Yesterday, I was flooded with private messages on my personal profile because people did not appreciate that my narrator opted to use foal in a Texan accent. My proofers (both of them) are originally from Texas, so this sounded normal to them. I have booked to have the corrections/changes made to Vampire of Montana, but this spurred me to do some math.
People have called me a liar, because obviously, nobody could possibly ever have this accent.
Being called a liar after discussing with Texans about the issue is the last straw.
I value my integrity, and even when painful, I have done my absolute best to be honest with my readership.
So, here we go. Here’s the honesty I was keeping behind closed doors because I wanted to be accessible.
In 2023, I have earned $18,700 in audiobook earnings.
Don’t get excited.
Those audiobooks cost me $70,000 to produce. (Just paying the narrators and the production teams working with them.) ($3,000ish to one narrator, the rest to a studio that handles most of my other books. I rounded DOWN, for the record.)
That was not a typo. $70,000 has gone to audiobooks.
I have earned $18,700 in 2023 (across all vendors) on audiobooks that cost me $70,000 to produce. Oh, and that’s just the production fee. That excludes the proof-listening fees. (Those are approximately an additional $9,000.)
I am booked in for an additional, approximately, $15,000 worth in audiobooks. Oops, it’s $36,200. I was only mathing the ones I expect in the next few months.
In 2022, I made $17,500 (rounded up.)
Oh, and that’s excluding the five figures I paid to get rights back on the Royal States series, which was just burned in a glorious dumpster fire of fuckery.
I’m done. Once I reach my contractual obligations , I will no longer be producing audiobooks. I was doing them to make my books accessible, accepting major losses over a period of years to give listeners an opportunity to enjoy them. But the numbers don’t lie.
I was taking heavy losses over these, and being screamed at, yelled at, and called a liar over something I’m not lying about, because I have zero need or desire to lie about something as simple as my proofers’ native accent!!! is the last straw.
I’m done audiobooks. Vampire will be fixed, but after everything is finished in the production queue, that’s it, that’s all.
I will evaluate, series after series, book after book, and once ALL audiobooks in a series has earned back, I MIGHT invest in a new audiobook in this series.
I viewed my audiobooks as a charity action for those who like listening to books or have poor eyesight. I was taking major losses to do this.
No more.
Here is the list of audiobooks being done:
- Null and Void (rerecording, do not have rights to original)
- The Captive King (rerecording, do not have rights to original)
- A Guiding Light (rerecording, do not have rights to original)
- Wolf Hunt
- Wild Wolf
- Pack Justice
- Blood Diamond
- Dead Weight
- 101 Ways to Die
- Life-Debt
- Inquisitor
- Winter Wolf
- Silver Bullet
- Shadowed Flame
That’s it, that’s all. I understand why some of you did not like the accent. That’s fine. But the behavior of people yesterday was unacceptable, and there are consequences for such behavior.
IF I were making profit on audiobook, I would probably just shut up and deal with it, but seeing as I’m over $40,000 in the hole over audiobooks with an expected pay back time of over 2 years… no.
This was the last straw. I apologize to the audiobook listeners who enjoyed these products, but I cannot and will not continue to take these losses.
Sure, being called a liar pissed me right the hell off, but ultimately, the financials don’t lie.
They aren’t making money, and I’m done taking these losses, especially considering how I have been treated the past few days.
Play stupid games… win stupid prizes. And I’m done playing the stupid games and winning nothing but debt.
I apologize if this harsh look at reality upsets you, but you are not entitled to me taking $40,000 in debt over audiobooks… nor are you entitled to come into my personal space and treat me like garbage and call me a liar because you did not like what I had to say.
I have never listened to an audio book of any kind but if I did, I would assume it was presented as intended by the author. The audacity and entitlement of the general population never ceases to amaze me. I think you are a wonderful author and an even more wonderful person, by the sounds of it. Please don’t ever change who you are and keep fighting the good fight against entitled jerks who don’t value you as an author and person.
