How This Audible Producer Achieved Her Dreams of Authorship
Brooke Dean always knew she wanted to write her own books one day, and produce them in audio. After working with her young son Jaxon to create his first children’s book during the pandemic—a fun project that’s grown to a seven-book series—Dean pursued her own dreams of becoming an author and sat down to write an erotic romance, Brooklyn Unbound, that’s grown into a series about a woman navigating new relationships in New York City. The latest installment, Brooklyn Unraveled, was released this past February.
Several years of coordinating production for Audible Originals inspired Dean to produce her son’s books in audio, and begin her own projects. “Our Originals are such an immersive experience,” Dean says, “you really feel like you’re in the middle of a show or movie and can just close your eyes and be transported.”
As the lead for the US operations team, Dean works on Audible Originals’ third party scripted content and podcasts featuring notable A-list talent like The Justice featuring Sanaa Lathan, the award-winning The Light Podcast with Michelle Obama and Your Mama’s Kitchen with Michele Norris. Her role sits at the heart of the content creation process—working across teams to ensure content moves from ideation to production to release—and draws on her programming experience from a 20-year career in television and radio.
“My TV background helps me understand the creative process between writers and actors who narrate our Originals and podcasts—so a true understanding of production timelines plays a key part in my role,” Dean says. “Working cross functionally with public relations, marketing and social media teams is an experience I can marry across platforms.”
But even with her background, when it came time to turn her own stories into audiobooks utilizing Audible’s self-publishing marketplace, ACX, Dean says there was a learning curve for producing her own work. “There were still questions I had during my process,” Dean says. She credits her colleagues for helping to mentor her through it. “I have a team to lean on for knowledge and support.”
Dean’s son Jaxon became a best-selling children’s book author with his series, The Whisker Gang. Read about his journey.
She is thrilled with the results. For her, the intimacy audio storytelling provides, along with the ability to stop, start and replay, gives her listeners a different experience of the book than reading them in print. “I think listening to something sexy heightens all the other senses to the point where you feel like you’re there with the main characters in a kind of voyeuristic way,” Dean says.
Publishing her work through ACX has also expanded the visibility of her series and unlocked a new audience for her content, helping to reach romance fans across Audible’s service. “When your work can be found anywhere in so many different formats, it elevates your titles a little bit more,” Dean says. “Especially since my books are in the romance/erotica genre, you have more privacy with audio. I believe that romance is an escape for so many people, so being able to take your escape with you anywhere you go is a benefit.”
In addition to working on Audible Originals and producing her own projects, Dean says she is consistently finding ways to support her colleagues in their creative endeavors like they’ve helped her. While producing her first audiobook, she was surprised to learn that many of the members on her team were also authors. It provided a community she could lean on, and seek mentorship from. “I always try to share my drafts with my team, which is intimidating, given the subject matter, but the team has so many creatives who understand the business and have a passion for creating content,” Dean says.
One of those mentors, who also happens to be an award-winning author, told her to always tell the story she wanted to tell, to be her authentic self and to network with other authors in her genre. “Some of my mentors also read my son’s books and gave great feedback,” Dean says. “Most importantly, they simply gave me their time, which I appreciate more than they know.”
Dean also makes sure to elevate resources available in her community, and on ACX, for authors, narrators and sound engineers. “I’m heavy on giving people their props, so if I know of someone who writes, narrates, acts, performs, produces, etc., I’m telling everyone I know and encouraging them to support their work,” she says. “Getting the word out when you don’t have the marketing support is hard, so if I can evangelize someone’s work and motivate other creatives to keep going, I’m all for it.” This includes speaking across different forums about her experience with ACX and the benefits of using the service. “There's so many different things you can do through ACX, and being able to share my experience with this offering, it’s great to see how I can inspire others just by talking about how I’ve done this all on my own.”
