So, as many of you might have noticed, we occasionally produce audiobooks through ArtisticWhispers Productions. Those of you that have may have also noticed that we haven’t put a new one out (or, at least, anything resembling a complete one) in about two years.

The hiatus is over. As of this past weekend, the following books have all moved out of the pre-production stage and into the production stage.

The books currently in production are:
Throwing Lead
And Then She Was Gone
A Ghostly Christmas Present
Smoke Rings
Free Will

Being In Production
Being “In Production” means that the project is currently being recorded. Some bits of pre-production might go on concurrently, for example…

Casting
All of the fiction books will be full-cast productions in the classic AWP style. Here are the numbers on the roles available for each book (bearing in mind that, since this is audio, actors can double, triple, or quintiple up on roles):
And Then She Was Gone needs 27 roles filled. 9 of these have five lines or fewer.
A Ghostly Christmas Present needs 14 roles filled, 4 of these have five lines or fewer
Smoke Rings needs 21 roles filled. About half of these are roles with fewer than five lines.
Free Will needs 118 roles filled. About half of these are roles with fewer than five lines.

What Happens Now
Starting later this week, I will spool out the open casting calls. These books will be available commercially, so if you wish to participate, in addition to having the ability to record clean audio and (for the more involved roles) the willingness to take live-direction, you must be willing to sign a contract detailing the release of your voice for commercial purposes and entitling you to payment.

Payment for these books, because they’re the first commercial round, will be on a deferred fee basis + royalties. Because payment is involved, you will need to include your Tax ID number on the contract and, when payment comes due, fill out the relevant tax forms.

Watch This Space
These are the first five of an anticipated 9 productions this year, and there will be a similar number next year. I’m looking to build a stable of actors I can work with medium-to-long term.

What Does This Mean for the Podcast?
The podcast returns with Free Will (rebooted) in late spring/early summer. I’m aiming for Balticon, but might overshoot or undershoot by as much as three weeks, depending on how briskly casting goes.

Free Will will be approximately 60 episodes long, and will start out as a bi-weekly podcast, ramping to weekly once the entire production is wrapped. As such, it will run for 13-19 months before we reach the end. Since such a long story full of cliffhangers will drive some of you around the bend, the full audiobook will be available for purchase by DragonCon, if not before.

Additionally, the initial chapters of the other books will drop in the feed so that you who subscribe can hear what’s going on in the productions that aren’t delivered to you on the feed.

And, of course, Dealing In will return, as I sense we’ll have quite a lot to talk about as the story unfolds.

Future novels will podcast after Free Will wraps, but there will always be more content available than what’s going through the ‘cast. You all have spoken loudly, and we here around the Bay have heard your cries.

Stay tuned! More in a couple days.

Update: Free Will casting call has posted. Find it here

One Comment

  1. HUZZAH!
    Dan, I would gladly volunteer for a throwaway part, but my microphone is crappy to the point of uselessness. If phone-call quality is too terrible for you (and I suspect it might be, given the amazing PV of your work), I would be glad to donate my voice.

    HoopyFreud

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