Tag: ACX

Trouble in Audible

I’ve written a couple of posts on my adventures with audio books: how to get connected with a narrator and how to use free promo codes. I’m sorry to report that the bubble has burst, and Audible has recently made a change that seriously impairs promotion efforts and even production efforts.

Previously, Audible (through Amazon’s subsidiary, ACX) would grant up to 50 free promo codes to both authors and narrators who split the royalties on a book for which they collaborated, 25 for the U.S. and 25 for the UK. If you used up all your codes, you could always request more. The fabulous thing about this was that you could give away the codes, readers/listeners could download the free books, and you still got your royalties. Audible got new customers or reinforced their relationship with habitual customers, so it was a win/win/win.

Well, as so often happens, scammers went to work figuring out how to Continue reading “Trouble in Audible”

Audio Books: Working with a Narrator

audio book sound-495859_960_720 (002)A few years ago, I detailed my first experience with using ACX to produce an audio book of my non-fiction work. While the experience was positive, I let the lure of audio books lie fallow for quite a while. I was too busy writing, apparently. But in that writing, I hit upon an idea for a paranormal mystery series, which has become quite popular, and I began to rethink the audio book format. I know the series Outlander has done very well with audio books, so I thought, why not mine? Continue reading “Audio Books: Working with a Narrator”

Tips for Turning Your Book into an Audiobook with ACX.com

acx LogoA couple of years ago Melissa Bowersock wrote a helpful post on her experience with using ACX to create an audiobook. A couple of things have changed since then, so I thought it might be helpful to recap and walk through my most recent experiences with ACX.

One of the best changes is that ACX is now open to UK authors and producers. Until 2014, that wasn’t the case. In addition, while ACX has always sent U.S. authors and producers a batch of 25 free Audible coupon codes upon publication, they will now send a batch of 25 UK codes, as well, if requested. This is important, because the codes are country-specific. I recently submitted a couple of audiobooks to a review site in which reviewers are from both the U.S. and UK. It was nice to have codes that would work for all reviewers, regardless of location. Continue reading “Tips for Turning Your Book into an Audiobook with ACX.com”

The ACX Experience – From Printed Page to Audio Book

Recently I embarked on a new challenge, converting one of my books into an audio book. ACX is an Amazon company much like CreateSpace in that it provides an easy, affordable way to produce books, in this case audio books rather than physical books. ACX acts rather like a passive agent, creating a neutral middle ground where authors and producers can meet and explore working together. It’s a fairly simple and straightforward process.

voice over spikesI registered information about my book Marcia Gates: Angel of Bataan back in March of last year. I uploaded the first chapter, the blurb, the cover image, my desire for a female voice and my choice for a payment arrangement. There are two ways to pay for a book producer/narrator: one is to pay them up front for their time, estimated to be roughly between $100-200 an hour; the second way is to pay no up-front fees and split the royalties with them 50/50. I chose the latter for several reasons. First, I was not comfortable parting with a large up-front outlay when I was trialing this whole idea for the first time, and it made sense to me that if the producer were to be heavily invested in the success of the book (i.e. royalties), s/he would do his/her utmost to promote it just as I would. Continue reading “The ACX Experience – From Printed Page to Audio Book”