# ACX option for non-US writers



## Joe_Nobody (Oct 23, 2012)

If you are a non-US author and want to do audio books through ACX, I dreamed up a little process that can open up this service for you.

I verified all is well with ACX this morning.

Here's the deal:

1. If you are a non-US writer and want to use ACX, email us at: [email protected]
2. We will email you back a single page, dirt-simple agreement. You give up zero rights. You are only agreeing to pay us a commission on sales.
3. Once you sign the agreement, we will give you a US address. 
4. You use that address to set up your own ACX profile. Since it is in the US, you shouldn't have any issues. I don't want to know you email, password, account or anything else. That is your business.
5. You will manage the process, auditions, contracts... the entire deal. Again, that is your business. 
6. Once you start selling audio books, the check, along with a statement, will be mailed to us. We will match these ACX statements with the contracts we have on file and forward 90% of the royalty onto your preferred method of payment. We will pay within 5 business days of receiving money from ACX. You can verify our numbers via your on-line account with ACX (they have a nice sales dashboard).
7. We will handle all US tax issues on our 10%. Your 90% is up to you and your home country.
8. You can cancel at any time by simply changing your pay-to information in ACX. No notice is needed. If we don't see any money deposited into our account (after you change it) then obviously we won't send you any more money.
9. You will be given a real person to call with any issues, questions or problems. He's not a nice guy, but gets the job done.

Payment methods:

We can do:
International Wire
Paypal
Check (on a US bank)

If there is any fee associated with sending you money, we are going to take it out of your 90%. If someone has a better way for us to pay, we will consider it.

Let me know if you have any questions. I am doing this to be nice and help my fellow writers. Nothing will make me happier than to see ACX open its doors to non-US writers and get me out of this. Please be kind.

You can all see the history, feedback and concerns on another thread here on the WC:

http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,170763.0.html


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## Zoe York (May 12, 2013)

Joe, I think this is fantastic! And just to confirm, while our agreement with ACX would be for a fixed number of years, our agreement with you as the pseudo-distributor could be canceled at any time, if/when they allow people to use international addresses?

I need to get my narrator busy!


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## Cappy (Sep 6, 2011)

Joe, that's fantastic. A real boon to all of us based outside the U.S. who have watched the rise of ACX in the States with frustration.


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## Lydniz (May 2, 2013)

Who would be responsible for collecting W8BEN tax exemption forms? Would it be you or ACX?


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## Joe_Nobody (Oct 23, 2012)

Zoe York said:


> Joe, I think this is fantastic! And just to confirm, while our agreement with ACX would be for a fixed number of years, our agreement with you as the pseudo-distributor could be canceled at any time, if/when they allow people to use international addresses?
> 
> I need to get my narrator busy!


Yes, you can cancel with us at any time. Since you (the author) has the only sign-on to ACX, you can simply modify your profile and change your pay-to information as you see fit. When ACX does open their doors for international business, you won't need us anymore (hooray!).

As with all such things, I recommend every author read and understand the ACX terms and conditions before taking the plunge. My little company being in the middle of the pay-chain does not alter the legal relationship between the writer and ACX.


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## Joe_Nobody (Oct 23, 2012)

Lydniz said:


> Who would be responsible for collecting W8BEN tax exemption forms? Would it be you or ACX?


We would do that. That is part of the reason why our cut is 10%. There is overhead associated with this.


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

Joe_Nobody said:


> We would do that. That is part of the reason why our cut is 10%. There is overhead associated with this.


Cool. Your service is going to be a huge boon, Joe. ACX is about to be swamped with new titles. This is so scary and exciting I just can't tell you. I love audio and have wanted my books on audible ever since I discovered the site.

Good on you mate.


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## The 13th Doctor (May 31, 2012)

Bookmarking this. Thanks, Joe!


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## 73735 (Dec 2, 2013)

Apparently, Vertical Scope doesn't seem to think they need to comply with the right to be forgotten.


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## Faye Hunter (Jun 5, 2013)

Thanks so much, bookmarked!


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## Cheryl M. (Jan 11, 2011)

I'm in the US, but I still think it's awesome. Good on ye. You're nicer than you're letting on.

Ink Slinger Editorial Services
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk. These are not the typos you are looking for...


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## Joe_Nobody (Oct 23, 2012)

SadieH said:


> This is very awesome of you Joe. A quick question about submitting W8BENs. Will we be able to scan and email them to you like we can with Draft2Digital, or will we need to send them via snail-mail as required by Smashwords?
> 
> Regards,
> Sadie
> ...


Scanned copy is fine. Our CPA has some system where she transfers the information directly to the IRS. Not sure how it all works, but she seems confident about the whole thing.


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## Courtney Milan (Feb 27, 2011)

I'm local, but have had to do a bunch of international payments recently (my ACX narrator lives in the UK, plus translation stuff) so this is just a note about international payment fees.

