Been awhile! Here's what's been up.

Hello again friends!
Remember when I said I would work on keeping this blog updated and fresh?
Yeah, me neither.  The last post was Dec. 13th of last year!
Ahh well, what's 9 months between posts?
A lot has been happening in my slowly progressing new quest of a source of income.
I've been steadily narrating books (between working) and feel I'm getting much better at it.
It's like anything, the more you do something, the more proficient you become at it.
The ACX Narrator and Producer group that I admin on Facebook keeps on growing.
Almost 800 members now!
I've had to get pickier about who I let in the group lately.  You pretty much have to be able to prove to me that you do business on ACX to join.  I've never really considered myself an organizer, but I know a good rule of invention is; "If you find a need, fill it." That's kind of what I did with the ACX group. 
The page has surpassed all of my expectations and is an invaluable resouce for anyone who works through ACX.  The comradierie is amazing. It's a great place to network, and humor and snark run rampant!
If you do businees on ACX and haven't joined, go here now and join!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/140624362803564/260162434183089

Here's what I've done since my last post.
I finished up Apocalycious by Kurt Helms and it's available now here:
http://www.audible.com/pd/Sci-Fi-Fantasy/Apocalycious-Audiobook/B00HJWXVWG/ref=a_search_c4_1_1_srTtl?qid=1408997864&sr=1-1


I also did a few more books for Michael Hearing right here:
http://www.audible.com/pd/Fiction/Two-Tales-of-Horror-and-the-Paranormal-Audiobook/B00HLRRUD0/ref=a_search_c4_1_2_srTtl?qid=1408998102&sr=1-2

This one too!
http://www.audible.com/pd/Sci-Fi-Fantasy/Two-Weird-Tales-of-the-Dystopian-Present-and-Future-Audiobook/B00HLRSLTC/ref=a_search_c4_1_1_srTtl?qid=1408998245&sr=1-1

Also this one!
http://www.audible.com/pd/Mysteries-Thrillers/Over-the-Edge-Audiobook/B00HDT3BZM/ref=a_search_c4_1_14_srTtl?qid=1408998362&sr=1-14

And, most exciting for me was the release of 

Survivors of the Dead: From the Ashes by Tony Baker.
This has been selling well and has good reviews too!
It's the first of an at least 3 book series.

Check it out here:

http://www.audible.com/pd/Sci-Fi-Fantasy/Survivors-of-the-Dead-Audiobook/B00L2E9UYU/ref=a_search_c4_1_2_srTtl?qid=1408998586&sr=1-2

And, finally, I've just wrapped up a book I'm really excited about.
It's Milk Blood by Mark Matthews.
Freaky story not for the faint of heart. (I play a 10 year old girl who is a herion addict)
It's not for sale yet, but will be soon, so be on the lookout for this one in audiobook format:
http://www.amazon.com/MILK-BLOOD-Mark-Matthews-ebook/dp/B00L978UN2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1408998894&sr=8-1&keywords=milk+blood

Now, if you've read this far down, here is what I'll start working on this week.
I'm excited about this one too!
This is also a first in a series of books.
The Many Tubs of Tom by Mary Moody
Here:

http://www.amazon.com/Many-Tubs-Waterlee-Legacy-Book-ebook/dp/B00MRLMOE0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1408999103&sr=8-1&keywords=THe+Many+Tubs+of+tom

And to those of you who have made it down this far into the blog, I passed an early milestone in my ACX career recentley. I blew right past the 1.000 sales mark, and currently almost to 1,200 total sales!!!
And.....My reviews are getting much better.
The snowball just keeps on rolling.

Also, one of my goals since starting the production of audiobooks, has been to become an 

"Audible Approved" producer. Wish me luck please. 

Until I get a "real" website (which will be soon), you can keep up with me here, or, even better, friend me on Facebook. Here: https://www.facebook.com/jay.wohlert

  And join the group! Here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/140624362803564/260162434183089
Until next time, (not so long, I promise) thank you all!

Getting up to date!

Hey everybody.

Well I have finally finished the audio for the epic zombie sci-fi adventure novel APOCALYCIOUS!

I don't want to give away too much of the book, but I can tell you it involves a lot of unique characters including a knight in armor, aliens, bigfoot, an egyptian anubis, a stripper, a midget wrestler, satan, and of course hoards and hoards of the undead! 

Now it's in the ears of the supremely talented author, Kurt Helms for preliminary evaluation.  

Once he gives it the ok, it's off to ACX for final processing.  With any luck, this one should be available before the holidays. I'm really excited about this book and this author.  This is not your "run of the mill" zombie thriller. Every minute of this book is entertaining, and it entertains for the full 15 plus hours!

