ACX
By Sue Andrews, Inland Empire Branch
As authors, I’m sure you’ve all heard of audiobooks. Perhaps you have listened to them while commuting to work, traveling, walking your dog or laying in your backyard relaxing. I’ve done all of the above, but like many of you, I never thought of putting my own book in an audio format. I was actually talked out of doing so. Were you, too?
When author Lynne M. Spreen came to visit us last month, she explained what ACX was (AudiobookCreation Exchange), how she got involved putting all her books on audio, and then showed us the step-by-step free process. Yes, you heard me. It’s free!
Another reason why Ms. Spreen made her books available on audio was because the demand is rising. With the increase of MP3 players, smart phones, iPads, and other technological options, people are craving another way to “read” a book. Although you may not make a lot of money putting your book on audio, it would definitely increase your fan base.
Our speaker’s handout, lecture, and Powerpoint Presentation made the process easy to follow. The outline of the presentation covered a lot of information to share here, but I’ll do my best to summarize.
Stage 1 Before Beginning the Production
Part A – Confirm your own your rights. Before you begin your production (i.e. transferring your book to audio) confirm you own the rights to your book even if you’ve self-published. If you don’t own your rights, consider pursuing them from your publisher if that is your wish.
Part B – Create an account – If you used Amazon to publish, use this account to log into ACX. Decide the best performing ASIN/version, so that producers will know what to advertise when looking for narrators. Draft your marketing plan with timelines and dates before posting auditions.
Part C – Make a profile for your book. Select an audition script. Decide the type of payment for your production. Some narrators offer fee per hour and others offer a 50-50 split of the royalties. During this time select a narrator from the auditions, make them an offer and get started.
Stage 2 Time to Produce
Part A – Once your producer has accepted your offer, send the manuscript no longer than 15 minutes. Make sure you have the main characters and have described anything tricky like words that could be mispronounced or anything that might trip a reader.
Part B – Request clear and precise correction to the 15-minute checkpoint. Once this is approved, the narrator will be given the green light to produce the rest of the book. Secure and upload your audiobook cover. Market ahead of time by blogging or talking about it on social media.
Stage 3 Review, Approve, and Pay
Parts A, B & C – Request clear correction to the final version of your product if necessary. Approve the royalty payments, and finalize or edit your marketing plans.
Stage 4 Your Audiobook is on Sale!
Use your codes to drive reviews and sales of your audiobook You will get these codes free once it’s produced. Update your website to show you’re now on Audible.
Best wishes to your first or next audiobook. Ms. Spreen convinced me to do so!
This article appeared as Sue Andrews’
President’s Message in the September 2019
Inland Empire Branch newsletter, “Fresh Ink.”