Get Past the First 15 Hurdle

Written March 2021

I'm stuck.

To many people, my day today may look like I'm lazy. And honestly, I kind of feel that way.

Yesterday, I was far too tired to do any work. Instead, I took a nap and watched cat videos before heading to my day job. Today, I slept in until 11am, managed to check my emails, and am choosing to write a blog post instead of what I should be doing - the First 15 for my next book.

I finished annotating the book two days ago (yay!) and am now on the part where I get to start narrating. But before I can do that, I need to get the go ahead of the rights holder by sending them a 15 minute clip of what their final audiobook will sound like. For some reason, this hurdle always seems like a 50 foot high jump. It takes me way too long to complete.

Which is why I'm choosing to write. Maybe this will help put things into perspective of what exactly I need to do to get the ball rolling.

I recently learned that I (very likely) have ADHD. And my executive function is … not that great.

My goal for this book is to complete it within a month. That means having narration finished by the end of the first week of May. I can do that. I know I can.

But first, I need to get over this hurdle.

As much as I've done a ton of research about this business, the First 15 doesn't usually have a set way of doing things. There's lots of advice, but it's still all over the place. So maybe we should write our own steps, and see where it leads. We can always make adjustments down the road.

Let's break this down. Right now, I can't see the beginning, middle, or end. Everything is fuzzy. Where do I start? What should I include?

The First 15 usually includes scenes with major characters. Scenes that vary in intensity, that set the general tone of the book. Things that will allow me to narrate the whole book without the author hating it. This is their chance to make any artistic changes. What can I provide them so they can take that opportunity if they choose?

First off.

I need to include pronunciation. The book I'm doing has a lot of original terms in it, and it's important that I get those right so I don't have to re-record every line with it if I get it wrong.

Part two.

I need to determine what characters I want to include. To allow the RH to make any adjustments on their voices if they feel they aren't right.

Then I need to find scenes that contain those characters conversing. Hopefully all at the same time, killing as many birds with one stone as possible (Disclaimer: Please don't kill birds).

Part three.

Narration.

Now that I have the content I want to record, I can do that. I need to warm up my voice. My body, my vocal chords. Ensure I have the energy needed to curate this thing. Make sure I won't be disturbed. Then get in the booth, hit the button, and read.

Part four.

Edit and Master.

Now that everything is recorded, including room tone, I can then edit the First 15 to make it easy on the ears.

Part five.

Write a description.

I like to write a description to the RH to let them know exactly what parts I'm reading, the page number, timestamp, the list of original terms. I ask them if they want to hear anything else. I also let them know that this is their chance to change anything artistically, as that will be handed over to me as soon as they approve. Their choices will be locked in at that point.

Part six.

They approve!

Hopefully. If they don't, they either want to hear something different, something else, or (and this really shouldn't happen, but it does on occasion), they decide they don't want you to narrate their book after all. Ouch.

But hey! That's (likely) not going to happen.

When they approve, we're given the green light to narrate the rest of the book. All of our acting choices are locked in, and we're free to live the book. To fully immerse ourselves in that world. It's a tricky process, yes, but totally worth it.

And if they want to hear another segment, then we go back to ones, figure it out, and record them another First 15. And we don't have to include as much! Totally doable.

So that's what we do to get over a really tall hurdle. Build a staircase. When in doubt, write it out!

Let's do this!! :)

For more information on prepping a book, check out Karen Commins blogpost on narratorsroadmap.com