You're listening back to chapter twelve and it's good. The cast lands, the score sits where it should. Then the last line arrives, the one where she finally admits it, and you hear it differently in your head: quieter, almost a whisper. One line out of four hundred.
The question every author asks at this point is whether changing that line means producing the chapter again. It doesn't. Here is how it works.
The short answer
Open the chapter in the studio, open Martin, and type the note the way you'd say it to a director:
Let her whisper the last line.
Martin finds the line, gives it the new direction and records a new take in place. You press play on that moment and hear it. The chapter isn't regenerated, and the take you had before is kept, so if the whisper turns out too much, "go back to the earlier one" puts it back.
That's the whole loop: the note, the change, the result. Martin is the AI audio director built into the Midsummerr studio, and Midsummerr is the only audiobook platform with one. Direct your audiobook by talking to it shows the drawer in more detail.
Ready to try it on your own book?
Start with 5,000words free →What you can ask for on a single line
Most notes on one line fall into a handful of kinds, and Martin handles each of them on the line itself.
| Your note | What Martin changes | What you hear |
|---|---|---|
| "Let her whisper the last line" | The line's acting direction | A new take, read the way you described |
| "Make this sound breathless and afraid" | The line's acting direction | A new take with that delivery |
| "He says 'Margaret', not 'Maggie'" | The line's wording | A new take of the corrected line |
| "That's Holmes speaking, not Watson" | The line's speaker | The line in the right character's voice |
| "The second half of this line is the narrator" | Splits the line and hands the words over | Two lines, each in its own voice |
| "Hold a longer beat after the reveal" | The pause after the line | The same take, with more room after it |
| "Go back to the earlier take" | Restores the previous take | The version you had before |
Speaker changes apply to full-cast books, where every character has a voice. On a single-narrator book there's one voice by design, so the wording, the direction and the pause are the notes that apply.
What a good note sounds like
Martin works from what you'd tell an actor. The notes that land best name the feeling and, when it helps, the reason:
- The feeling, not the volume. "Resigned, not angry" gives a clearer target than "softer".
- One change per line. If a line needs a new word and a new delivery, say both in one message: "Change 'Maggie' to 'Margaret' and make it colder."
- The scene when it matters. "She's trying not to wake the baby" tells Martin why the line is quiet, and the take follows.
If a take isn't what you pictured, say what's off: "closer, but still too steady". Each retake is a new version, and the earlier ones stay in the line's history.
When the note is about the whole book
Some notes start on one line and turn out to be about the book: "the villain never raises his voice", "keep the narrator dry when she's being funny". Tell Martin to remember it. It keeps preferences for the project and brings them to later chapters, so you give the note once.
Notes about music and sound go the same way. "The music is too loud under this speech" and "add a door slam here" are single-moment changes too, made in the chapter without producing it again.
Doing it by hand
Every change Martin makes is also in the editor. Click a line to open it: the Edit tab has its text, its speaker and its acting direction, with Regenerate for a new take, and the Previous Versions tab lists every earlier take, ready to restore. Martin is the fast way when you know the note but not where to find the control.
To hear what a finished production sounds like before you start, listen to A Christmas Carol, produced in Midsummerr with a voice for each of its speaking parts. More on the studio is on the features page.
Try it on your own chapter
Upload a manuscript, generate a chapter, and pick the one line you'd change if you could. Open Martin and tell it. Directing and regenerating lines is free, until it sounds the way you hear it.
FAQ
Does changing one line regenerate the chapter?
No. Martin records a new take of the moment you asked about and places it where the old one was. The chapter itself is never produced again.
Can I get the old version back?
Yes. Every take is kept. Ask Martin for the earlier take, or open the line and restore it from Previous Versions.
Does each retake cost credits?
No. Directing and regenerating lines, voices, music and sound effects is included, as many times as it takes.
Can I change who says a line?
Yes, on a full-cast book. Tell Martin who should say it and the line comes back in that character's voice. Martin can also split a line when only part of it belongs to someone else.