I made an error in the post, it’s $36,200 in additional audiobooks, not $15,000. I only calculated the ones coming soon.
I love the accents. I have friends from Texas that sounds like the audiobook. I am sad that you are stopping them but I do not fault you at all. You do you and as a loyal fan I will take anything you choose to do and will absolutely adore and love it. And screw those Karens.
I had no idea of how much it cost to produce audiobooks. I’ve lived in Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Texas, Florida, Arizona, and in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, England, Great Britain, United Kingdom during 20 years in the U.S. Army. So I’ve also talked to people from all of the US and world. Everyone has different and unique ways to pronounce words. Every narrator has a different voice and take on their work. I will purchase your audiobooks a few at a time.
Yeah. The only reason I started audiobooks was accessibility, and I have $79,000 in regrets from it right now.
1. You’re the author. If YOU are satisfied how the book sounds, that’s it. YOU wrote it. YOU know how the characters should sound.
2. Regardless of how the voices sound, NO ONE can continue to lose money on that scale. No one. I am amazed you continued as long as you did.
3. Your Assistant needs to have control of that account and filter what comes in. Either that or shut it down now. No one deserves/should have to put up with that abuse.
No reader should EVER assume they have ANY right to attack an author. You don’t like what they wrote or how the audio book came out, stop buying their books.
That’s my PERSONAL family account… MY PERSONAL FAMILY ACCOUNT. I am NOT giving my PERSONAL FAMILY ACCOUNT to an assistant!!!!
I wish people would be adults instead of spoiled children. People seem to forget we have a choice if we don’t like something – we can choose to not purchase the audiobook (no offense intended) or if we purchase it, we are making an agreement to accept the reader’s version of the story. If you don’t like the way its narrated, don’t buy it. Don’t waste time persecuting the author and the reader over pronunciations. For f sakes. I’m sorry you have to deal with this. I love you books. I’m sorry people are asshats to you Ms. Blain. You don’t deserve it. You have built enjoyable worlds and I thank you for that.
Oh, I fully expect and encourage people to stop buying books they don’t like. And if they don’t like me as a person, that’s great, they can not buy my books… that makes everyone happy. I’m not here JUST for the money. (As evidenced with flushing so much money down the hole on audiobooks.) But I have lines, which have been crossed, and I’m really and truly angered they have been crossed in this fashion.
Like… I have a personal life. RJ Blain is LITERALLY my name… and just because my name is on an account does not mean it’s a place for readers to invade my private and personal messages with their complaints.
It’s just not okay.
T-rex roar/honk.
I’m so angry that people think they can dictate the world YOU built including the accents involved. I’m from Oklahoma and I pronounce the world foal as “foul” because of my accent. What I want to know is when did books stop being something to enjoy? What gives us as readers the right to invade your personal space? I’m aghast at the behavior you put up with for the sake of entertaining us. I’m grateful for your worlds and imagination. Whatever your decision , please know I will support you.
So shocked with the figures! We have been treating you as a charity an that is not acceptable, at all.
So, thank you for all you have done but enough is enough xx
Sometimes I just don’t understand people. If I don’t like how a narrator presents something in an audiobook I just stop buying audio with the narrator. There are several series I would love to listen to on long drives but I cannot stand the narrator’s voice. Just read it instead.
I wish more people would learn to just not say anything I they cannot say something nice. It’s not that hard.
Now I need to try and listen to this before the corrections because I’m curious how it will sound to me. But I’ll keep my opinion to myself.
Perfectly understandable! Sometimes you have to draw a line in the sand.
I have nothing to say except please put yourself first. Please also block the scum attacking you on your personal account. They do not deserve your time or attention.
I swear some people cannot understand that creative people are actually people first.
That said, I loved the new book. It has been reviewed. I will recommend it strongly. I look forward to anything you give us in the future.
I will be an otter as long as I can because after I shared your work with him, what you wrote always made Luther so happy. You were the first author I began reading to him. I had to read your entire backlog to him (such an imposition…not) because he adored your work…all of it. I am hanging on to that link as long as possible. If there is an afterlife, he is still listening as I read your works.
