Dear humans,
The female is writing this post today. We’re busy watching the birds.
News tidbit #1!
Taken is in progress of being contracted and recorded. The voice actor will be the same lovely gentleman who did Storm Called. Things like money has been discussed. Things like how to handle other things… needs to be discussed. I am sure we will figure this out, but it’s been confirmed this is a thing.
Storm Called, Bonds, and Huntress are also being updated with new audiobook covers. See? Aren’t they pretty? They’re pretty.
The royalty share books and exclusive-amazon titles are currently on route to general freedom, and the process of getting them loaded into Findaway is going well!
Expect these to launch on March 1, 2021, unless ACX/Audible finds some way to screw me over. (I would not be surprised, but they have released seven books from the contracts so far. That is progress.)
Murder Mittens has gotten a new cover by the amazeballs Rebecca Frank! The entire Magical Romantic Comedy (with a body count) series is being revamped until all covers have been made by Rebecca. I absolutely fucking adore everything about this cover! EVERYTHING.
But look at that MANE! Rawr!
And the yarn.
A Chip on Her Shoulder’s audiobook edition releases on March 1, 2021. Surprise!
Basically, a LOT of books that were not available in Authors Direct will be available on March 1. Hooray for March 1!
My PA, Jenny, is in progress of figuring out how to get Authors Direct audiobooks to play in the Audible app. Someone was able to do it, and we will provide a guide, if possible, so you do not have to use a different app to listen to audiobooks acquired elsewhere.
Everybody wins. (That plus paying me directly for the audiobooks saves you significant money per audiobook. To the tune of $5-7 each for most books. And I’m paid more when you buy from the other vendors. Everybody wins.)
So, to update you on future releases:
- A Chip on Her Shoulder: Completed, releasing March 1, 2021.
- Outfoxed: Contracted, in production.
- Murder Mittens: Contracted, in production.
- Taken: Pre-production/Contracting.
Future of Audiobooks:
Basically, these four books in production, plus Booked for Murder, will dictate how many audiobooks I will do per year. I can only afford to pick up so much debt producing them. I like giving readers as many options as possible, but when each one costs me $2,500+ out of pocket each… it’s hard. I take on the entire financial burden.
ACX/Audible’s choice to allow chained returns/refunds/exchanges just tipped the scale in the wrong direction. But, in good news… I need like… closer to a third of the sales I needed on Audible to be out of the red through the new distributor.
Now, don’t get me wrong: I’m still in the red on my audiobooks. I’ll have to completely restart my general advertising for audiobooks as well. That’s fine. It’s just yet another challenge in the grand scheme of things.
Moving forward, I’ll be more fairly paid, and that’s important to me.
We’ll see how it goes. But for now, expect the next audiobook to be considered for production to be Catnapped or the Flame Game. I might bite the bullet and add The Flame Game to production as soon as Outfoxed or Murder Mittens is done.
Reason for Flame Game’s delay: y’all constantly get upset about the narrator choices for Bailey. It has made me just not want to deal with casting for Bailey. Because the lovely lady who did Bailey in Burn, Baby, Burn is not available.
In the future, I will very probably have both Playing with Fire and the female voice for Burn, Baby, Burn recorded. My first choice of actress is Keira Grace, who has been doing the vast majority of my audiobooks as of late.
Please don’t get upset with me over this. The other actresses are no longer available. I literally cannot hire them. It’s out of my control. They moved onto different career fields or production firms.
And please do not suggest you can record them better. If you think you can… I recommend you get in touch with Archieboy Audiobook Productions about being an actor or actress for the studio, and if you pass the audition line ups to win a role… great! Otherwise, I’m not open to auditions. I need professionals who do this for a living, and I need professionals who can herd the cat that is me.
But seriously… I use Archiebook Audiobook Productions or Cameron Hill for the male Royal States projects. This isn’t up for negotiation, so please don’t make things awkward by making claims you can do it better.
Please respect the hard work all of my production staff puts into these books, especially the readers, who I picked because I liked their voice, their work ethic, and the way they read.
Thanks.
And that’s all, folks. Back to work with me.
P.S.: Playing with Fire will have a new cover soon.
Thank you so very much. I now have Booked for Murder and am delighted that you will be decently paid for it.
I’m looking forward to more audiobooks through Author’s Direct to go with the ebooks.
Again, thank you.
This is wonderful news!
Thank you
May I ask a question???
