The Voices In My Head Are Equal

I have been a fan of being read to since my father used to read Rudyard Kipling’s Just So Stories to me before bed. Since then, I have always preferred the medium of audiobooks over paperback or eBooks. Writers often have ‘voices’ in their heads for each character and what they would sound like. (we’re not crazy, I promise) So, when I write, I do so particularly with the audiobook in mind and sometimes even with a specific narrator in mind for the hero or heroine. I’ve been lucky on such occasions to hire those narrators, and I hope the voices I find match up with your imagination as well.

I can also pledge that I am a firm believer in equal pay for my narrators. I have done this since the beginning, and will be honest, I was shocked to discover this isn’t the norm in the industry. I realize that each narrator will have their own set rates, etc., but I can’t in good conscience pay one narrator more than the other on the same book for, on average, the same amount of work. All my books are dual PoV and typically are split pretty darned close to the middle on finished hours of audio. Whether this stance will bite me in the ass someday is still to be seen. If it does, oh well. I know in the long run, I will have done the right thing.

It’s not a generosity thing. It’s also not a bragging thing. To me, it’s the principle of the thing, and just common sense, and always will be.

I’m posting this in an effort to spread the word that this should be the norm. I wish all authors would do this, and maybe someday, they will.