in a closed off area they are not allowed inside, and distressed boyfriends upset that I’m in a closed off area they’re not allowed inside with all the liquor.
And thankfully, with some furniture rearranging, ie: moving my PC into the living room to crowd it up some more – I now have space in my office.
And this is where you guys come in! Because I NEED YOUR HELP! Or, well, THE AUDIOBOOKS NEED YOUR HELP! My friends and I have produced a plan to do a fundraiser, to raise enough money for me to purchase basically a mini portable recording studio. (https://www.bearcavesilentbooths.com/our-booths). Inside they are 4 x 4 and come with things you wouldn’t even think of needing, like ventilation so I don’t suffocate and die. The company that I settled on is based in Canada as well, or else I’d be getting gutted on customs fees and the exchange rate.
These things aren’t cheap, unless you’re comparing it to how much it would cost to rent studio time or hire someone, then they’re cheap as fuck, but I think this is my ideal solution. It will give me the audio levels and the background silence that Audible (more specifically the ACX) requires in order to submit your audiobook, while muffling outside noises and making me sound as good as possible. There’s also a door so I can completely close off the inside which is also really important. I have 4 cats that love either shredding foam or sleeping/shedding on the foam and it wouldn’t take long at all for them to take over whatever work area I’d created and wreck it one way or another. These work areas can also be dismantled too, so when I eventually move out of this apartment and into my own house, I can take it apart and put it back together.
But these things like I said are pricey, with some number crunching, basically the single wall recording booth + shipping and a decent mic, I’m looking at 5,700 Canadian at least (4,200 USD), maybe more if they are going to factor in tax which I’m not sure if they are. I don’t have that, clearly, I actually have minus that because I got two cats that need ongoing health care and one getting all his teeth pulled in November.
So what I am hoping for lovelies… is that you can help me make all of our dreams come true and be a part of these audiobooks coming into being. And not only the audiobooks either, I’ve been mulling around in my head an idea for a podcast that I wouldn’t mind feeling out to see if it’s a fit for me. Think both m/m book reviews from me (which would be on the positive side) and forcing myself to read utter trash like Colleen Hoover so you all can laugh at my pain and listen to me rip it apart, and also practicing my audiobook reading by devoting the last hour or so to reading a chapter of one of my books. This would be a patreon based thing I think, until I get some advertisers at least. Oh, I’d also offer advertising to my fellow LGBTQ+ writers too, and do interviews with them as well. There seems to be a lack of podcasts centered around the m/m genre, so I might take a crack at it.
I also love some trash reality show TV so maybe something like that too. Who the fuck knows, I’m still brain storming.
Now you might be thinking… holy shit Quil this is a lot of work, are you sure you’re up to tripling your workload? And the answer is yes. I still got this brain fog shit constantly making me feel tired and unmotivated and I need something to kick me back into gear. Writing is my main priority, but I miss learning things and audiobooks and learning how to narrate and podcast is the only other thing besides writing that has caught my interest. I spend too much time playing video games, when my boyfriend is away for work my life is just video games and writing. I need a new project, I need to be creative and produce something, and I’m praying to the dead gods that this helps me with that.
SO, let the fundraising begin. Let’s make these audiobooks a thing, let’s see if this podcast thing is do-able. I have Joshua and Larissa who will be overtaking a lot of this fundraising stuff too since they know what to do, and I will be here… I don’t know, hoein’ for audio booth funds. Joshua and Larissa have provided some links and will be giving the details below.
I also wanted to add that I was thinking about adding some neat rewards for the top donors. Since this audio booth will soon be my life, I was thinking of getting a plaque made, much like Homer’s in “And Maggie Makes Three” which says, “Don’t forget you’re here forever”. I was thinking the top donors can send in pictures of them giving me sarcastic thumbs up or something, so my weary eyes can wander over to that plaque when I have been locked inside the audio booth for 10 hours and silently curse you, hope that somewhere out there you just stubbed your toe super bad. You know, things like that.
DONATION LINKS! Joshua Rook and Lara Skyland (Larissa) are spearheading this because I can't just go throwing around my full name for privacy reasons:
mrrook82@gmail.com (paypal/venmo)
OR
katz.larissa@gmail.com (paypal)
To reduce the fees these fundraiser websites tack on, we're doing paypal or venmo. We'll have all the receipts and all that available too, so you know the money didn't go towards crack (Anyway crack is so 80s)
Like I said Larissa and Joshua will be taking on this side. There’s going to be a cute graphic going up on my website to tell how much we have raised so far and follow up posts and all that.
This is the first fundraiser I’ve actually been a part of that hasn’t been a surprise, and oh boy, I’m nervous as all hell and absolutely dreading it because I am a proud man who doesn’t like asking for things. But getting this audio booth is also kind of in a way making sure I then don’t need to ask for things, since I’ll just be doing it all myself?? Who knows lol I am pushing down the ingrained guilt that comes with stuff like this, and telling myself that, well, we’ll get some damn audiobooks out of it!
So, let’s see what we can do, loves.
Also, if anyone is wondering what happens if we don't reach the goal. It'll take a lot longer to get the audio booth but I will find some way to fund it myself. I will make this happen one way or another, no matter how long it takes.
Thanks guys, I love you all to bits. I hope we can make this happen. I have a lot of work ahead of me, but I'd do anything for my books, just like I'd do anything for you guys (Well, almost anything).