Thank you.
😱😱😱😱😱
How dare people treat an author like that. Authors are willing to share their World’s w/us. They deserve every penny they get and should not beholden to the readers. You either like/love the World’s the author creates or you don’t. Move on!
People can be so horrible. I wonder if you could just put a disclaimer to the effect of “yes, some people really do say foal like fowl” on the description rather than invest more time, effort, and money in a losing production. Because despite your admirable efforts to be a good person, anyone rude enough to harass you on your private accounts isn’t going to be happy no matter what you do. Not meant to tell you your business, but you are rightfully upset and it
might not occur to you.
It doesn’t work. A lot of authors have tried. It doesn’t help anything.
At the end of the day, I am not dealing with how unpleasant a vocal portion of listeners are, and when I’m taking as heavy losses as I am… nope, nope, nope. I played the stupid game, I won the stupid prizes, and there are consequences of how people played the stupid game.
They’ve now won the stupid prize, and I’m folding.
You go girl!!!! People need to learn manners. From a Texas girl.
Damn! Mix stupidiy and entitlement and this is what we get. I don’t blame you at all. I will, however, continue to look forward to all your books in the future.
Happy writing
Michelle.
I am one of your audiobook listeners. I have no qualms in saying, I think I would do the same as you are saying that is going to happen. That’s invasion of your privacy they have done there, only to be so rude and insensitive and impertinent. 😵💫
To other readers /listeners people’s accents are their own. The only time I ever have a problem with it is when it’s an ‘Australian’ accent done by an obvious English, South African or American. But my ‘Problem’ is like, ‘dude, that’s not an Auzzie’ to myself then shrug. -BECAUSE IT HAPPENS ALL THE TIME! Leave the Author alone people. It’s not like someone got murdered because one word got spoken wrong! The film industry and Audio Engineering industry has cast so many actors who weren’t Australian or New Zealanders (WAAAY more similar accent and more forgivable) to play roles in many productions and do Australian and New Zealand audiences stop watching/ listening? Nope, we have a laugh at the actors and producers expense. Then move on. Perhaps even watching and listening again because it is FUNNY. Why does everyone have to be so ridiculous over ONE word????? Silly people.
Yeah, like… if people were kind to me and my actor/actress, I’d be happily continuing to accept losses to maintain accessibility. The audiobooks produced by humans are an entertainment form… and let’s face it, most ebook readers have plugins and things that will read the book to you. It’s not a performance, but it’s accessible.
That people are upset they did not get their perfect performance the way they wanted it? When I’m taking such big losses? Forget it.
I did not talk much about the huge losses I’m taking because of accessibility. But… there are times lines are crossed, and there are consequences for those lines being crossed.
Most of my readers/listeners are NOT in the accessibility crowd. I have some, but not many. They’re people who want to listen to a book while working or doing dishes.
That’s different from being blind, having severe dyslexia, etc.
I was doing it for the blind, dyslexic, etc… but there really does come a point where I just can’t justify the tens upon tens of thousands of dollars of losses I’m taking doing it.
It was an act of charity, and I’ve been bitten a few too many times to keep offering it.
I may change my mind after this production batch is done, but it will very much be based on “have ALL of the audiobooks in this series earned back” basis.
If you need to stop because of ridiculous people, I will use the tools you spoke of, that is how I just listened to your new G.p. Robbins. -Great read there. I loved it and will review it later today. People who want to read, will read. Xx
When I have money, I always buy your audiobooks to go with my digital books that have already been read to my via Siri. Just so you know. 😁 I’ve never been irked by any of the audio. Some pronunciation I was like ‘really? *shrug* oh well, it’s way better than Siri.’ You rock for having so much for me to choose from! Thank you 🙏
I’m very sorry to hear you won’t be offering any audiobooks beyond the list you provided, at least for now. I have purchased and enjoyed many of them, including but not limited to all of the available Royal States books. Having said that, I certainly understand and respect your reasoning.
