# ACX—seven weeks after going live with first book



## Anne Frasier (Oct 22, 2009)

I thought I'd report my ACX experience for those curious about sales. ACX offered to pay for my first book, otherwise I'm not sure I would have delved into this. I chose my bestselling thriller (Hush) with over 250 reviews. The narration ended up over ten hours, with a cost of about 3200.00.  Seven weeks after the audio went live I've had 102 sales and received a check last month for 350.00 for 50 purchases.  Sales have slowed down over the past two weeks, and I suspect that pattern will continue. So will I ever sell 3200 worth? That's my question. It seems doubtful, but it's still early. And if it does eventually hit 3200, how much over that will it go? Enough to make it worth doing a second thriller? 

When setting up your audition sample, be sure to include dialogue from all main characters, and even some secondary characters if possible. I just tossed up two excerpts with no thought to getting all of my main characters in there and I had some surprises in the finished product. 

One problem that people have already mentioned here is that there's no way to promote audio books beyond blogging and tweeting. I was allowed five free downloads to give away and I have no idea how to get rid of them. I don't know how to reach the audio audience.  They're out there, but they're a total mystery to me.


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## Joe_Nobody (Oct 23, 2012)

I've found the bell curve for audio books is slightly flatter than ebooks. I think you'll be surprised at how long that level of sales continues. Maybe. In this business, one never knows.


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## S.A. Mulraney (May 20, 2011)

Hi Anne. I too wondered what to do with the free audiobooks. I can't say I've had much success, but I have used them as "newsletter bait." Example: Register for my newsletter for a chance to win a free copy of the audiobook. I've also had signup sheets at events. Otherwise, I've sold just over 20 copies  in five months.  You might want to remind folks who've bought your Kindle ebook that they can pick up the audiobook version for a significant discount (mine is $1.99 for folks who already have the ebook). Good luck!


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## Rick Gualtieri (Oct 31, 2011)

Joe_Nobody said:


> I've found the bell curve for audio books is slightly flatter than ebooks. I think you'll be surprised at how long that level of sales continues. Maybe. In this business, one never knows.


Agreed on this. Every month I continue to be amazed (and beat myself up for not jumping into audio sooner  .


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## JumpingShip (Jun 3, 2010)

Anne Frasier said:


> I thought I'd report my ACX experience for those curious about sales. ACX offered to pay for my first book, otherwise I'm not sure I would have delved into this. I chose my bestselling thriller (Hush) with over 250 reviews. The narration ended up over ten hours, with a cost of about 3200.00. Seven weeks after the audio went live I've had 102 sales and received a check last month for 350.00 for 50 purchases. Sales have slowed down over the past two weeks, and I suspect that pattern will continue. So will I ever sell 3200 worth? That's my question. It seems doubtful, but it's still early. And if it does eventually hit 3200, how much over that will it go? Enough to make it worth doing a second thriller?


Wow, that is really great! I have two audiobooks out so far but not nearly the sales. However, I am doing royalty share, and ACX put stipends on two of my four books. That sounds great, except they put it on books 3 &4 in my series.  That means the two finished books are very hard sells and I'm surprised I have any sales at all. Who wants to by the third and fourth book before the other two are available? Anyway, I now have No Good Deed in production, and that is my biggest seller and works as a first book (the prequel was written well after NGD was published.)

I sure hope once No Good Deed is done, my sales will improve a lot!


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## Christa Wick (Nov 1, 2012)

Scary thing  I'm paying to have mine produced now. It'll be about $1200 out of pocket for me. Right now, ebook sales are footing the cost of the audiobook -- hopefully, going forward, audiobook royalties of one will foot production of the next one. It's an erotic romance -- hopefully that sells itself. Otherwise, I could have had a really super awesome cintiq companion hybrid for just another $400.


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## Anne Frasier (Oct 22, 2009)

Joe_Nobody said:


> I've found the bell curve for audio books is slightly flatter than ebooks. I think you'll be surprised at how long that level of sales continues. Maybe. In this business, one never knows.


That would be great if the current level holds up a while.


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## Anne Frasier (Oct 22, 2009)

S.A. Mulraney said:


> Hi Anne. I too wondered what to do with the free audiobooks. I can't say I've had much success, but I have used them as "newsletter bait." Example: Register for my newsletter for a chance to win a free copy of the audiobook. I've also had signup sheets at events. Otherwise, I've sold just over 20 copies in five months.  You might want to remind folks who've bought your Kindle ebook that they can pick up the audiobook version for a significant discount (mine is $1.99 for folks who already have the ebook). Good luck!


That's a great idea to remind people about the discount!!


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## Anne Frasier (Oct 22, 2009)

MaryMcDonald said:


> Wow, that is really great! I have two audiobooks out so far but not nearly the sales. However, I am doing royalty share, and ACX put stipends on two of my four books. That sounds great, except they put it on books 3 &4 in my series.  That means the two finished books are very hard sells and I'm surprised I have any sales at all. Who wants to by the third and fourth book before the other two are available? Anyway, I now have No Good Deed in production, and that is my biggest seller and works as a first book (the prequel was written well after NGD was published.)
> 
> I sure hope once No Good Deed is done, my sales will improve a lot!


The royalty share kind of scares me, but paying for the whole thing scares me too. Good luck!!


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## Anne Frasier (Oct 22, 2009)

Christa Wick said:


> Scary thing  I'm paying to have mine produced now. It'll be about $1200 out of pocket for me. Right now, ebook sales are footing the cost of the audiobook -- hopefully, going forward, audiobook royalties of one will foot production of the next one. It's an erotic romance -- hopefully that sells itself. Otherwise, I could have had a really super awesome cintiq companion hybrid for just another $400.


Spending that kind of money up front is scary. I imagine I will probably do it, but... gulp.


