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Saturday, November 29, 2014

Have you tried Audio Books?


Have you considered turning your books into audio books?  I recently converted six of my books into audio books using the Amazon acX platform and have to say I am very pleased.


SO HOW DOES IT WORK?

First, you enter your ASIN or ISBN number into their search bar to find your book.


Then, it will bring up their Agreement which basically states that you are the rights holder and want to convert your book into an audio book - in many more words, of course. After you have agreed to their terms, it will load your description from the book's listing on Amazon. Check it carefully, because it doesn't bring in some of the punctuation correctly (ellipses, contractions, etc).

On the same screen, you will enter the Copyright information and the genre of the book. This is also where you will enter information about your preferred narration producer including gender, language, accent, age and style. 

Once you have entered this information, you will be able to provide a short description which is also your sales pitch to the producers to hopefully entice them to audition for your book. Make it good! if you have been a best seller, make sure to mention that.

Next, you will enter any script notes to the potential producer. This is where you give them a sense of how your characters should sound, so they have something to work with. If you have an actor in mind that can be helpful, otherwise, they are shooting in the dark a bit. You will then upload your manuscript here in pdf or txt format.

On the next screen, you will enter the word count and territories you have the rights to, as well as how you would like to pay for the production. You have the option to pay the producer up front or let them share in the royalties. The chart below outlines the various options and the royalty rate you will receive.


Additionally, they have a Bounty program where you can earn $50. ACX pays Rights Holder and Producer $50 every time the audiobook is the first audiobook purchased by an AudibleListener™ member on Audible. The $50 payment is split 50-50 between Rights Holder and Producer, amounting to $25 each.

Once you have entered this information, it will bring up your listing to review one final time before posting.

Now, all that is left, is waiting for producers to audition. They will submit a short audition reading and you will be notified via email when someone has submitted an audition. When you receive the one that you like, you select them and the process begins!

They will submit a 15 minute sample and this is when you want to be careful to make any notes back to them on things you would like to change. Once the 15 minute sample is approved, they will start producing each chapter and uploading those for your review.

It probably will take a bit of tweaking because quite frankly, they aren't inside your head. It takes some teamwork to get the narration right.

Once you have approved all of the chapters and a short excerpt for potential buyers to listen to, acx will review the files to make sure everything is correct. Once they approve the production files, they will make the book live which usually takes 10-15 days. They will also send you 25 codes for free downloads that you can provide to readers.

Here are my two books if you would like to listen to the samples.






Hope this is helpful to you! Let me know if you would like to receive a code for a free download. I still have some left and would be happy to provide them in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks!

-Ginger

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4 comments:

  1. I have a novel at ACX. Tree Soldier. A wonderful narrator. The hard part is getting the audiobook noticed. The book and ebook form have national awards. How are yours doing?

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    1. I've sold 21 so far and have been so busy I haven't really started marketing it. One of them has been up maybe 2 months and the other one about a month.

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  2. Thanks for sharing. I'm interested in reading my own book as an audiobook. Is there an option to upload your own audio?

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    Replies
    1. Hi Debbie. Yes, actually you can record your own book as an option.

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