Audiobook production has its challenges for indie publishers, but it can also be a fun and rewarding experience. Using the platform at ACX makes things easier. Owned by Amazon, this site makes it simple to produce your own audiobook. After you claim your title, upload your book details, add a sample script and an author pitch, you can open your project for auditions. You get to choose the gender and the tone of voice you’d like for your work. I wanted my person to be engaging and yet somewhat authoritative.
You’ll get an email from ACX each time an audition posts. Listen carefully to the person’s voice and how it engages with you, and to the pacing, pronunciation, and emotional connection. I prefer a performance over a reading. There’s a difference. You can tell if a person is just reading the text or if they’re doing their best to make it sound interesting and appealing.
I’d been wanting to get my instructional guide, Writing the Cozy Mystery, into audio format for a while but couldn’t fit it into my schedule. Finally, I had a window of time available. I posted my book at ACX, and within a day had more than twenty auditions. Feeling overwhelmed at having to listen to each of these recordings, I closed the project to further auditions. This was a mistake, which I learned later.
I listened to each audition, which ran from 3 minutes to 7 minutes, depending on how much of my sample script each person read. Some narrators could be eliminated right away if their voice sounded hesitant, dropped off at the end of a sentence, was too raspy or didn’t have much inflection. What I looked for was an engaging female voice from a performer that captivated my interest especially for the narration. Narrators with voiceover, radio or podcast experience were other factors I considered.
I marked ten auditions as Favorites. Then I further narrowed these down to three choices. Here I looked at each profile, the narrator’s website, and their price range. Some were $100-$200 PFH (per finished hour) and others were $200-$400. This is when you pay up front for the entire cost and own all the rights, as opposed to royalty share, where you pay nothing up front but split royalites with the narrator for a term of seven years. With the PFH option I selected, you also get to choose a higher royalty rate for exclusivity or a lower rate for non-exclusivity, if you want to do wide distribution.
I chose the best narrator for my project and communicated with her through ACX’s messaging system. I said I wanted to make an offer, would she accept my price, and the time frame she needed to complete the project.
Then I went to make the formal offer on ACX and hit a wall. The page wouldn’t respond. After numerous attempts, I contacted ACX support. They said I cannot make an offer while auditions are closed. I had to reopen the project to accept auditions. Going back to my book’s page, I hit the proper button which sent the project into review. After another email exchange with support, the book reopened for auditions, and I was able to send my narrator an official offer.
This whole process took three days. I gave the narrator a week to turn in the first 15-minute segment for approval. This is now done, and we’re on our way to completing the audiobook.
Are you an audiobook listener? If so, where do you obtain your supply?
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