I’m excited to announce that
Ares in Chains:
Book One:
Shades of Myth Series
is now available on Audible and iTunes Books!
I did the narration and editing myself.
Big step. Exciting step.
This has been a great learning experience. Just listening to the completed production, I already know a few things I can do better next time.
The plan is to do all future Shades of Myth Series books on Audible as soon at the books are released rather than experiencing a long delay between the release of Kindle, Paperback and Audio.
The system isn’t quite structured enough to get everything released at exactly the same time, but I’m sure I’ll be able to get all the various forms in a tighter formation.
I also cannot control the pricing of audiobooks like I can for Kindle, Paperback and Hard Cover books.
For those of you who are having difficulty reading or don’t enjoy reading as much as you once did, audiobooks are a great option to have.
Please pick up a copy of the audiobook today and let me know what you think.
They say it may take up to 30 days for whispersync to kick in. It wasn’t working on mine yet.
What is whispersync?
Whispersync is an Amazon feature that combines audiobooks with their Kindle counterparts. This means that if you own the Kindle version and the Audiobook version, you can sync them together and read along as I read the book to you. It’s a really cool option to use. I use whispersync sometimes.
Not all the time, but occasionally.
You can also speed up the narrator if you think they are reading too slow.
When it comes to creating an audiobook, they say one of the biggest hurdles to get over is learning to like your own voice. Many of us don’t like our own voices, me included. It takes time and practice to train your ear to accept your voice when it is recorded and outside of your own headspace. I’m working on that.
I’ve also learned that I don’t speak the same way I read.
In my mind, when I read, all the words flow so easily but when you have to actually move your mouth and pronounce words, annunciate them with the proper inflections and tones, you start to wonder if you really know how to speak at all.
And in your mind, you don’t realize how easily you brush over words, ignoring some completely. When you read it out loud and listen to the recording, you hear so many mistakes. It takes a lot of editing and re-editing to create a sound and product you can live with.
And after that is done, you submit it and pray it passes ACX’s sound quality tests which focus primarily on RMS, Peak and Floor. Fun stuff.
I’ve provided the link to Amazon for Ares in Chains below. You’ll see that there are now three formats on sale. Kindle, Paperback and Audiobook.

The cost of the audiobook for Ares in Chains is relatively inexpensive at $6.95. It is not a long book and I cannot control the price. Apparently the longer the audiobook is, the more expensive it will be.
I plan to do audiobooks for all five books in The Crystal Crux Series, so those books will be quite a bit longer than Ares in Chains and cost more. Nothing I can do about that.
It takes a lot of work to create an audiobook just like it takes a lot of work to create a novel. Nothing easy about this, but it’s rewarding if you love doing it. And I love writing, and I’m learning to love creating Audiobooks. It should get easier and more instinctive the longer I work with the editing equipment. Right now, I am using Audacity.
In other news, I can report that I am working on another Shades of Myth book and hope to release it sometime this summer.
I’ll fill everyone in on the details as they emerge.
Until next time: Stay inspired and keep reading!

Allen M Werner is the author of the epic dark fantasy tale The Crystal Crux Series.