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## B.A. Spangler (Jan 25, 2012)

Anne Frasier said:


> I thought I'd report my ACX experience for those curious about sales. ACX offered to pay for my first book, otherwise I'm not sure I would have delved into this. I chose my bestselling thriller (Hush) with over 250 reviews. The narration ended up over ten hours, with a cost of about 3200.00. Seven weeks after the audio went live I've had 102 sales and received a check last month for 350.00 for 50 purchases. Sales have slowed down over the past two weeks, and I suspect that pattern will continue. So will I ever sell 3200 worth? That's my question. It seems doubtful, but it's still early. And if it does eventually hit 3200, how much over that will it go? Enough to make it worth doing a second thriller?
> 
> When setting up your audition sample, be sure to include dialogue from all main characters, and even some secondary characters if possible. I just tossed up two excerpts with no thought to getting all of my main characters in there and I had some surprises in the finished product.
> 
> One problem that people have already mentioned here is that there's no way to promote audio books beyond blogging and tweeting. I was allowed five free downloads to give away and I have no idea how to get rid of them. I don't know how to reach the audio audience. They're out there, but they're a total mystery to me.


I'm in the audition stage now for my book Coffee and Tears - very exciting, and I hope what has been said here about the curve holds true. 
The part about ACX paying for the first book, is that the exclusive/non-exclusive piece? I found the wording a bit confusing. I selected non-exclusive, wanting to have my audio book available on Audible.com in addition to iTunes and ACX.


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## Anne Frasier (Oct 22, 2009)

Brian Spangler said:


> I'm in the audition stage now for my book Coffee and Tears - very exciting, and I hope what has been said here about the curve holds true.
> The part about ACX paying for the first book, is that the exclusive/non-exclusive piece? I found the wording a bit confusing. I selected non-exclusive, wanting to have my audio book available on Audible.com in addition to iTunes and ACX.


I loved Coffee and Tears. I hope that does well for you. The deal with ACX was exclusive, and the book is available at audible, amazon, and iTunes. Probably other places too. I'm not that sure about exclusive. I took that to mean you can't take the audio elsewhere and sell it through other sites, but ACX can sell it through any of their vendors.  maybe someone else can shed more light on it.


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## RM Prioleau (Mar 18, 2011)

If anyone knows of a 'Bookbub-esque' site for promoting audiobooks, I'm all ears.


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## B.A. Spangler (Jan 25, 2012)

Anne Frasier said:


> I loved Coffee and Tears. I hope that does well for you. The deal with ACX was exclusive, and the book is available at audible, amazon, and iTunes. Probably other places too. I'm not that sure about exclusive. I took that to mean you can't take the audio elsewhere and sell it through other sites, but ACX can sell it through any of their vendors.  maybe someone else can shed more light on it.


It is confusing. I'm going to re-read it again. If exclusive to ACX includes Audible and iTunes and that is all I'd want, then I might go back and change it (if I can).

And thank you, always good to hear when someone likes your book. I just recommended Hush to my friend who only buys audio books.


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## Christa Wick (Nov 1, 2012)

Brian Spangler said:


> It is confusing. I'm going to re-read it again. If exclusive to ACX includes Audible and iTunes and that is all I'd want, then I might go back and change it (if I can).


Brian -- I believe ACX paid for Anne's production because of her visibility. They will do things such as stipends for narrators accepting royalty share on a project or pay for full cost of production based on an author's profile (remember -- they're part of Amazon, there is some information sharing going on there). Because they are underwriting at least part of the cost, they want exclusive.

Now, regular shmoe like me with low profile, the exclusive vs non-exclusive, as I understand it, boils down to:

Mandatory -- you have done a royalty split (regardless of whether there is a stipend) with a narrator through the ACX system. You give them exclusive rights to distribution for seven years (and other than a potential exception for a "dramatic" version, you can't have competing versions of the audiobook done, either). You also get a higher royalty than not going exclusive. This exclusivity is to protect the narrators for the royalty split.

Optional -- you either paid out of pocket for your production or otherwise arranged payment entirely outside of the ACX system, so that it's none of their business who is protecting the narrator. You either go non-exclusive for lower royalties or commit to a year exclusive for higher royalties.


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## Anne Frasier (Oct 22, 2009)

Brian Spangler said:


> It is confusing. I'm going to re-read it again. If exclusive to ACX includes Audible and iTunes and that is all I'd want, then I might go back and change it (if I can).
> 
> And thank you, always good to hear when someone likes your book. I just recommended Hush to my friend who only buys audio books.


oh, thanks about hush! i read coffee and tears over a year ago and i still think about it sometimes. that's a sign of a good book.


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## B.A. Spangler (Jan 25, 2012)

Anne Frasier said:


> oh, thanks about hush! i read coffee and tears over a year ago and i still think about it sometimes. that's a sign of a good book.


Thanx!
Hush is an excellent read. I never do audio, but will check out the sample to see how it translates. Audio is getting big. So many avid readers are making the switch to audio as their commutes grow. Congrats on getting Hush out there.



Christa Wick said:


> Mandatory -- you have done a royalty split (regardless of whether there is a stipend) with a narrator through the ACX system. You give them exclusive rights to distribution for seven years (and other than a potential exception for a "dramatic" version, you can't have competing versions of the audiobook done, either). You also get a higher royalty than not going exclusive. This exclusivity is to protect the narrators for the royalty split.
> 
> Optional -- you either paid out of pocket for your production or otherwise arranged payment entirely outside of the ACX system, so that it's none of their business who is protecting the narrator. You either go non-exclusive for lower royalties or commit to a year exclusive for higher royalties.


Now I get it. Thank you for the explanation.


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## Michael_J_Sullivan (Aug 3, 2011)

Thanks much for sharing this information. I have 5 audio books out there but all of them were done through a traditional publisher. In the future I may need to go the ACX route and I had no idea what it would cost. Knowing that the fees are $3,200 I probably would foot that bill in order to keep more profit...but for right now I'm so thrilled with Recorded Books that I'm going to stay with them. I've sold 40,000 audio books (across 3 titles) and was nominated for an Audie last year. Here's something really interesting....

The Most Popular Author in XXXX list's shows which version of the book is selling the most (Kindle, Audio, or ebook). All five of my thumbnails are showing the audio version so the audio market is very important to me.


