Case Studies
Below are samples of the diverse projects May has produced for independent authors and thought leaders, along with endorsements by the authors who hired her.
Ego Free Leadership: Ending the Unconscious Habits that Highjack Your Business
by Shayne Hughes and Brandon Black
The Project
Working with Shayne Hughes, President of Learning as Leadership (LAL), May produced and directed the audiobook edition of a book told from the dual perspectives of Brandon Black, then CEO of Encore Capital, and the LAL team headed by Shayne. A third perspective was that of Amy Anuk, a female employee confronting discrimination in the workplace. The book details how the LAL and Encore partnership helped the Encore executive team learn to root out the unproductive ego habits that undermine collaboration and performance—and, in the process, discover a time-tested roadmap for eliminating the destructive effects of the ego in teams and organizations. The book gives an indepth look at the transformation from dysfunction to successful leadership.
To produce the audiobook edition, May worked on all aspects of preparing and executing production, as well as advising them on distribution options. She recommended, booked, and scheduled studio space for three busy executives recording in three different locations, Then, over the course of a month, she directed each of them remotely during their individual recording sessions. Preparation included posing and answering questions about adapting the print format, which contained graphs, sidebars, and other visual elements, to listener-friendly content. Multiple performance coaching sessions were held in advance of recording. May brought on the postproduction team who edited the book and worked closely with them through the mastering and QC process.
The Endorsement
“May was highly effective in her role as director and producer. Assertive in coaching us while still being encouraging. I had great appreciation for her follow through and proactivity in managing all the moving parts of the process — guiding us to choose recording studios, coaching us in our reading of our individual parts, evaluating our final performance, and helping us think through distribution. And all this was done off site in a seamless and efficient manner." - Shayne Hughes, co-Author
"I truly appreciated how May helped me through the process. She's direct, but understanding; she allowed for our own creative process, while suggesting best practices. And, most importantly, I felt prepared."
- Brandon Black, co-Author
Finding Mrs. Ford by Deborah Goodrich Royce
The Project
Author and philanthropist Deborah Goodrich Royce is a force to be reckoned with. A former actress, story analyst and film executive, who also serves as President of the Board of the Stamford, CT Avon Theatre Film Center (the 1939 theatre that she and her husband restored), she knew what she wanted in an audiobook production. She retained the audio rights to this, her highly acclaimed first novel, whose print and ebook editions were published by Post Hill Press. Deborah hired May to produce and direct the audiobook, and they worked closely on all aspects of the production.
A character-driven story of psychological suspense that goes back and forth in time, the challenge here was identifying an actress who could play the recently widowed Mrs. Ford, leading a life of privilege in Manhattan in 2014, and the Susan Ford of her youth, a sheltered young college student who falls into a friendship that leads her to the violent world of suburban Detroit in 1979. May auditioned several multi-talented actresses and Deborah fell in love with award-winning narrator Saskia Maarleveld, who brought the character and book to life exactly as she had imagined. Finding Mrs. Ford was recorded at CDM Studios in New York City
and distributed by Blackstone Publishing,
The Endorsement
Every aspect of working with May Wuthrich on the audiobook of Finding Mrs. Ford was delightfully educational and confidence-inspiring! From casting to recording, to final placement with the distributor, May guided the process with wise counsel, strategic questions, wisdom, knowledge and professionalism. May knows what she’s doing and she does it well. I could not be happier with the final product and cannot wait to work with May again on my next book!” - Deborah Goodrich Royce
Into the Sky with Diamonds: The Beatles and the Race to the Moon in the Psychedelic ‘60s
by Ronald Grelsamer
The Project
Ronald Grelsamer’s historical fiction title was self-published by AuthorHouse in September 2010. With the ever-growing popularity of the audiobook format, Grelsamer decided that a decade later, producing an audio edition could bring fresh eyes and ears to his passion project. An expert on all things Sixties, Grelsamer’s intersecting stories of the Beatles rise to fame and NASA’s race to the moon, are based in historical detail, but written as a memoir by a fictional character - a NASA engineer, who has a chance meeting with the real-life Beatles Roadie, Mal Evans. It's through their friendship, and the letters exchanged between them, that we get a behind-the-scenes look at these two cultural phenomena.
Because production budgets are based on the length of the program, and Grelsamer’s book was estimated at fifteen hours long, there were budget considerations to address. One or two actors? Recording in a professional studio with all the associated costs, or with talent experienced at home recordings? A number of actors were auditioned and Graham Halstead, an American actor, and award-winning voice artist living and working in Paris, France with a state-of-the-art home studio, was chosen. Graham’s theater training included studying Shakespeare in London, so when it came to creating distinct voices for the two narrators, Graham nailed the young, enterprising NASA engineer as well as the working class bloke from Liverpool, thus allowing May to direct the performance remotely, streamline the production process and cut costs.
Additionally, May helped create marketing materials, including a video recorded by the narrator and an “Author’s Note” written for the audio edition (which Grelsamer recorded at the sound studio where his show Beatles & Friends Radio, is produced.)
The Endorsement
“When I first hired May to produce my book, I had no real concept of the scope of work involved in producing and directing audiobooks. Although our conversation began with whether I should read part of the book myself and how the book might be adapted for audio, it evolved into an unexpected partnership.
As May diplomatically pointed out, an audiobook is not always a direct translation (or recitation) of the printed text. In the case of my book, the print edition included sidenotes, as well as visual effects that did not translate, and lists that can be quickly scanned with the eye but, as May put it, slow down the pace of the storytelling. So, May made good use of her editing expertise and, always in consultation with me, massaged the book from beginning to end, coming up with a final script that also took into account some dated content and errors missed in copy editing.
May also explained that because my book was based in history, specific research would be done in preparation for recording. She made contact with an engineer at NASA who graciously provided guidance about technical and scientific terms. She and Graham reviewed YouTube clips of the historical figures quoted in the book, thus creating accurately represented characters who would be recognizable to listeners. May's sometimes dizzying attention to detail was impressive and she moved the project along efficiently, even arranging distribution through Blackstone Publishing. The whole process was creative, fun and accomplished on schedule, and, maybe most of all, allowed me to revisit my book in a whole new way!" - Ronald Grelsamer