MacVoices #23253: Bryan Chaffin On Self-Publishing His Novel and Spotify's Audiobook Option

Bryan Chaffin is back to decision his decision to self-publish his upcoming novel. He shares the tasks he's been working on, from creating a cover to formatting e-books for different platforms. We talk about distribution options, express concerns about author compensation in Spotify's audiobook library, and emphasize the importance of libraries in supporting authors. Bryan plans to record an audiobook himself to bring a unique voice to the story. He also discusses his active participation on threads as both himself and his main character.  Today’s MacVoices is supported by MacVoices Featured Gear. Get more done with your tech, like the OWC Thunderbolt Hub. No matter which Mac you have, you can always use more connectivity, and the OWC Thunderbolt Hub delivers. Get the details and link at MacVoices.com/FeaturedGear. Show Notes: Chapters: 0:00:00 Brian Chaffin returns to discuss his novel publishing journey. 0:01:45 Preparing for Publication: Formatting and Platforms 0:02:34 The Importance of Participating in the Twitter Community 0:04:44 Concerns about Amazon's Impact on Publishing Industry 0:05:03 Dominating the Market with Three Platforms 0:05:22 Modernized Library Distribution System and Convenience 0:06:42 The decision to narrate the book yourself 0:08:47 The complexities of self-publishing and audio book production 0:13:06 Fiverr: Professional Services for Higher Quality Work 0:14:41 Custom Chapter Ornaments: A Throwback to Chapter Identification 0:15:28 Customizing book ornaments and seam separators 0:20:42 Spotify entering the audiobook business and author compensation concerns 0:25:57 Dell and Amazon's Race to the Bottom Links: MasonTrumanPI on Threads Guests: Bryan Chaffin began using Apple computers in 1983 in a high school BASIC programming class. He started using Macs in 1990 when the Kinko’s guy taught him how to use Aldus PageMaker, finally buying a Power Computing Power 100 in 1995. Bryan is the cofounder of The Mac Observer. He has contributed to MacAddict and MacFormat magazines, and coauthored Incredible iPad Apps for Dummies with Bob “Dr. Mac” LeVitus. You can find out more about Bryan at his personal site, GeekTells, hear his thoughts on Apple and tech topics on The Context Machine and follow him on Threads as @GeekTells.  Support:      Become a MacVoices Patron on Patreon      http://patreon.com/macvoices      Enjoy this episode? Make a one-time donation with PayPal Connect:      Web:      http://macvoices.com      Twitter:      http://www.twitter.com/chuckjoiner      http://www.twitter.com/macvoices      Mastodon:      https://mastodon.cloud/@chuckjoiner      Facebook:      http://www.facebook.com/chuck.joiner      MacVoices Page on Facebook:      http://www.facebook.com/macvoices/      MacVoices Group on Facebook:      http://www.facebook.com/groups/macvoice      LinkedIn:      https://www.linkedin.com/in/chuckjoiner/      Instagram:      https://www.instagram.com/chuckjoiner/ Subscribe:      Audio in iTunes      Video in iTunes      Subscribe manually via iTunes or any podcatcher:      Audio: http://www.macvoices.com/rss/macvoicesrss      Video: http://www.macvoices.com/rss/macvoicesvideorss 00:00:00 Brian Chaffin returns to discuss his novel publishing journey. 00:00:10 Introducing MacVoices Featured Gear 00:01:44 Preparing for Publication: Formatting and Platforms 00:02:33 The Importance of Participating in the Twitter Community 00:04:44 Concerns about Amazon's Impact on Publishing Industry 00:05:02 Dominating the Market with Three Platforms 00:05:21 Modernized Library Distribution System and Convenience 00:06:41 The decision to narrate the book yourself 00:08:46 The complexities of self-publishing and audio book production 00:13:06 Fiverr: Professional Services for Higher Quality Work 00:14:40 Custom Chapter Ornaments: A Throwback to Chapter Identification 00:15:28 Customizing book ornaments and seam separators 00:20:41 Spotify entering the audiobook business and author compensation concerns 00:25:57 Dell and Amazon's Race to the Bottom