In your audio book null and void. Mireya is pronounced mer-ray-a. But I all other books where she is mentioned her name said very differently. What is the correct pronunciation??
The other books are the correct pronunciation.
The first three books were done by a publisher, who still has rights to them. When I get rights restored, I’ll have them rerecorded my by current production team.
So I went to the Authors Direct website and searched for your name and I got 0 results. How are your books listed?
I’ll be doing a blog post with all the audiobooks and where to buy them on the 1st (or so) but here is the link!
Cool, thanks.
I just have to ask – is there any chance you will consider offering the Witch and Wolf books in audio format?
If the Dustin Walker anthology earns out, I will produce another one. Once that earns out, I will think about the next one. Honestly, I really don’t know if they’ll earn out. I haven’t checked Water Witch’s earnings on ACX yet.
I adore the *new* cover for Murder Mittens 🙂
Good to hear that you will be paid a more fair wage per audiobook which helps everyone in the production and down the line. I look forward to seeing what will happen in the future.
Good Luck RJ — I know it’s not easy beating against a juggernaut and leaving on reasonable terms.
I love the new cover for Murder Mittens! I liked the old cover but this one is super cute with a hint of the story on there to tease the reading. Like “What is up with all the yarn?” which was one of the best scenes in the book. So much yarn, so little time.
ALL the YARN!!!! That is a great cover. I recently saw a picture of a lynx and THOSE PAWS!!! Wow. Love Murder Mittens (and all the other Mag Rom Coms- so much I have read them all 3 times now…retirement is great…) I will have to start on all the other series soon. Thanks for the laughs (and yes, some tears too)! Waiting for the next Fox Witch book- Loved the first one!
Love the new covers.
I do use mostly audible for my audio books and i am currently listening through your royal states novels. Unfortunately, I cannot find Bonds. Is it alredy moved to the new distributor? Or is it because I am not in the USA?
As a side note: I do not understand why people give back audio books. I listend to them, I used them, they are mine, precious. Nope, I do not understand.
Bonds is being moved to the new distributor. It’ll go live with the March 1st batch of audiobooks.
thanks, then i will be patient and wait. 🙂
1) Yay more audiobooks! Yay author getting paid closer to fairly! (Boo it only being closer and not actually fair.) I now have an alarm set for Monday the 1rst to remind me I can has more books.
2) Pretty covers! ~strokes~ sooooo pretty…….
3) The first time I read Murder Mittens (yes I’ve already read it more than once, what?) and the lynx screaming was mentioned, I had to look it up and hear for myself. And that led down the rabbit hole of angry lynx noises. So thanks for guiding me to my spirit animal, I guess?
Are you ever planning on doing audiobooks for the Witch and Wolf series?
Unlikely, because the ebook versions don’t really make a lot of money, which means I’d be eating thousands of dollars of debt per book with little chance of earning back.
Sad but understandable. They were the first books I read by you and I love that series! I got my family addicted to it too when I picked it for our family book club. Everyone just couldn’t get enough!
Yeah, while I would like to, until the books that might earn back are done, it’s unlikely that I’ll be able to, and I really need to see how sales go now that I’m completely off of ACX.
I’ve been checking Authors Direct and I’m not finding any of you new books. I’ve been looking at :
https://shop.authors-direct.com/collections/the-fantasy-worlds-of-r-j-blain
and
https://shop.authors-direct.com/search?q=rj%20blain
Which one is your real site?
The Fantasy Worlds of RJ Blain is the shop. I have to manually add the books as they are distributed. (Which I haven’t gotten to yet today, but I’ll be seeing if I can load them in in a few minutes.)
Is there a uk website for your audiobooks?
Need the new ones?
Especially a chip on her sholders & booked for murder?
Try kobo or chirp.
Chirp Books and Authors Direct are both accessible from Canada – though you will be paying US dollars. Hopefully it is the same for the UK.
Just finished listening to Chip On Her Shoulder today. It was great. I also have the ebook, but having it read to me – well it’s like watching a movie after reading the book. An excellent experience! The narrator was great. Waiting for Murder Mittens 🙂
Hooray!! Thank you for chipping in on how it works. <3 I'm really glad you enjoyed the audiobook!
Apple Books / iTunes should also be available for UK. I don’t know about Author’s Direct.
Thank-you for letting me know!
I’ve got all the other audiobooks apart from chip on her shoulder and booked for murder.
Off now to look @ the suggested options.