Yeah … growing up in south Louisiana, and listening to Hollywood’s take on southern accents? Freakin’ hilarious! And there’s no such thing as a single southern accent – Georgia is different from Louisiana is different from Tennessee is different from Florida, and on and on. And Texas is a breed to itself! I have MANY friends and family from Texas, and I know exactly how they talk, and yes, it really IS their accent.
Honestly, you have put up with SO much from a few entitled members of your audience. I hope you realize that the vast (silent) majority of us just love your books and want you to keep on writing without giving up in disgust over a few idiots. And while the idiots may have have ticked you off, it’s the clear-eyed rational look at the bottom line that has to guide your actions with regard to audiobooks in the future. NOBODY can stand to lose $40-50,000 on an ongoing basis to fund what is essentially a compassionate labor of love. You, too, have to pay the rent, eat, and live off what you bring in with your writing.
Here, here!
I’m so sorry that this has happened to you. I don’t know what is wrong with people these days, there are too many people that feel entitled to behave abominably to people who are providing them a service. Yes, it’s a service that they pay something for, but as you have pointed out, it is a very expensive service that may never reap a profit.
Even though audio books are more popular now that commutes are long and there are devices that allow audio books to be easily stored and listened to, that does not mean that they suddenly become profitable. I’ve done some reading for the blind onto audio, and those were text books where a voice actor was not required, it was just straight reading in a pleasant voice. i know how long those take, how much proof reading has to be done, etc. Fiction books are even More labor intensive and take a different type of reader, one who is also an actor and can do multiple voices and essentially produce a verbal play all on their own. Why people expect that this is easy or cheap or is not prone to regional accents, i don’t understand.
I myself do not listen to audio books at this time in my life, i’m a reader, and i hope that i will always be able to read books for myself. However, if i was unable or unwilling to make the time to read from a book myself, and an author was gracious enough to arrange for the recording of their book for me, i would be delighted with it, whatever accent the voice actor chose to use, and i thank you for being so gracious as to foot that bill for others to this point. But, no, you shouldn’t have to suffer the abuse of fools.
Having a number of friends that have Texas accents, and accents from other locals that produce the word ‘foal’ the same way as someone with a strong Texas accent does, i will stand with you and add my testament to the fact that this is indeed a real and genuine accent. People who are complaining should be ashamed of themselves. I certainly, am ashamed of them.
It’s entitlement. People think they should be able to get products at the cheapest price possible, and they don’t particularly care if people are paid fairly. Like, there were those who complained about the price of the hardbacks, because I’m putting extra work into them, they’re getting special treatment, etc. I deserve to take home more than $0.10 per copy sold…
I just wanted to say…that just sucks. To be blunt. The loss of money (Yikes! I had no idea!). And complaining about a readers accent??? I am rolling my eyes here, but as a public library employee, I know all too well people complain about almost everything. EVEN FREE STUFF. Sorry that you had to deal with that.
I truly wish that your fitted counterparts could wave a magic wand/tail and remove your pain and angst. You deserve the best for all that you do to help us through our days and nights.
As a theatre major/actor in an earlier iteration of my life, we often discussed accents, dialects, voices, phonetics and had fun with all of them. People talk differently, everywhere we go. Thank heaven for subtitles now. In another life passage, in the US Navy, I traveled around the world (literally for my last deployment), and met and worked with all kinds of people who talk, think, and act differently, and we are all blessed by that diversity. In the final preretirement portion of life I worked with people from every religion, continent, culture, sex, and other belief system. You have successfully embraced all of that same beauty of life in your writing. I am saddened to see that assailed grind you down with their inadequacies. You are a gem and a blessing to us all. Please stay strong, healthy and of good spirits
I meant furred counterparts.
