Shadow Fusion LLC recently published its first Audible audiobook, Search for Haven by Justin Oldham, through audiobook distributor ACX. We had looked around at various companies, but ACX offered the right combination of advantages to meet our needs.
The first step in the process was to ensure that we had a Kindle e-book listed on Amazon.com that met the requirements for building as an audiobook. Some of those requirements are
- being “live” (released and actively for sale),
- having Worldwide or United States distribution rights,
- being in the English or Spanish language,
- having cover art, and
- being less than 240,000 words (approximately 26 hours).
All of the requirements, along with suggestions for
resolving issues related to them, can be found in KDP's Help topics.
Once we verified that our book was eligible, we confirmed that we had the audio rights to the book we wanted to produce. Next, we confirmed that Search for Haven was an appropriate type of book to potentially do well in audio format. Novels, short story compilations, biographies, histories, and similar prose works make better audiobooks than books like cookbooks, reference books, dictionaries, gardening guides, and picture books. ACX provides a list of books that don’t usually make good audiobooks.
We signed up as a user in ACX. To do this, we selected the “Get Started” button on the main ACX page. New users can sign up for ACX using an existing Amazon account or by creating a new account using a different e-mail address.
We then set up our user profile. We selected our name from the upper right corner of the screen, selected Account Settings, and entered the appropriate tax and payment information. You can also change when you receive e-mail notifications from ACX and update your account information.
The next step was to claim the title we wanted to produce. On the main screen, under our name, was a circled plus sign and the words “Claim your title”. We selected that, then looked at the list of our titles that came up. We found Search for Haven and selected the “Claim Title” button on the right.
We then created a Title Profile. This is the information about the specific audiobook we wanted to produce, including the author name, a description of the book, how many words it has, what we were looking for in a narrator, and how we wanted to pay for our production.
There are three of options available to you for paying to produce an audiobook through ACX. The first is a Pay-for-Production. This is a flat rate of however many dollars you are willing to pay per hour of finished audio. The second option is Royalty Share. This is where you and the producer (the person or group creating the narration of your audiobook) split the royalties paid by ACX. You don’t pay a fee. Instead, the narrator/producer receives their payment over time in the form of royalties. The third option is Royalty Share Plus. This is a combination of Pay-for-Production and Royalty Share. You pay the producer an up-front fee and they receive a portion of the royalties. This can allow you to access to producers that have higher rates for a smaller up-front fee.
Once we determined how we wanted to pay for the services of a narrator/producer, we were ready to move forward to find one. To do that, we first needed to develop an audition script. For our audition script, we chose a couple of short scenes from the book that we would ask the candidates to record. Next, we selected “Receive auditions for my project to find a Narrator,” then uploaded the document into the Audition Script section of the Title Profile. You can upload a document with the script or select the “Enter script as text” toggle and type in the audition text. You can also update audition text during the audition process. In your audition posting, it’s helpful if you provide additional information to the candidates, such as pronunciation of uncommon or unusual words or names, whether or not there are explicit sex scenes or vulgar language, or anything else you think they should know. This allows prospective candidates to determine whether they want to try out for your project and to provide you with the best audition possible.
We listened to the auditions that came in until we found one that met what we were looking for. To listen to auditions, you go to the “Open for Auditions” tab and start listening. The interface for listening to tracks is similar to an audio player – you use the right-pointing arrow to play the recording. While playing, it becomes a pause button that you can use to stop the playback. You can also move the slider around to different points in the recording if you want to hear a specific section or replay the whole recording.
Once we selected a narrator/producer, we sent them an offer through the ACX interface. We did this by selecting the “Make Offer” button on the right side of the screen that was on the same line as the specific audition. The offer included the approximate number of words and estimated running time, an estimate of the total payment amount (based on the dollars per finished hour and estimated run time), and dates for when the 15-minute checkpoint and final product were expected to be due. These dates are flexible and can be changed if both you and the narrator/producer agree.
The 15-minute checkpoint is when the narrator/producer provides approximately the first 15 minutes of the audiobook recording. This is your first opportunity to request changes that can impact the final product. Examples of things you might ask to have changed include pronunciations, removal of unwanted sounds (hiss, echo, etc.), or whether a particular sentence is read as a question, a statement, or an exclamation. If you request changes, the narrator/producer will provide a new 15-minute check.
The final production due date is exactly that – when the final recording is due to you for review and acceptance or request for changes.
If you already know the narrator/producer you want to select, you don’t have to go through the audition process. Instead, you can go straight to “Make Offer”. To do this, you go to “Request auditions for my audiobook”, select “Continue”, then select “Make Offer”.
We received our 15-minute checkpoint recording, listened to it, and requested some changes. A few days later, we received and listened to the updated version, and then approved it, using the “Approve” button on the right side of the line the player showed on. Once they received approval of the initial 15 minute segment, the narrator/producer finished the recording process. When we received the final product, we asked for some minor changes, then approved it, using the “Approve” button at the top right of the screen.
ACX has more information available about this side of the process in their Rights Holder Checklist article.
One disappointment we had was the discovery that we couldn’t advertise the ACX-produced Audible audiobook through Amazon Advertising. This was one of the routes we had chosen for letting folks know it was available. Shortly after the initial release, we went to our Amazon Advertising account with the intention of starting an ad campaign specifically tied to our new audiobook. We were surprised to discover that the audiobook didn’t appear as a product that could be advertised. While there may be a way to advertise an ACX-produced audiobook through Amazon Advertising, we were unable to find it.
Overall, we found the process of producing an Audible audiobook through ACX to be fairly easy. The interface is somewhat intuitive, though you do have to be careful to ensure that the option you select at each step is really for the action you want to complete. It is possible to press an incorrect button and not be able to reverse the resulting action.
