Welcome! I’m Tawny, an advice columnist better known as “The Sober Sexpert” and author of Dry Humping: A Guide to Dating, Relating, and Hooking Up Without the Booze. I’m here to empower you to find your *intrinsic* courage without booze—regardless of your relationship status—one date at a time.
In this issue, you’ll find:
Behind-the-scenes of the audiobook audition process
Find out if I got the job to read my own audiobook
My thoughts on season 2 of The Bear
Links to my fav, recently read articles
But first…I’m cohosting an event about dreams and sobriety next week! We’ll go into dreams (like the things you see when you sleep) and dreams (like the things you wanna accomplish one day) while sipping yummy NA drinks by Curious Elixirs at NYC sober speakeasy, Fat Tiger! Grab your ticket here.
OK…back to the audiobook tea…
You already know that my book, Dry Humping: A Guide to Dating, Relating, and Hooking Up Without the Booze, is available for preorders. But did you know that it took literal years to get here? And that’s just for the paperback. Today, I will let you in on a little secret: I had to audition to read my own audiobook.
The non-fiction book publishing process comes in many phases: Writing a book proposal that explains your book idea and why the world needs to read it (with some editing help from writing coach and Beyond Liquid Courage’s Managing Editor Irina Gonzalez), quieting the imposter syndrome that says who the hell are you to write a book?!?!, finding a literary agent to be just as obsessed with your idea as you are, finding an editor who is just as obsessed with the idea that you and your agent are obsessed with… Then the editor convinces the rest of the publishing house that your book is worth putting out into the world. And that’s just getting the book deal. I haven’t even gone into actually writing the damn thing.
These are all topics I’ll explore in future issues. But today, I want to talk about how audiobooks fit into all of this as a way to celebrate that the Dry Humping audiobook is now also available for preorder. More specifically, let’s chat about the time I auditioned to read my own audiobook.
Keep reading to find out if I actually booked the job.
I signed the official contract for Dry Humping in May of 2022. This included printed books and ebooks. The audiobook deal came one year later. While some seasoned authors may have an audiobook deal in their main book contract, other debut authors (like me!) experience a separate audiobook deal. I’m thrilled that my book will come in audio form since audiobooks continue to rise in popularity, so this means more of you will get to read (well, listen) to my guide to dating, relating, and hooking up without the booze.
Bonus: Audiobook deals come with an optional audition process if the author wants to read their own book. And yes, of course, I wanted to audition! After all, I’m already experienced in the world of audio thanks to years of co-hosting my podcast Recovery Rocks with the wonderful Lisa Smith and previous broadcast journalism experience.
I naively assumed that all non-fiction authors automatically record their own audiobooks. Turns out that’s not always the case. (Even the IG/TikTok famous author, Amanda E. White, LPC, auditioned for her audiobook and didn’t get it! But now she has a badass podcast you should all check out.)
After chatting with some author friends, I heard about their own audiobook journeys. Some authors read just the intro chapter and acknowledgments, while a professional voice actor reads most of their book. Other authors had no interest in reading their own books at all. Most authors aren’t internet personalities, actors, or podcast hosts. Most of us choose writing as a profession because we’re happier at home with a fur baby on our lap as we stare at the blue light of our screens for hours.
I’m not that kind of author, though. While I definitely love my alone time and fur baby time, I also love connecting with my readers. And an audiobook is an excellent way to bring my words to life for readers. Or should I say… listeners.
So… how do you think it went? 😬
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