Check it out on Amazon below: 

<<< COMING SOON IN                                  AUDIOBOOK!!!

http://www.amazon.com/APOCALYCIOUS-Satire-Dead-R-Helms/dp/1484026411/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1385848398&sr=8-1&keywords=apocalycious

HERE ARE THE REST OF MY BOOKS THAT ARE AVAILABLE NOW

Poems From the Precipice

My book.

Original song lyrics converted into poetry. Available in paperback or audiobook.

Topics deal with depression, suicide, addiction, spirtuality, the environment, aliens and many more!

48 truly unique poem/songs!

http://www.audible.com/pd/Drama-Poetry/Poems-from-the-Precipice-Audiobook/B00DOYCTV2/ref=a_search_c4_1_3_srTtl?qid=1385846865&sr=1-3

http://www.audible.com/pd/Sci-Fi-Fantasy/20-20-Audiobook/B00FM43S0S

http://www.audible.com/pd/Mysteries-Thrillers/After-the-Fog-Audiobook/B00FRKASZU

http://www.audible.com/pd/Fiction/Two-Stories-Audiobook/B00F9HQQB6/ref=a_search_c4_1_14_srTtl?qid=1385846865&sr=1-14

http://www.audible.com/pd/Fiction/A-Helping-Hand-Audiobook/B00EZPVM7G/ref=a_search_c4_1_13_srTtl?qid=1385846865&sr=1-13

http://www.audible.com/pd/Mysteries-Thrillers/Elmores-Accident-Audiobook/B00F3HW8B4

http://www.audible.com/pd/Fiction/Eves-Refusal-Audiobook/B00ELLS6JQ

http://www.audible.com/pd/Fiction/Flashing-My-Shorts-Audiobook/B00CTRWP5A

http://www.audible.com/pd/Mysteries-Thrillers/Pawnbroker-Audiobook/B00EZAWBB2

http://www.audible.com/pd/Fiction/Sheep-Dreams-Audiobook/B00D2XYT3Q

http://www.audible.com/pd/Business/Leadership-Audiobook/B00CULRDTI

http://www.audible.com/pd/Fiction/The-Postmortem-Scrapbook-Audiobook/B00C7W0OQ4

http://www.audible.com/pd/Classics/The-Works-of-F-Scott-Fitzgerald-Audiobook/B00BTKG80G

http://www.audible.com/pd/Self-Development/How-to-Get-Many-Pen-Pals-and-the-Woman-of-Your-Dreams-in-the-Philippines-Thailand-and-China-Audiobook/B00AOB2OJK

5/28/2013

What's up all?
Here's an update of what I got going on.
I now have 5 audiobooks for currently for sale!
3 more in production.
Check them all out here:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=jay+wohlert
You may also notice that I have also released some of my original writings in book form.
"Poems from the Precipice" - Thoughts from the edge of sanity.
It is a collection of 44 poems (some I have used in lyric form for songs).
Most are disturbing and introspective. I wrote them as a form of self therapy.

Here's a link to some of my music if you're interested: http://www.reverbnation.com/onlytheone/songs

Since my last blog post,
Flashing my Shorts by Salvatore Buttaci has gone live, and so has Leadership by Steven G. Carley.
Sheep Dreams (a really cool short story) by Missouri author Dustin Hurley should be "live" in the next week.  I'm really hoping something I'm doing will take off and sell a bunch.
I work very hard on producing an outstanding product.
For every hour of finished audio, it takes me about 8 hrs. of studio/production time.
This includes pre-reading the manuscripts, making notes, in studio reading, editing, and my own version of quality control.  I've listened to a ton of audiobooks produced by big publishing houses and independents.  I can honestly say that my stuff is way superior to 90% of what's out there as far as audio quality goes.
Right now I'm almost finished with a fantastic book, Pawnbroker by Jerry Hatchett.
When I say this is a good book, I mean it.
Read the reviews here: http://www.amazon.com/Pawnbroker-Jerry-Hatchett/product-reviews/0988701200/ref=sr_1_1_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1
It translates into an audiobook awesomely.  Very fun and exciting!
Anyway, I hope everyone is doing great and life is fulfilling all your expectations!
Peace for now (and always!)

Rants and stuff.

