P.J. Murphy's Writer Site

I finished the last post talking about the challenge of narrowing the 26 auditions I eventually received down to one. This task proved much easier than it might have been because the protagonist in Dead Letters is the narrator. This meant that I had a very specific idea of how he should sound. Looking at the comments that accompanied many of these auditions, there seemed to be a general recognition that my final choice would be dictated by whether the voice ‘fit’, rather than necessarily just the skill of the reader. I got the impression that these people fire off multiple auditions every day, realistic that only a fraction of them will hit. In that context, I was more sympathetic about those that hadn’t read my notes properly.

A handful of these did have the right voice and were really good. Still, there were differences in the way they read – the pacing, how they emphasised certain words, etc. It was also interesting how some dealt with the female voice. Some went very soft with Amy, which really didn’t suit her character, whereas others made more subtle adjustments to their reading when she was talking. I suppose I could have directed some to voice Amy differently, but I was more disposed to go with those that got it right first time, as that signalled that they would probably nail other parts of the book without too much effort.

I asked my wife and a few others their opinions on different recordings, and narrowed it down to three, with whom I followed up with questions. One was about how they would voice children (as there are some significant child characters in the book), and the others were about cost and timing.

And then, there was one!

My selected producer is Jez Sands. You can read about him at his website (https://jezsands.wixsite.com/profile) and listen to samples of his other work.

When we spoke, Jez mentioned that he reads a lot of fantasy, but his voice really suited the knowing, cynical style of the narration. What most impressed me was how he nailed the nuance of the text, bringing out the meaning with changes in tone, emphasis and pauses. And he voiced the characters really well!

I’ve uploaded the demo reel at the end of this blog, if you want to give it a listen.

Next steps: After agreeing to a load of contractual stuff through ACX, they manage the rest of the process. First up, we agreed a date for Jez to record the first 15 minutes of the novel, so that I can request changes or give thumbs-up for the rest of the recording. Then we agreed a delivery date for the full novel (January, as Jez has another project booked in for December). I get to listen to it and approve – in which case I pay, and then the recording goes through ACX’s quality control process, before being uploaded for sale.

In parallel, I need to prepare a version of the cover that’s square, because apparently that’s the format you need for audiobooks. A hang-up for when they were published as CDs? Annoying, but doable.

Jez explained all this (except the cover art bit) in his captivating voice, to which I could (and ultimately will) listen to for hours. Now’s your time to fall under its spell: listen below.