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## FrankZubek (Aug 31, 2010)

I have three on Audible and so far received a check for 7 bucks and more recently a check for 14

so I'm slugging along but I'm also hopeful

Planning a full length fantasy novel for 2014
Problem with that is going to be convincing someone to do a royalty split as that sucker will be several hours of narration. But without sales on the rest of my stuff to prove me a decent risk its tough to convince anyone I have a track record.

But that's called branding and I'm working on that too.......
Its true what they say about all this folks.... its a marathon not a sprint.


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## FrankZubek (Aug 31, 2010)

Hey Michael
Congrats on your audio sales
Do you happen to know any good audio webpages where you advertise or tweet to or face book accounts where you drop an occasional comment to keep the eyeball traffic going?
Please share....


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## N. Gemini Sasson (Jul 5, 2010)

I had the same deal as you through ACX, Anne. My book ended up almost 14 hours long, so ... ACX was _very_ generous. Working with ACX has been wonderful and I can't say enough great things about my narrator, Kyle McCarley, who provided me with examples of every single speaking character in the book before he even started submitting chapters. There were a couple I asked him to change and he complied. He was probably one of the most professional people I've come across since starting in indie publishing. (Kyle - I sing your praises!  )

My audiobook for Uneasy Lies the Crown has been up for about 7 weeks and so far I've sold 178 copies. The majority of those came in right after I used my Select days on it (it's the only book I have in Select at the moment). I was so excited about that that I was ready to do another book. But this past week sales on the audiobook have stalled, so I'm not making any decisions yet. I'd LOVE to do it again if it proves to me a reliable stream of income, but I'm also wondering where sales will go from here.

As for the free audio copies, I posted a giveaway for them on my FB page to anyone who commented and they were gone in a little over an hour. The next time I'll do that for anyone who shares a post from my page.

If you already have a high sales volume on your e-books, then audiobooks are more likely to earn back their investment. It's probably also a plus if you have multiple books on audio. So what it really boils down to is the potential size of your audience and how rabid your fan base is.

Thanks for sharing, Anne. It's great that we can all share about these experiences here, rather than blindly rushing into things.


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## Anne Frasier (Oct 22, 2009)

Michael_J_Sullivan said:


> Thanks much for sharing this information. I have 5 audio books out there but all of them were done through a traditional publisher. In the future I may need to go the ACX route and I had no idea what it would cost. Knowing that the fees are $3,200 I probably would foot that bill in order to keep more profit...but for right now I'm so thrilled with Recorded Books that I'm going to stay with them. I've sold 40,000 audio books (across 3 titles) and was nominated for an Audie last year. Here's something really interesting....
> 
> The Most Popular Author in XXXX list's shows which version of the book is selling the most (Kindle, Audio, or ebook). All five of my thumbnails are showing the audio version so the audio market is very important to me.


wow, Michael. Congratulations! And I've never heard of Recorded Books, but I know nothing about audio. I'll have to check them out.

as far that 2,300 cost... When ACX pays the bill they require approve narrators. I actually got some nice auditions from non-approved narrators who didn't charge as much, so I think the next time through I might be able to get it done for more like 2,500.


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## vrabinec (May 19, 2011)

$3200?!?! What the hell is costing so much? I was planning to use them but to read it myself because I'm in love with the sound of my own voice. But not if it's more than a grand.


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## Anne Frasier (Oct 22, 2009)

N. Gemini Sasson said:


> I had the same deal as you through ACX, Anne. My book ended up almost 14 hours long, so ... ACX was _very_ generous. Working with ACX has been wonderful and I can't say enough great things about my narrator, Kyle McCarley, who provided me with examples of every single speaking character in the book before he even started submitting chapters. There were a couple I asked him to change and he complied. He was probably one of the most professional people I've come across since starting in indie publishing. (Kyle - I sing your praises!  )
> 
> My audiobook for Uneasy Lies the Crown has been up for about 7 weeks and so far I've sold 178 copies. The majority of those came in right after I used my Select days on it (it's the only book I have in Select at the moment). I was so excited about that that I was ready to do another book. But this past week sales on the audiobook have stalled, so I'm not making any decisions yet. I'd LOVE to do it again if it proves to me a reliable stream of income, but I'm also wondering where sales will go from here.
> 
> ...


I've tried giving away audio on FB and twitter. I had one taker. haha!! That's great about your experience. So did I understand this correctly? The Select free days generated sales of your audio book?


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## Anne Frasier (Oct 22, 2009)

RM Prioleau said:


> If anyone knows of a 'Bookbub-esque' site for promoting audiobooks, I'm all ears.


i don't think anything like that exists for audio. wish it did!!!


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## N. Gemini Sasson (Jul 5, 2010)

vrabinec said:


> $3200?!?! What the hell is costing so much? I was planning to use them but to read it myself because I'm in love with the sound of my own voice. But not if it's more than a grand.


Many narrators charge between $200-400 per finished hour. So 10 hours X $300/hour = $3,000. Remember though that the narrator/producer spend way more time working on it than what the final product ends up being. First, they'll often read through the whole work. My narrator had to research Welsh pronunciation. Plus, there are usually corrections to make before approval. I don't know what audio recording equipment costs, but there's that to factor into it, too.


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## Anne Frasier (Oct 22, 2009)

vrabinec said:


> $3200?!?! What the hell is costing so much? I was planning to use them but to read it myself because I'm in love with the sound of my own voice. But not if it's more than a grand.


 $300 an hour. It adds up. Typical cost is 200 to 400 per finished hour. I don't think it will cost anything if you do it yourself, but I could be wrong about that. I could never read my own stuff. Don't have the skill or voice for it. Or the time or proper equipment. Most of the quality narrators are really actors, IMO.


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## N. Gemini Sasson (Jul 5, 2010)

Anne Frasier said:


> So did I understand this correctly? The Select free days generated sales of your audio book?


Apparently so. I can't contribute it to any other reason.


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## Anne Frasier (Oct 22, 2009)

FrankZubek said:


> I have three on Audible and so far received a check for 7 bucks and more recently a check for 14
> 
> so I'm slugging along but I'm also hopeful
> 
> ...


i hope your sales improve with the new book!


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## Christa Wick (Nov 1, 2012)

Michael_J_Sullivan said:


> ...Knowing that the fees are $3,200 I probably would foot that bill in order to keep more profit.....