And assholes grinding you down
I don’t normally comment but I wanted to say that I love all of your books regardless of the series. I buy all your books and I especially love the audio versions. I think that your narrators are very talented and bring your stories to life. It always amazes me that I can hear the man or the woman regardless of who is telling the story. I never used to leave reviews as I didn’t realise how important they are – I do now. Please pass on to all your narrators how much I love and appreciate their talent and work.
I’m sorry to hear that the audiobook books will go, I’m a big user of them, and I love the Vampire of Montana so please don’t pull it, I was a bit surprised about the foals/fowl thing but I just assumed it was Daphne lingo so I rolled with it, I use the books when working on art or doing chores, or just relaxing my eyes, I work on a computer most of the day so audiobooks are my way of doing some reading and resting my eyes. I listened to one almost everyday, I know most of them by heart. But they are still fun, and one of my pick me ups, I’m always exited when I get a new one, they are my new treasure for a few weeks. So please continue the audiobooks if you can, they make me and others happy, you can’t please everyone but maybe add a disclaimer of local lingo is used to shut up the hater’s, they always love to hate.
GO AFTER THOSE IDIOTS! No one should be treated so badly. I LOVE reading the books, even though I have eye strain. But your books ARE WORTH THE STRAIN. I just finished Dead Weight and I’m watching for the announcement of book two in the series. Rarely have I found an author who knows how to write a story that focuses on THE STORY LINE and not just sex, violence, swearing and other issues just to fill a word count.
As for the IDIOTS, how would they like having people come into their homes and treating them like trash. Uh, not.
I am from the US and love your books. I lived in Texas for 5 years. The place is huge and people from all over the world go there. Accents are different depending on where in Texas you are at/from/family came from. The place is bigger then most countries, people.
Additionally, this is a pretend world. I see legal issues all over the place and say nothing because this is your world and you can do what you want. Still loved every story and don’t want the either of the series or audiobooks to end.
Than you author for all your hard work.
… I mean, yes. The Royal States definitely has its own set of laws. Is that even a thing, where people do that? Whyyyyy?
Like, sounds like a perfect way to ruin books for yourself, evaluating make-believe legalities lol
I bought the audio book although I rarely listen to any. I hope the one I got has the old accent. Don’t listen to the horrible people and stuff. There are LOTS more of us readers quietly enjoying what you do and how you do it. Delete is a perfect response to the trash. Cyber bandaid and hugs
I have been looking at the disturbing trend of bashing anything you do not agree with, especially online. Perhaps people think they are anonymous, (you aren’t, the webmaster sees your email), but this has just gone too far. We need to come together civilly, with courteousness. Just because I disagree with someone is no reason for me to scream at them and call them names like a two year old child. Children have the excuse of not yet having been taught better. We have been seeing this in Twitter, Facebook, etc., it has spilled out in politics and also “real life”. What has happened to self-control and restraint and just acting like an adult? The fact that people feel free to act this way is because no one has called them out on it. I would hope that my friends and family would let me know if I started acting this way.
The only time I make an actual complaint against an audiobook or audiobook series is when the characters fluctuate between he/she for the same person repeatedly. Not in the transgender pronoun way either. It’s a matter of the ebook not being edited after oversea translation and the narrator being faithful to the ebook that received no editing love
Ouch.
I’m not getting any reply on the other Facebook page so I figured it try my luck here. I keep seeing the titles prince of New York and new waters in descriptions of recommended reading order but I can’t find anything about these 2 books. Are they just out in special places or am I being blind?
They’re upcoming titles. Prince of New York is will soon be available for preorder. (Edit note: I would have set it up for preorder but The audiobook drama caused issues and I delayed doing it.)
… Prince of New York will SOON be available for Preorder. FFS, me.
Thank you
I can’t help but notice iron unicorn has been released on audible. Has your stance changed or is this a pleasant surprise?
Audible/Amazon changed the policy that resulted in me leaving their ecosystem, so the decision was reversed approximately a year ago. (This post is over two years old, and I don’t go back through the old archive to update them.) I’m guessing you missed the announcement indicating I would be trialing Amazon/ACX again as they had caved to pressure from both indie and traditional publishers.