I've finally started on the road to audiobook for both THE GOLDEN PRINCESS and BLACK SEA GODS. I've been hesitant to do so up to this point for several reasons. First of all, I didn't know how it all worked and I naturally fear change. Second, I didn't have the time to figure it out because I naturally fear work. Third, I knew it was likely to be expensive and I naturally fear spending money. 

With the help of government-funded therapy  I've licked the first two hurdles. I've made some time to research the process, and asked the opinions of  some smart people who have travelled this road ahead of me.  I listened carefully to what they said, which was for me to give up writing and  remember what it was like to live again. ​I told them I don't remember the taste of strawberries and they should get bent. 

But I digress.

So...I've chosen a production company and narrowed down the list of potential narrators. By the way, I've also chosen a private jet and a villa in the Swiss Alps for, you know, when all the money starts rolling in. I did, however, run some figures and come up with a basic budget for making an audio book. There is only one small problem...how to pay for it all.

Its good to have a budget.  Its even better to have money. Scratch the villa and the private jet and focus on the audio book and how to pay for it. 

Option 2: Pay with cash from my day job. That money is already budgeted for real-life stuff, like food and kid stuff and air conditioning. Like many authors, I do not have much excess cash to spend on writing. On that note, people often liken writing to having a mistress. I strongly disagree.

Other than being demanding and expensive like a mistress, they have nothing in common. A mistress is  (optimally) sexy, and (usually) a secret.  A mistress should also make you feel better (at least temporarily).

(BTW, what the hell do you call a male version of mistress? A misteress? If a lesbian has a mistress, is she still a mistress?  If a gay man has a mistress, is he a Mister Misteress?)

I digress yet again.

Writing, on he other hand, is just demanding and expensive. 
​
No, writing is less like a mistress and more like an old college buddy who is out of work and staying for "just a few days" until "he can catch a break."  Your spouse knows all about him because he lives on her couch and she hates his guts and keeps asking when he is moving out because its time to move on and he is eating all the food and leaves beer cans all over the floor and scratches himself in from of the kids and the toilet won't flush and where the hell is the cat...

Did I do it again? I did, didn't I? Back to the topic.

Option 3: Sell one of my kidneys. I'm not sure either kidney is working at 100% capacity anymore.

Option 4: Sell one of your kidneys. Wanna go grab a drink? Ah, never mind. It's too much of a hassle to keep all that ice in the motel bathtub. Last time I tried it, my Chinese blackmarket connection said I removed the spleen, not the kidney. I didn't get paid and was out like, 40 bucks for all the ice and whiskey. The incident did, however, convince my  old college buddy to move out. 

Option 5: Crowdfunding. Crowd funding is a great idea for some things, like raising money for legal fees and getting former friends a new spleen. But getting the cash to fund an audio book does not qualify, at least in my mind, as justification to ask people for money, even if I give them something in return, like a slightly used spleen. I make no judgements on others who do so, but for me it feels like begging. ​

Option 6: Hold a telethon. Unfortunately, no one under 40 knows what the hell a telethon is.

Option 9: Lit Funding. Otherwise known as selling enough books to pay for the audio  version. With the exception of all the other options I've listed, this the most realistic avenue to funding my audiobook. I've lit funded a cover or two. I've lit funded a lunch or two. But an audio book is another matter.   

In order to make this happen I have to do some math. Since I don't like public math, I'm going to pull the curtain...I'll be right back. 

(whisper whisper carry the eight whisper whisper seven to the eighth power whisper whisper E equals Eminem squared whisper whisper....)

I'm back. In order to pay for an audio version my latest novel I will have to sell 2,342 ebooks. That's just  a teency weency (pinches fingers centimeter apart for effect) bit more books than I usually sell, like a 2430% increase in monthly sales.  

No problem.

Bottom line, one way or another I'll find a way to finance the audio versions of my novels. Its just going to take patience and a reckless disregard for the law.   In the meantime,  you can help my buying or renting my novels on Amazon. Every little bit helps.  If you've already read them, please rate or review them on Amazon. Believe it or not, the number of reviews on Amazon greatly helps in book sales. If you've already bought and reviewed my novels, please spread the word. 

If you've already done all this, thank you! I can't tell you enough how much I appreciate it. In fact, we should go out for a drink to celebrate. Say, I'm just curious, do you have both kidneys?

***

Brian L. Braden is the author of three fantasy novels: THE GOLDEN PRINCESS, BLACK SEA GODS AND TEARS OF THE DEAD.