The planning rule of thumb is 9500 words per finished hour. Your narrator/producer, if not doing a royalty split, will have a rate per finished hour. This should include both narration and mastering to provide you with a final file. So, if you have a 95,000 word book, it should come out at 10 finished hours (i.e. how long it takes the reader to listen to the audiobook). Actual production time probably would be a minimum of 20 hours (experienced narrator and engineer) and could be much more.

So, your hours budget is 10. You can find a good narrator/engineer at $250 pfh. That would be $2500 to produce the book. I am starting with a 46,000 word book, so my costs are of course lower.


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## Anne Frasier (Oct 22, 2009)

Christa Wick said:


> The planning rule of thumb is 9500 words per finished hour. Your narrator/producer, if not doing a royalty split, will have a rate per finished hour. This should include both narration and mastering to provide you with a final file. So, if you have a 95,000 word book, it should come out at 10 finished hours (i.e. how long it takes the reader to listen to the audiobook). Actual production time probably would be a minimum of 20 hours (experienced narrator and engineer) and could be much more.
> 
> So, your hours budget is 10. You can find a good narrator/engineer at $250 pfh. That would be $2500 to produce the book. I am starting with a 46,000 word book, so my costs are of course lower.


Christa, thanks for this concise info!!! I'm figuring that the next time around it will cost me pretty close to $2500 since I won't have to use an approved narrator.


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## Christa Wick (Nov 1, 2012)

N. Gemini Sasson said:


> ... I don't know what audio recording equipment costs, but there's that to factor into it, too.


I was considering narrating my own but using a studio and engineer. I was really surprised to learn that the equipment+engineering side at a professional level is about $30 per actual hour (listen to their samples to judge if it's professional). That is "dead cheap" in my opinion.

On the other hand, an interior closet (free), a blue yeti microphone with pop filter ($180 max), a small "acoustic box" (less than $60 to construct) to place the microphone inside, and free software will give you great sound quality with no outside noises. (I deleted my samples, so take it with a grain of salt as I've no evidence to provide.) It's knowing how to narrate a book that is the costliest skill in this day and age.


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## Anne Frasier (Oct 22, 2009)

Christa Wick said:


> I was considering narrating my own but using a studio and engineer. I was really surprised to learn that the equipment+engineering side at a professional level is about $30 per actual hour (listen to their samples to judge if it's professional). That is "dead cheap" in my opinion.
> 
> On the other hand, an interior closet (free), a blue yeti microphone with pop filter ($180 max), a small "acoustic box" (less than $60 to construct) to place the microphone inside, and free software will give you great sound quality with no outside noises. (I deleted my samples, so take it with a grain of salt as I've no evidence to provide.) It's knowing how to narrate a book that is the costliest skill in this day and age.


my son has a recording studio in Minneapolis, and I wonder if it would be a lot cheaper for me to hire a local narrator to record it in his studio. but i'm guessing the engineer would have to know just what is required from ACX. it wouldn't be a matter of just recording a good narrator.


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## CraigInOregon (Aug 6, 2010)

Anne,


Amazon has integrated Audible quite well into their infrastructure.

You know how they're just starting now (via MatchBook) to offer a discount on the eBook if a customer buys your print book?

Well, they've been doing that all along with Audible: offering a discount on "professional narration" to anyone who buys either your eBook or your print book.

So Amazon is actually doing what they can for us, to cross-pollonate our sales.

(Ex. Those who buy SHADA in eBook or Print can get the Audible file for $1.99, last I checked. And once Matchbook kicks in, the $2.99 list on Shada eBook will get cut in half or more to those who buy the print version. So that means if a customer wanted the complete SHADA experience, the print book would be $7.19 as currently discounted on Amazon, then get the eBook for $1.49 and the audio for $1.99... so $10.69 for all of it. Or something like that.  )


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## CraigInOregon (Aug 6, 2010)

Anne Frasier said:


> my son has a recording studio in Minneapolis, and I wonder if it would be a lot cheaper for me to hire a local narrator to record it in his studio. but i'm guessing the engineer would have to know just what is required from ACX. it wouldn't be a matter of just recording a good narrator.


ACX has an option for things like that. Their requirements for the use of "ambient studio noise" come out like French to me, but I'm guessing any half-decent audio producer would be all like, "Yeah, yeah, tell me something I don't know."


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## Anne Frasier (Oct 22, 2009)

CraigInTwinCities said:


> ACX has an option for things like that. Their requirements for the use of "ambient studio noise" come out like French to me, but I'm guessing any half-decent audio producer would be all like, "Yeah, yeah, tell me something I don't know."


yeah, i'm hoping it might be pretty clear to someone who knows the lingo. i sent my son a link so he can check it out.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Brian Spangler said:


> I'm in the audition stage now for my book Coffee and Tears - very exciting, and I hope what has been said here about the curve holds true.
> The part about ACX paying for the first book, is that the exclusive/non-exclusive piece? I found the wording a bit confusing. I selected non-exclusive, wanting to have my audio book available on Audible.com in addition to iTunes and ACX.


A lot of scope for characterizations in that book. I hope your narrator does that instead of a straight read.

Exclusive includes Amazon, Audible and Itunes. That's the three major players anyway, so I went exclusive.


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## Amyshojai (May 3, 2010)

I have four of my books (so far) on Audible through ACX and voiced them all myself. Straight read for nonfiction works well. I'm also a stage actor (in another life) so voicing the thriller was great fun, including the dog viewpoint character. 

Yes, you can do it yourself without the high-dollar equipment in a coat closet    but you won't get the same quality as in a sound-dampened studio (foam walls, etc), proper mic and editing/mastering software. Remember to turn off the furnace, all the clock chimes, be sure your stomach doesn't growl, etc. If you have a great voice, and more than one book, it might be worth your while to spend the $$$ on equipment instead of a VO artist, and do all your titles yourself. 

Sales on the audio books are going very well--pretty steady. And hopefully will increase with more books out there.


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## cdvsmx5 (May 23, 2012)

Joe_Nobody said:


> I've found the bell curve for audio books is slightly flatter than ebooks. I think you'll be surprised at how long that level of sales continues. Maybe. In this business, one never knows.


