Make your book sound like a movie
As the audiobook industry continues to explode, consumers are looking more and more for books that capture and hold their interest. A good narrator can be enough, but they have a hard time competing with the high-octane production that our society is accustomed to (thanks Hollywood). Without music and a soundscape, listeners have difficulty staying engaged and the suspension of disbelief in the reality of your books' world is easily broken.
Adding Immersion
Soundscape Audiobooks bring the listener into your world by adding music and sound design to every scene. Imagine, instead of just listening to a narrator evocatively describe Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin hiding from the black rider, you also hear the sound of dry leaves crunching underfoot, the heavy, chained reigns of the horse being tugged on carelessly, and the unsettling sniffing of the very first Nazgul we encounter trying desperately to find the ring he knows is close, all while minimalist, ominous music plays in the background. Suddenly you're not just listening to someone read you the Fellowship of the Ring – you are transported to Middle Earth and are hiding in the hole with the hobbits, barely breathing for fear of being caught.
What about just a narrator?
An excellent narrator can do a fine job of keeping an audience engaged. Of course this is an option for your book if that's the way you want to go. You want to find a narrator with training not just as an actor but in the world of audiobooks too. There's an insurmountable difference between someone with a nice-sounding voice reading words on a page, and an actor bringing those words to life with their emotions, tone, and volume.
What about children's books?
Children's books are a specialty of ours! Yes, even picture books. We have a special option for picture books, using the beautiful illustrations to make a video read-along. Kids are targeted by sensory-dense media more than any of us, so it can be a pretty magical experience to hear their favorite story come to life with music and sound effects.
What's the cost?
All audiobooks are charged by an industry standard called Per Finished Hour (PFH). However long your books takes to listen to when it's complete is the final hour count. This helps appropriately balance the amount of work it takes (which scales with how long the book is) and helps protect the author from being charged just because "it took a long time to do" (which it does). You should expect to pay a professional narrator $300-500 PFH for a finished (mastered) audiobook. Our Soundscape Audiobooks are $750 PFH, which includes everything start to finish: narration and mastering, as well as all the sound design, music, and licensing.
Custom Design
Every book is unique and special, so every Books Alive! audiobook is designed from the ground up - nothing canned, ever. The music, timing, and sound design will match not just the scene but the tone of your book, whether that's humorous, romantic, dark and gritty, mysterious, or anything in between. For the most adventurous, we offer a Full-Cast option, where we turn your book into an audio drama with a whole team of actors. We also have marketing packages for social media and options for publication and distribution.
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Check out all our options below. When you're ready to get started, it begins with a free author's consultation. We can't wait to meet you!
Full-Cast Audio Dramatization
Your book goes through a rigorous rescripting process to convert it to an audio drama format (e.g. things like "she said" become unnecessary). The book is then cast with a team of actors who are directed by us and the whole books is brought together with music and sound design.
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Cost: Custom (depending on what your book needs). Expect $1200+ PFH
Picture Books
A read-along video version of your book! Narrated by someone who knows how to talk to kids, we then add the music and soundscape to bring alive each moment. Full-size digital illustrations of your book are used to produce a video so kids can watch and listen at the same time.
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Cost: $1250 Flat Rate.
Video Marketing Package
Books Trailers are a key tool for social media marketing. We make you 3 unique video trailers for your book of various lengths to inspire engagement and interest in your book. We can do this for ANY book, whether it's an audiobook or not, and even if we haven't narrated or produced it.
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Cost: $500
Audiobooks are changing, and the ones who adapt to this media-dense format will last into the future. Find out how your book can take on a whole new life with Soundscape Audio.