Well, here it is a couple weeks later.  Just finished audiobook #4 a few days ago.
It's a good feeling to push the "I'm Done" button on the ACX page.
Book #4 is Flashing My Shorts, by Salvatore Buttachi,  I think it turned out great.
So now I wait for 3 weeks for it go up on sale. It is now in limbo while it goes through QA (quality assurance) at Audible. Which, I guess, they do things like check levels, amounts of noise and format the files and put in chapter or track markers and get it ready for the websites.  Listening to many samples on Audible, it seems that thier QA is easy to get through. I heard some terrible quality audio being marketed as audiobooks. When Postmertem Scrapbook was released, of course I went to Audible.com to listen to a sample. What I heard, honestly made me sick.  The retail sample for people to listen to sounded so bad, I can't imagine anybody buying it.  It sounded waaaaaaaay overprocessed, like it had been run through a digital nightmare!  So,....... I contacted ACX and Audible.com. to see what the problem is.  In the end, I was told that it sounded great, don't worry about it. The retail audio sample is like the "AM radio of quality".
It is a very low quality sample to help webites stream it effectively, but "yours sounds great!". Soooooo...... I told them of course, that I believed that was a terrible strategy to sell audiobooks.  They assured me that the end user customer recieves a much better quality audio based on what format they want.  I told them (audible.com) that sucks. If they really wanted to introduce people into the world of audiobooks, or any other product, you should always, always, always, always, put your best foot forward! NOT crap it down because it's easier! They said "we'll pass your ideas and opinions to the people who make these decions". I hope they do. I hope the owner of of the company sees the wisdom I imparted. I hope they take my advice, because in the end, it makes for more and happier customers and guys like me the ability to make a dollar.Rant 2 done  AND.................The Postmortem Scrapbook by my friend and talented author KR Helms has only sold 1, yes 1, copy. I can't believe it! People need to know! This is a fun and captivating bunch of stories. You should buy it, and tell everyone you know to buy it.
Ok, rant 3 done. F. Scott Fitzgerald continues to sell about 2-5 a day, 160 sold since  3/14. Not bad I guess.  I hope Flashing My Shorts does well.  It's a really strange and odd, eclectic collection of stories. It goes from vampires and zombies, to time travelers and ailiens, to the childhood memories of a recurring young sicilian boy (the author) and his large and interesting family.  Most of the stories are very, very short and it seems like as soon as you know it, you're full on into it for 9+ hours. How coulda you not a like a dat huh? Ciao!

First Blog Ever!

This is my first blog post (ever!).

-This was back in January-

I'm for hire as a voice actor, commercial voice, narrator, phone prompting sytem voice, educational, corporate, animation, video games, etc.  

Full production capabilities too. (music/sfx etc.)

Whatever kind of voice work you need.

I just submitted my first completed audiobook narration for sale.

It will be available in a couple of weeks exclusively on Amazon, Audible and I Tunes.

I found out about a website ACX.com where authors and publishers can hook up with voice talent and have thier books produced into audiobooks.  

Being unemployed, I was curious.

I made a profile and auditioned for a few books.  Author, Colbert Bellevue, contacted me almost immediately and asked for a sample read of his book.  He liked the sample and I was chosen to narrate his book, How to Make Many Pen Pals and Meet the Woman of Your Dreams in the Phillipines, Thailand, and China. If you are interested in getting into a relationship with an asian woman, it is a must read (or should I say, listen).  I hope we sell a ton!  I had fun doing it.  It's here if you are interested: http://www.audible.com/pd/ref=sr_1_3?asin=B00AOB2OJK&qid=1365795075&sr=1-3

Now, I'm working on The Works of F.Scott Fitzgerald.  Talk about a huge project!  This one requires me to do many different characters, so it will really test my voice acting ability!  I'll let you know how it progresses as I go.  I'm up to Chapter 4 in the novel This Side of Paradise right now.

(-JUMP AHEAD TO APRIL 2013-)

Ok, now I have three audiobooks produced and for sale, and almost done with the 4th!

The F.Scott Fitzgerald collection is done and has been for sale for a month now.

Find it here: http://www.audible.com/pd/ref=sr_1_1?asin=B00BTKG80G&qid=1365798559&sr=1-1

The Postmortem Scrapbook by K.R. Helms is finished and available too!

Right here: http://www.audible.com/pd/ref=sr_1_2?asin=B00C7W0OQ4&qid=1365798559&sr=1-2

This is an awesome book of short psychological/thriller/paranormal/horror stories that are fun to listen to.

The shortest one is about 5 minutes long, and the longest one is about 45 minutes.

It's about 4 1/2 hours of total listening.

The author is very talented and is a cool guy and easy to work with.

He is releasing a novel called Apocalycious soon.  I'm betting it's going to be epic!

He's said he wants me to narrate it for him also!  I can't wait to read it and get started.

But, I need to finish up the book I'm currently working on:  Flashing My Shorts by Salvatore Buttaci.

It's a book of 200 micro-short stories. Most are between 5 to 10 minutes long, and some are only a few sentences!  Some are scary, some are funny, some are sci-fi, and so on.  Very diverse collection of bite size literature.  I'm about 3/4 done right now.  It will be about 8 1/2 hours long in total when I'm finished.

A fun book for sure!  Be looking for it soon!

On another side note, I've been asked by http://talestoterrify.com/ to be a guest narrator for their weekly podcasts.  Not a paying gig, but a little self promotion on my part.  

Is this enough for a blog?  Probably too much huh?  Well congratulations if you read all the way to here!

Everyone keeps telling me I need at least a blog page in adition to my facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/jay.wohlert), so here it is!

I'll do my best to post something here at least weekly.

Thanks!

Jay