The shape of a Bell Curve is always by definition bell shaped. It is a statistical tool that relates individual performance to the whole population. It cannot be applied to book sales in a meaningful manner. While it might be used to map age differences, it otherwise doesn't relate to time.


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## MindyWilde (Oct 2, 2013)

Wow, very interesting.  Thank you for providing your experience.  I don't want to hijack your thread but I was curious if anyone on here had used ACX for short story and novelette erotica?  Obviously the expense would be a lot lower because of the length but would it be worthwhile?

Thanks again for the info and good luck on your future sales.


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## Anne Frasier (Oct 22, 2009)

MindyWilde said:


> Wow, very interesting. Thank you for providing your experience. I don't want to hijack your thread but I was curious if anyone on here had used ACX for short story and novelette erotica? Obviously the expense would be a lot lower because of the length but would it be worthwhile?
> 
> Thanks again for the info and good luck on your future sales.


i've wondered about that too.


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## CraigInOregon (Aug 6, 2010)

Mindy, I could be wrong, but I seem to recall here's a certain length minimum required in order for a project to be considered, regardless of genre.

For example, my The Devohrah Initiative is a 3,500 word short story, and I haven't been able to "claim" the project in ACX, even to do on my own... probably because it's too short, though that's just my working theory.

Same with my other short, Under Contract.


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## MindyWilde (Oct 2, 2013)

CraigInTwinCities said:


> Mindy, I could be wrong, but I seem to recall here's a certain length minimum required in order for a project to be considered, regardless of genre.
> 
> For example, my The Devohrah Initiative is a 3,500 word short story, and I haven't been able to "claim" the project in ACX, even to do on my own... probably because it's too short, though that's just my working theory.
> 
> Same with my other short, Under Contract.


Thanks for the response. I have a lot of work in the 5k to 15k range so I wasn't sure if it would be worth my money or a narrators time. That being said if there was a demand for it I definitely would see if I could make it happen. I guess I could always try one and see how it works.


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## CraigInOregon (Aug 6, 2010)

MindyWilde said:


> Thanks for the response. I have a lot of work in the 5k to 15k range so I wasn't sure if it would be worth my money or a narrators time. That being said if there was a demand for it I definitely would see if I could make it happen. I guess I could always try one and see how it works.


No reason not to try.

The shortest thing I got accepted so far on ACX is SHADA, which is 28K worth of story.

But it's not like I have a novella at 15K to try... so, give it a try and share with us your results.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

CraigInTwinCities said:


> No reason not to try.
> 
> The shortest thing I got accepted so far on ACX is SHADA, which is 28K worth of story.
> 
> But it's not like I have a novella at 15K to try... so, give it a try and share with us your results.


When I looked up books to claim, all my short works (which are ebooks only) came up as well. I didn't try to claim them because I'm not ready to ask for auditions so i don't know if any of them would actually be acceptable.


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## Anne Frasier (Oct 22, 2009)

MindyWilde said:


> Thanks for the response. I have a lot of work in the 5k to 15k range so I wasn't sure if it would be worth my money or a narrators time. That being said if there was a demand for it I definitely would see if I could make it happen. I guess I could always try one and see how it works.


i have a 6,000 word story i'd like to make available, but yeah. really wonder if it would sell. the short format doesn't fit the audio listener profile i have in my head, a profile that could be completely wrong.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Anne Frasier said:


> i have a 6,000 word story i'd like to make available, but yeah. really wonder if it would sell. the short format doesn't fit the audio listener profile i have in my head, a profile that could be completely wrong.


The novelette (7600 words) I have in mind links to the story that I just turned into an audiobook. I'm waiting for final approval from ACX for the novella before I put the novelette into production.

I just read through the relevant parts of the ACX website, and they didn't put any length restrictions on the book. It comes to less than 1fh, but I plan on offering my narrator a full hour at the same rate she did the first book.

I think anyone who buys the original story in audio would like to have the novelette in audio, too. If not, I'll ask ACX about adding it on to the novella.


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## Anne Frasier (Oct 22, 2009)

Gertie Kindle 'a/k/a Margaret Lake' said:


> The novelette (7600 words) I have in mind links to the story that I just turned into an audiobook. I'm waiting for final approval from ACX for the novella before I put the novelette into production.
> 
> I just read through the relevant parts of the ACX website, and they didn't put any length restrictions on the book. It comes to less than 1fh, but I plan on offering my narrator a full hour at the same rate she did the first book.
> 
> I think anyone who buys the original story in audio would like to have the novelette in audio, too. If not, I'll ask ACX about adding it on to the novella.


i could see where a linked book might do well!


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## CraigInOregon (Aug 6, 2010)

Gertie Kindle 'a/k/a Margaret Lake' said:


> When I looked up books to claim, all my short works (which are ebooks only) came up as well. I didn't try to claim them because I'm not ready to ask for auditions so i don't know if any of them would actually be acceptable.


My shorts show up but when I hit "claim," nothing happens.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

CraigInTwinCities said:


> My shorts show up but when I hit "claim," nothing happens.


I think I'll write to ACX and ask.


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## Michael_J_Sullivan (Aug 3, 2011)

FrankZubek said:


> Hey Michael
> Congrats on your audio sales
> Do you happen to know any good audio webpages where you advertise or tweet to or face book accounts where you drop an occasional comment to keep the eyeball traffic going?
> Please share....


I don't...and has such have never done this. Whether my publisher has been doing some of this...I don't know. But I will certainly ask and get back to them.


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## Michael_J_Sullivan (Aug 3, 2011)

Anne Frasier said:


> wow, Michael. Congratulations! And I've never heard of Recorded Books, but I know nothing about audio. I'll have to check them out.
> 
> as far that 3,200 cost... When ACX pays the bill they require approve narrators. I actually got some nice auditions from non-approved narrators who didn't charge as much, so I think the next time through I might be able to get it done for more like 2,500.


$2,500 or $3,200 either would be fine with me - I was afraid it would be around $5,000 so I'm just happy it's about 1/2 to 2/3 what I originally expected.


