Audiobook Empire is a new, but forceful presence on the audiobook production scene. The Empire's master puppeteer is Jess Herring, but you may know her as Jess the Audiobookworm. Jess has run Audiobookworm Promotions for nearly 5 years where she has gained a thorough understanding of the audiobook industry and its beloved community.
The Empire is her newest adventure. How far will it reach? Let's find out!
The Empire is open to all. We even have an imprint specializing in clean reads, Cats Meow, and we recently opened a Foreign Language Division that produces in Spanish, French, and German.
Our Talent Legion application form opens up about once a year, usually in June. Follow our socials, especially Instagram, to get a heads up the next time it's opening. Because of the number of Legionnaires already with the Empire, we only accept a few new members each time, but you're certainly welcome to apply more than once!
An alternate way of gaining acceptance into our Legion is to bring us a project. If you're working with an author and think they would be a good fit for us, get in touch and we can help you formalize things.
The "Foreign Legion" is what we call the roster for our Foreign Language Division, which produces audiobooks in Spanish, French, and German. If any of those are your native language, you should absolutely apply!
We've recently unveiled our Casting Headquarters, where all of our open casting calls are housed. You're welcome to check there periodically to see what's available.
We also encourage you to join our Talent Legion Facebook group, which is often where casting calls are announced first. Upon admission to the Legion, you'll also be added to a mailing list where are y'all receive occasional updates about goings on within the empire, including casting calls.
Please note that the majority of our castings are done directly, not via open call.
If you want to send us occasional updates about what you've got going on, that's fine with us, although we would much rather get a more personal "Hey, remember me?!" than be added to your mailing list. Don't be scared to reach out and form a connection. We don't bite!
Yes! If you have an author wanting an audiobook, but you don't have post-production personnel, contracts, etc., we've got you covered. Drop your author off with us and we'll take care of them, so you can get back in the booth and record.
The first step is to reach out to us so we can make sure the project is a good fit. We can also assist in bringing the author onboard. If you think you may have an author "on the hook" for the Empire, let us know and we can help "reel them in"!
Your standard rates. You know what rates are fair to you and the Empire respects that. Simply tell us your rates and we'll send you appropriate projects in that range.
It's that straightforward.
With that said, we don't like to see our narrators paid less than $200 PFH. This isn't a union-imposed minimum, just a personal standard.
As a rule, narrators will not be expected to do their own post-production. The Empire has its own post people waiting in the wings.
The only things you are responsible for are narration and pick-ups. Because of this, you may want to consider charging a 'narration-only' rate for Empire projects, rather than a 'full-production' rate.
Not just yet, although we have met with union representatives to discuss that. As of right now, we use Skywire Paymaster services for our union projects.
In general, yes. Live streaming of recording sessions can be a great (and fun!) promotional tool. However, permission will need to be obtained from the rights holder if anything is to be recorded. Allowances for streaming on platforms like Discord, Clubhouse, and TikTok are provided for in our production contracts.
Promotional support will always be part of the deal at Audiobook Empire. With or without review codes (but hopefully with), blogger outreach and social media campaigns can happen. When review codes are available, influencer outreach becomes influencer + reviewer outreach. With Jess's promotional contacts, a virtual army can be raised to support the Empire, its Talent Legion, and its titles.
We make a point to promote all of our projects on social media and provide a certain amount of promotional support to all of our authors. We also have more robust marketing packages available to them (and you!).