The first person to whom I owe an acknowledgement is my original voice acting coach, Laurel van der Linde. We met about 25 years ago at TVI Actors Studio in Los Angeles. It was at TVI, I booked my first real voice acting jobs: a brief series of television ads for Nickelodeon cable channel and a string of radio spots for a TV show from that time, The Scariest Places on Earth.
This was long before home studios and personal websites. Aspiring voice actors needed agents to present their audio samples to casting directors on compact discs recorded in professional studios. Laurel produced my first and only audio sample CD entitled, “Michael Bridges – Voices of a different type.” As a nod to Laurel’s valuable assistance, I still use the cover art from that CD as a graphic on the Audiobooks In Production page on this website.
My modest success was encouraging but at that time in my life I had a hefty mortgage and a young family to feed. So, I put my voice acting dreams on hold and returned to the relative stability of law, finance and telecommunications.
When I finally retired comfortably in 2024, I was able to return to my passion, oral storytelling -- humanity’s first true art form. I decided to narrate audiobooks on ACX where I could help encourage and support first-time self-published authors. I learned how to record, edit, master and code audio files that would meet ACX’s audio submission standards from Master Editor, my audio engineering mentor whom I also acknowledge below.
When it came time to create and post my narrator’s profile, I realized that the only audio samples I had were on my decades-old audio CD produced by Laurel back at TVI Actors Studio. My hair was thinner and grayer but luckily my voice still sounded the same. So I converted those compact disc tracks into mp3s and uploaded them to my ACX profile on Valentine’s Day, February 14, 2025.
I awoke the next morning to find an offer from Brooke Reynolds to narrate her first novel, HEALERS. Brooke later told me she was compelled to make the offer when she heard my performance on one of the audiobook samples Laurel had selected and produced for me all those years before.
Today I am an ACX Approved Producer, have over sixty completed titles selling on Audible and over three thousand 5-star ratings from listeners in the US and UK. I never could have done that without the help of Laurel van der Linde.
The second person I wish to acknowledge is a gentleman named Akhtar, doing business as “Master Editor.” I was his student two years ago. I was interested in learning the freeware, Audacity. And after various upgrades, I’m still using Audacity to this day.
His video course was thorough and easy to understand. When I did need to email him a question, he always responded promptly and professionally. That includes a few questions that arose long after my graduation when a new version of Audacity created a low noise floor problem I had not experienced before. His quick reply and thoughtful suggestions helped me solve my problem.
Success as a narrator takes more than your personal vocal talent. You must deliver audio files that not only sound good but pass all of ACX’s audio submission standards first time, every time. Those standards are so stringent, they have become the de facto, industry-wide standards for every other category of voice-over recording. You can waste time learning your DAW through trial and error, or outdated YouTube videos. Or you can learn from the Master Editor who taught me how to become an “AAP” - ACX Approved Producer.
One of his services is to have the student send him a raw, unprocessed audio sample which he then analyzes to create a custom macro (a chain of linked commands executed with a single click). I still use the custom macro he made for me as part of my process to get my tracks to meet the ACX audio submission standards. To date I have completed 63 audiobook and have never failed an ACX final review – a fact I credit to what I learned in Master Editor’s course.
Last but not least, I wish to acknowledge ContentCreator.com. I knew that to be a worthy Royalty Share partner I needed to expand my online presence and my understanding of the full capabilities of generative AI-enhanced social media marketing.
I began searching for a suitable learning source that was professional, knowledgeable, ethical, and reasonably priced. I believe the partners and staff at ContentCreator.com meet those criteria and continue to exceed my expectations.
Their latest creation, Content Creator Machine (CCM), is a master platform that can efficiently create, manage, and even automate multiple aspects of online commerce. I am honoring them here because I’m genuinely glad I found them, I’m grateful for the knowledge I’m gaining, and I believe CCM will be an excellent home base for the Royalty Share Community forum described on this site.
We use cookies to analyze website traffic and optimize your website experience. By accepting our use of cookies, your data will be aggregated with all other user data.