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## Michael_J_Sullivan (Aug 3, 2011)

Christa Wick said:


> The planning rule of thumb is 9500 words per finished hour. Your narrator/producer, if not doing a royalty split, will have a rate per finished hour. This should include both narration and mastering to provide you with a final file. So, if you have a 95,000 word book, it should come out at 10 finished hours (i.e. how long it takes the reader to listen to the audiobook). Actual production time probably would be a minimum of 20 hours (experienced narrator and engineer) and could be much more.
> 
> So, your hours budget is 10. You can find a good narrator/engineer at $250 pfh. That would be $2500 to produce the book. I am starting with a 46,000 word book, so my costs are of course lower.


Fascinating information - thanks for sharing it.


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## Michael_J_Sullivan (Aug 3, 2011)

So I talked to my new agent today...and she had a meeting with audible. In prep for the meeting they pulled my audio sales numbers and it was much more than the 40,000 I thought it was - it was 74,000!  Wow I just got a whole lot more readers than I thought.


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## Anne Frasier (Oct 22, 2009)

Michael_J_Sullivan said:


> So I talked to my new agent today...and she had a meeting with audible. In prep for the meeting they pulled my audio sales numbers and it was much more than the 40,000 I thought it was - it was 74,000! Wow I just got a whole lot more readers than I thought.


my eyeballs just fell out.


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## Gennita Low (Dec 13, 2012)

Anne Frasier said:


> my eyeballs just fell out.


Mine too! Whoa!

Congrats, Michael.


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## ElHawk (Aug 13, 2012)

Nice results, Anne!  Congratulations!

I happened to put one of my books up shortly after it had a crazy-good free run, with 25,000 downloads.  I guess ACX added an additional incentive onto it for narrators (I had no idea...) and I was able to partner with a really awesome one who's got a pretty slick resume.  It's in production now, but it'll be interesting to see how her name is able to sell the book (if at all; you never know.)

I kind of am in love with ACX.  They've been so proactive about identifying books based on their popularity with readers, not on the imprint on their spine, and driving attention and resources toward them.  Seems like a smart business model to me, but I guess I am biased.  Ha ha.

As for how to reach the audiobook audience...I'm a part of the audiobook audience, a voracious consumer of audiobooks, and I wish I knew.  I think doing podcast interviews and ads on podcasts wouldn't be a bad idea, as obviously there is lots of overlap between those audiences.  Beyond that, though...?


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## Tricia O&#039; (Feb 19, 2013)

ElHawk said:


> Nice results, Anne! Congratulations!
> 
> As for how to reach the audiobook audience...I'm a part of the audiobook audience, a voracious consumer of audiobooks, and I wish I knew. I think doing podcast interviews and ads on podcasts wouldn't be a bad idea, as obviously there is lots of overlap between those audiences. Beyond that, though...?


ACX controls the price of the audio book, correct? I was just thinking what a great opportunity it would be to create a "Bookbubesque" site for audio books, yet if the author has no control over the pricing -- then not so much. Are there other options for authors to control the pricing? Maybe there are and I don't know about it.


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## N. Gemini Sasson (Jul 5, 2010)

Michael_J_Sullivan said:


> So I talked to my new agent today...and she had a meeting with audible. In prep for the meeting they pulled my audio sales numbers and it was much more than the 40,000 I thought it was - it was 74,000! Wow I just got a whole lot more readers than I thought.


Wow is right. That is incredible! There are obviously a lot more audiobook listeners than I realized.


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## JamieDeBree (Oct 1, 2010)

I've got three horror shorts done with ACX (only one on sale so far). The shortest I just approved the final audio on today, and it's 4,470 words (half an hour finished audio). It turned out really well, IMO.  I did the royalty share on all of them. The other two are 6,900 words and 8,200 words respectively. 

Jack is the one on sale - it's .7 finished hours for the 6,900 words, and hasn't sold a thing yet, though I'm doing my best to push it via my networks (not as hard as I could be just now, since I've got a blog promo event going on and I'm pushing other authors at the moment too). They gave me a lot of free copies to give away, so I'll be doing that via that author name, my real name/main accts, and also my publisher soc. media networks. Or that's the plan, anyways. I think this weekend might be better for that, since I'll have time to be online during the day, but I'll push some in the evenings as well (gave away one code on twitter tonight).

As a non-audiobook listener, I really like how the shorts turned out. Not so much of a commitment, since I actually have to focus while listening (I understand most listeners can multi-task while listening - I really can't and get anything out of it). So I'm hoping to push more toward people who maybe just want to try the novelty of short, creepy little stories this time of year. We'll see how it goes...


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## Guest (Oct 9, 2013)

I have sooo many questions about audio books and ACX.  I feel it's something I should do, but I have no idea what's the best way to go about doing it.

About how much time does it take to make an audio book through ACX, from the time you first open it up to auditions to the time the finished product goes on sale?  Is it too late to get stuff ready for this Christmas?


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## Michael_J_Sullivan (Aug 3, 2011)

N. Gemini Sasson said:


> Wow is right. That is incredible! There are obviously a lot more audiobook listeners than I realized.


Aye, I think is is going to be the new growth market. The "Most Popular Fantasy Author List" shows, presumably, the copy of each title selling the most. and all of mine are audio versions. Could it really be that I'm selling more audio than ebook - because the notion of that sounds insane.


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## B.A. Spangler (Jan 25, 2012)

Joe Vasicek said:


> I have sooo many questions about audio books and ACX. I feel it's something I should do, but I have no idea what's the best way to go about doing it.
> 
> About how much time does it take to make an audio book through ACX, from the time you first open it up to auditions to the time the finished product goes on sale? Is it too late to get stuff ready for this Christmas?


Christmas would be a tough time to meet. I think I'd read that you need roughly 6 to 8 weeks production time. You also need lead time to listen to the auditions after you'd posted your project. Once you've picked the right voice artists, they'll start the chapter by chapter production and work with you until each _finished hour_ is complete.

I'll know a lot more once I'm done with my first audio book. At the moment I'm working through the submitted auditions.


