How to self-publish an audiobook
The market for audiobooks is very exciting, and significant technological advancements are on the horizon, both of which will contribute significantly to the expansion of the audio industry.
The incorporation of audio streaming capabilities into mobile applications has made it simpler than ever before to get and listen to podcasts and audiobooks. 2016 will see the introduction of streaming music in automobiles thanks to Google Auto and Apple Carplay.
Because of technology known as whispersync, you can read on your phone or another device while eating breakfast, and when you get in your vehicle, you can pick up listening just where you left off reading. Audiobooks are also being bundled with ebooks on Amazon, and if a buyer already has the ebook edition, the price of the corresponding audiobook is reduced.
In addition, the number of audiobooks that are now accessible is far lower compared to the number of printed books or ebooks, which means that you have a greater chance of being noticed.
The majority of conventionally published writers have given up their audiobook rights, and the majority of those books will never be adapted into audio, therefore independent authors have the benefit of potentially responding more quickly to a market that is expanding.
Independent audio may be produced by using ACX.
The Audiobook Creation Exchange, often known as ACX.com, is a platform that allows writers and other rights holders to effectively self-publish audiobooks by working together with narrators and producers. It is a firm owned by Amazon, and customers will be able to purchase your book on Amazon, Audible, and iTunes.
At the time of this writing, ACX.com is only accessible to writers in the United States and the United Kingdom; however, we anticipate that they will eventually extend their services to authors in other countries.
There are techniques to work with audio that does not need ACX, however, they are more challenging. If you are interested in learning more, I recommend that you look into J. Daniel Sawyer’s book Making Tracks:
A Writer’s Guide to Audiobooks and How to Produce Them. Read on if you are in the United States or the United Kingdom.
The steps of the procedure are as follows:
The rights holder or author enters into ACX and claims their book with the Amazon ASIN. The Amazon ASIN is a number that Amazon issues to every book that is sold on the site.
To be able to do this, you need to be the legal owner of the rights, for instance, if you are an independent author who hasn’t signed a contract for the book or if you are a conventionally published author who hasn’t sold the audio rights.
You provide additional information about the book that is relevant for narrators, such as the author’s name. Which style of voice do you think would work best? Both an elderly African-American guy and a young adult girl would be considered to be at opposite ends of the spectrum.
You also include in the information regarding reviews and sales, both of which are extremely significant if you want to attract an experienced narrator to your project.
You are the one who determines the terms of the contract that you will use. Your choices are as follows:
- a) pay the narrator an amount per final audio hour and you retain the entire royalty;
- b) do a 50:50 percent royalty split with a narrator with no money upfront; or
- c) record the audio separately, either by yourself or with an external narrator, then upload it and retain the entire royalty.
Make a decision as to whether or not you will sell only via ACX.
If you choose to sell your work exclusively, you will be eligible for larger royalties; but, you will not be able to sell it via any other channels than those offered by Amazon, Audible, and iTunes.
Please provide a sample chapter or section from your book for narrators to use while auditioning.
Narrators will be made aware of your book, and if everything goes well, they will submit their auditions to you.
When you start receiving auditions, you’ll need to consider whether or not the narrator role is one you’re wanting to fill. If you do not want to participate in auditions, you may provide comments instead. If you aren’t getting any narrators to audition for your project, the reason is probably that your book hasn’t had enough reviews or hasn’t sold enough copies.
You may also locate narrators via the author connections you already have and actively seek them out rather than just waiting for them to come to you. One of my narrators discovered me via ACX, and the other two were recommended to me by friends. I deliberately sought out the suggestions of my friends.
When you have found the ideal person to narrate your story, you should first accept the audition and then choose the dates for the production. You will need to do quality assurance on the files by listening to them and verifying both the words and any problems that may arise.
Because I regard the audiobook to be an adaptation of the book and because I believe that my narrators are experts, I only address evident pronunciation difficulties, most of which are caused by differences in the way the book is read in the United Kingdom and the United States.
Following quality assurance of the files, the audiobook will be made available for download. You will be given some promotional coupons from ACX so that you may get some early feedback on it, and after that, sales should begin.
The commercial aspect of audio
When you get into a contract with a narrator that is based on a royalty split, there is no payment made up front and the royalties are simply divided between the two of you. ACX will take care of this for you and automatically transfer the money into your bank account on a monthly basis.
Personally, I believe that this is incredible, and over the course of the last year, this has become an incredible new source of revenue for myself and a lot of other writers.
You also have the option of paying narrators in advance, which will result in a cost of several hundred dollars for each completed audio hour. You also have the option to narrate the book on your own by hiring a studio.
There is a wide range of prices for studio expenditures and support with audio production, but my average is around US$50 per hour. The majority of writers who have reasonable sales report paying these expenditures within a few months, and definitely within the first year; subsequent sales result in a profit.
Additional assistance with the audio:
It could seem to be difficult, but in reality, it’s not that difficult at all. In fact, putting it into practice is far simpler than describing it in writing. If you want to learn more about audio, the following articles will be helpful for you:
Advice on how audiobooks may be distributed and marketed using ACX.
instructions for creating your own audiobooks with ACX. All of the advice that I gave while recording Business for Authors: The audio version of “How to Become an Author Entrepreneur.”
Simon Whistler’s audiobooks are available for independent authors. Obtainable on all online ebook retailers.