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## Mark E. Cooper (May 29, 2011)

From an audiobook fiend's pov I will say I buy many many more audio versions than ebook. IF a favorite writer doesn't have an audible version I will pay the overpriced cost of a CD version and grumble about it, but I will do it. I grumble because importing to iTunes is sometimes a pain when the publisher doesn't name each file properly. I don't buy books from iTunes ever, but I sell well there so a lot do.

So I look for audible versions, then CD version, and only then will I reluctantly buy the kindle version. As soon as audio becomes available, I will repurchase the book in audio! If the author is indie or new to me, I still look for the audio first but more than likely will buy the kindle version. Why? Because indie books are usually too short for audio! I want hours and hours of listening fun, not something that takes three hours and you're done. Think humongous 16 plus hour books and you'll find them in my library at audible. I NEVER buy short audio or abridged. If its a huge author, a huge well known title even, I will NOT buy abridged ever. 

I don't buy paper anymore, not even if I love the author because I can buy at least two or three ebooks for that price. I know some readers still do buy paper because I sell quite a few and I am glad of those sales, but I don't do it myself anymore mainly because my house was full when I was doing that. Price is the governing factor now that I've had my mid-life crisis... ah house clearing.

I am not at all surprised that audio is so huge. I am eagerly waiting for corporate America to say us Brits can play too. When they let me into the ACX pool, I'm diving straight into the deep end with my books!


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## FrankZubek (Aug 31, 2010)

CraigInTwinCities said:


> Mindy, I could be wrong, but I seem to recall here's a certain length minimum required in order for a project to be considered, regardless of genre.
> 
> For example, my The Devohrah Initiative is a 3,500 word short story, and I haven't been able to "claim" the project in ACX, even to do on my own... probably because it's too short, though that's just my working theory.
> 
> Same with my other short, Under Contract.


My short story, Mother For Emily, is 4.716 words
That's barely 12 manuscript pages- its even broke up into chapters for dramatic effect ( and, yeah, truth be told, to squeeze it out by another page or two)
It took the narrator 32 minutes to speak the words
While I would think there IS a minimum length requirement-Audible allowed my story

For you curious..... I have had a handful of sales in kindle and a handful in Audible for the story though the freebie offerings I just ran makes Emily my most popular title in kindle ( about 40 downloads)

I guess if it were a fantasy or romance story and not a reflection of a real life society ( adoption, abortion, human trafficking) I might have better sales and yet this is a story that called to me and I typed it out. The narrator was kind enough to commit to the royalty plan for me and I continue to push the story on facebook and twitter as often as I dare.
Hope this info helps in some of you in some way


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## Anne Frasier (Oct 22, 2009)

ElHawk said:


> Nice results, Anne! Congratulations!
> 
> I happened to put one of my books up shortly after it had a crazy-good free run, with 25,000 downloads. I guess ACX added an additional incentive onto it for narrators (I had no idea...) and I was able to partner with a really awesome one who's got a pretty slick resume. It's in production now, but it'll be interesting to see how her name is able to sell the book (if at all; you never know.)
> 
> ...


Thanks, El! I'll be anxious to hear how your book does.


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## Anne Frasier (Oct 22, 2009)

Tricia OMalley said:


> ACX controls the price of the audio book, correct? I was just thinking what a great opportunity it would be to create a "Bookbubesque" site for audio books, yet if the author has no control over the pricing -- then not so much. Are there other options for authors to control the pricing? Maybe there are and I don't know about it.


That's a good point. I keep thinking it would be great to have a bookbub type way to advertise, but if we can't reduce the price... and i don't think we have any control over that.


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## Anne Frasier (Oct 22, 2009)

JamieDeBree said:


> I've got three horror shorts done with ACX (only one on sale so far). The shortest I just approved the final audio on today, and it's 4,470 words (half an hour finished audio). It turned out really well, IMO.  I did the royalty share on all of them. The other two are 6,900 words and 8,200 words respectively.
> 
> Jack is the one on sale - it's .7 finished hours for the 6,900 words, and hasn't sold a thing yet, though I'm doing my best to push it via my networks (not as hard as I could be just now, since I've got a blog promo event going on and I'm pushing other authors at the moment too). They gave me a lot of free copies to give away, so I'll be doing that via that author name, my real name/main accts, and also my publisher soc. media networks. Or that's the plan, anyways. I think this weekend might be better for that, since I'll have time to be online during the day, but I'll push some in the evenings as well (gave away one code on twitter tonight).
> 
> As a non-audiobook listener, I really like how the shorts turned out. Not so much of a commitment, since I actually have to focus while listening (I understand most listeners can multi-task while listening - I really can't and get anything out of it). So I'm hoping to push more toward people who maybe just want to try the novelty of short, creepy little stories this time of year. We'll see how it goes...


great to hear people chiming in about the shorter stories!!!!!! so good to know!!!!!!!!!! jamie, what price does ACX put on those? i'm very curious about that. i'm guessing that listeners won't want to pay very much for a short story.


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## Anne Frasier (Oct 22, 2009)

FrankZubek said:


> My short story, Mother For Emily, is 4.716 words
> That's barely 12 manuscript pages- its even broke up into chapters for dramatic effect ( and, yeah, truth be told, to squeeze it out by another page or two)
> It took the narrator 32 minutes to speak the words
> While I would think there IS a minimum length requirement-Audible allowed my story
> ...


Frank, thanks so much for your input! I'm surprised and happy to hear they allow short stories.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Brian Spangler said:


> Christmas would be a tough time to meet. I think I'd read that you need roughly 6 to 8 weeks production time. You also need lead time to listen to the auditions after you'd posted your project. Once you've picked the right voice artists, they'll start the chapter by chapter production and work with you until each _finished hour_ is complete.
> 
> I'll know a lot more once I'm done with my first audio book. At the moment I'm working through the submitted auditions.


There's also all the time it takes to proof the audio and the time it takes for ACX to work their magic, 2-3 weeks at least.

I have a novellete I'm hoping to get out for Christmas.


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## Anne Frasier (Oct 22, 2009)

Joe Vasicek said:


> I have sooo many questions about audio books and ACX. I feel it's something I should do, but I have no idea what's the best way to go about doing it.
> 
> About how much time does it take to make an audio book through ACX, from the time you first open it up to auditions to the time the finished product goes on sale? Is it too late to get stuff ready for this Christmas?


Joe, you MIGHT be able to be done by Christmas. It depends on how quickly you are able to choose a narrator, how quickly they start and finish the job, how many edits need to be made. I think start to finish it took me about 40 - 50 days. When ACX pay the bill they put a 60-day restriction on the project, so I never let a day pass without working on it or making a decision when necessary.


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## FrankZubek (Aug 31, 2010)

Anne Frasier said:


> Joe, you MIGHT be able to be done by Christmas. It depends on how quickly you are able to choose a narrator, how quickly they start and finish the job, how many edits need to be made. I think start to finish it took me about 40 - 50 days. When ACX pay the bill they put a 60-day restriction on the project, so I never let a day pass without working on it or making a decision when necessary.


Anne no problem- hope it helps. Meantime it would seem that people aren't interested in my genre they'd - understandably- prefer to escape the daily grind. So I am in the middle of working on some fantasy books about magic and witches and dragons. Maybe then I'll be able to grab a few slices of the magic ebook and audio pie others seem to have.
Gertie
A novellette IS possible by the holidays but your goal should be to - at max- have YOUR end of it finished THIS month.
Then allow time to post it- pick a narrator your comfortable with- go through the listening and editing process and of course allow time for Amazon to do their thing to approve.
But remember there are probably a few hundred if not more others scrambling to get their own work out by the holiday as well and despite Amazons size in the market there are literally ONLY so many people in the trenches doing so much work-- and to us it will never seem like enough.

But good luck to you.
But a full length novel? If it were me and I couldn't submit it THIS week so that every department in the pipeline has a comfortable margin for error so my customers can enjoy a final product on the back end..... I'd wait. But thats me.

Good luck to all! (Now I'm off to begin the final draft of my fantasy novel)


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## Anne Frasier (Oct 22, 2009)

i totally forgot about the wait for ACX to approve the finished product. that could take two weeks.


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## FrankZubek (Aug 31, 2010)

Anne Frasier said:


> i totally forgot about the wait for amazon to approve the finished product. that could take two weeks.


Here's my thought...
Two weeks NOW
Then after Thanksgiving it could double with each passing week as we approach Christmas because as I said.... there is the potential of a few THOUSAND other writers scrambling to get in the pipeline so THEIR work can get on audio too.

At some point there may be fumbles on some product and it could be your product ( not YOU Anne (grin)) that gets delayed because of the time crunch.

Again- if it were me I'd have my ducks in a row right now and if not it would be better to hold off
I mean, I COULD be wrong. It might actually be entirely possible to submit in November and still have a week of sales potential just before Christmas
But if you were already in the middle of a project with a narrator THIS week you could be comfortably prepping your sales campaign and enjoy a full selling schedule post Thanksgiving instead of spending the four weeks approaching Christmas worrying and losing sleep if THIS week was the week Audible sends you the email that your work is live.

There's also the problem of the need to have already had a paid banner or other advertising locked up already as many of those things already are backlogged for the holidays ( or maybe not but why take that chance?)

I sure wish I had something ready but well, maybe next year for me.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

FrankZubek said:


> Gertie
> A novellette IS possible by the holidays but your goal should be to - at max- have YOUR end of it finished THIS month.
> Then allow time to post it- pick a narrator your comfortable with- go through the listening and editing process and of course allow time for Amazon to do their thing to approve.
> But remember there are probably a few hundred if not more others scrambling to get their own work out by the holiday as well and despite Amazons size in the market there are literally ONLY so many people in the trenches doing so much work-- and to us it will never seem like enough.
> ...


It's written and I'm just waiting for my editor to send it back. My narrator already has the rough draft. If I can get her started next week, I don't think it will take her long to do it.

Fingers crossed. I popped off a note to my editor this morning and hopefully, I'll have the story back by Saturday.


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## JamieDeBree (Oct 1, 2010)

Anne - my shorts are starting at around $6 each...I had my kindle versions at $1.99, and the audio started at $6.98, I think. I just dropped my kindle shorts down to .99 cents to see if I could spur some Halloween sales, and the audio prices dropped to $6.08 (the second audio book just went live yesterday).


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## Anne Frasier (Oct 22, 2009)

JamieDeBree said:


> Anne - my shorts are starting at around $6 each...I had my kindle versions at $1.99, and the audio started at $6.98, I think. I just dropped my kindle shorts down to .99 cents to see if I could spur some Halloween sales, and the audio prices dropped to $6.08 (the second audio book just went live yesterday).


thanks for the info!


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## DGS (Sep 25, 2013)

Sorry for the silly question, at what point sales wise (# of books wise also) does it make sense to do an audiobook?  I could get it done cheaper as my friend voice acts.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

DGS said:


> Sorry for the silly question, at what point sales wise (# of books wise also) does it make sense to do an audiobook? I could get it done cheaper as my friend voice acts.


The standalone that has sold the most is also a novella so I knew it would only cost me a few hundred dollars to try it. ACX hasn't released it yet, so I don't know how it's going to do, but it's worth a shot. I won't do another one if I don't make enough money from this one to pay for the next. I'm committed to do the short story, but again, not a big investment.


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## Taking my troll a$$ outta here (Apr 8, 2013)

ACX did stipends for both my audio books (books 1 & 2 in a series), but I never did hear anything about giveaway downloads. Anyone know where I should check on that? I would like to offer them to my readers if I can, that would be kinda fun.


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## M.W.W. Michael Wilkerson U.S. Vet (Sep 16, 2013)

If I read my own book, they would consider it a comedy....


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## Anne Frasier (Oct 22, 2009)

ebbrown said:


> ACX did stipends for both my audio books (books 1 & 2 in a series), but I never did hear anything about giveaway downloads. Anyone know where I should check on that? I would like to offer them to my readers if I can, that would be kinda fun.


several people have mentioned stipends. did they offer that after you opened your book to auditions?

the giveaways just came by way of a email about 6 weeks after the audio went live. i didn't contact anybody, but you could try contacting ACX.


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