I've found international wires to be very expensive (relatively), and if your audible money is under a few thousand dollars a month, the wire fees may end up eating significantly into profits.

The lowest cost options I've found are xoom.com and xe.com. They both have reasonable currency exchange fees. xoom.com charges a $4.99 fee per transaction. Xe.com is free, fast and has a SLIGHTLY better exchange rate, but it can take up to 2 weeks for the transactions to go through. So you might want to look into those for payment options.


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## Zoe York (May 12, 2013)

Is Paypal not international? That's how I'm going to do it (Canadian).


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

Courtney Milan said:


> I'm local, but have had to do a bunch of international payments recently (my ACX narrator lives in the UK, plus translation stuff) so this is just a note about international payment fees.
> 
> I've found international wires to be very expensive (relatively), and if your audible money is under a few thousand dollars a month, the wire fees may end up eating significantly into profits.
> 
> The lowest cost options I've found are xoom.com and xe.com. They both have reasonable currency exchange fees. xoom.com charges a $4.99 fee per transaction. Xe.com is free, fast and has a SLIGHTLY better exchange rate, but it can take up to 2 weeks for the transactions to go through. So you might want to look into those for payment options.


It sounds as if paper cheques might be coming back into fashion then.


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## 73735 (Dec 2, 2013)

Apparently, Vertical Scope doesn't seem to think they need to comply with the right to be forgotten.


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## Rick Gualtieri (Oct 31, 2011)

Genius idea, Joe.  Classic example of seeing an opportunity and filling a needed vacuum.


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## kdarden (Aug 23, 2012)

This is a great idea - I had thought about doing something similar for my writer friends outside the US, but I honestly don't want to be bothered with the bookkeeping aspect of it. Since you have everything set up already, I have shared this post with them instead.

Great good luck to you and to the authors who take advantage of it!


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## Ardin (Nov 1, 2012)

Thanks so much Joe. I'll be taking you up on this!!!!


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## -alex- (Jul 12, 2011)

Fantastic, Joe! Thank you! Bookmarked!


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## Mark Dawson (Mar 24, 2012)

Good for you, Joe.


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## JeffreyKafer (May 22, 2011)

How will you handle payment to narrators for Pay-for-production? Or is that between the narrator and the rights holder?


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## Zoe York (May 12, 2013)

That would be between the author and narrator. Joe's name isn't anywhere on this, we're just using his address and bank account.


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

Zoe York said:


> Is Paypal not international? That's how I'm going to do it (Canadian).


I think PayPal does charge a conversion and handling fee. Isn't it 2.5% of the sum converted?


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## Ardin (Nov 1, 2012)

I just signed the contract with David. I'm very excited.


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## Joe_Nobody (Oct 23, 2012)

Ardin said:


> I just signed the contract with David. I'm very excited.


They (the folks at my little company) are all mad at me for doing this. 

I keep telling them, "Karma... it's all positive karma."

That aside, they'll treat you right or else.


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

I just signed up too, poor David


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## Zoe York (May 12, 2013)

Joe, you and your crew rock for offering this. I hope it's profitable for all involved!


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## JeffreyKafer (May 22, 2011)

As a narrator, I'm very excited about this, too. More books, more work!


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## kdarden (Aug 23, 2012)

Yes, Paypal does charge both a conversion rate plus their usual fee. I have used xoom.com in the past when I used a transcription service in the Philippines. It worked fine.


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## Scottish Lass (Oct 10, 2013)

Joe_Nobody said:


> They (the folks at my little company) are all mad at me for doing this.
> 
> I keep telling them, "Karma... it's all positive karma."


Joe, you're very kind. I'm still too much of a prawn to be able to make use of this just yet, but as an audiobook listener I'm keen to get into it asap, so I've bookmarked this.

Thanks again, and positive karma to you


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## Nathaniel Burns (Nov 1, 2013)

Thank you very much for the opportunity. email send.


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## Adrian Howell (Feb 24, 2013)

Sent my email too.
Looking forward to going audio this year.
Joe, you're a good man!


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## Guest (Jan 9, 2014)

Is this open to UK publishers? If so, I'll pass it on to our local (they're a small press with an EIN who've been trying to get ACX for ages) and ask them to drop you a note.

Thanks for doing this, it's great!


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

Gulp... my first audition request is live and I've had two narrators record for me already. Talk about fast response. It was only up about six hours. Man they are so good, how can I choose? I'm going to wait until iI can be really objective because there might be a lot more to listen to soon. Wow, here I was worried no one would want to read a space opera haha.

Oh, the book is Hard Duty, the first in my mil sci fi series in case you thought it might be my werewolf one.


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## Joe_Nobody (Oct 23, 2012)

VH Folland said:


> Is this open to UK publishers? If so, I'll pass it on to our local (they're a small press with an EIN who've been trying to get ACX for ages) and ask them to drop you a note.
> 
> Thanks for doing this, it's great!


Come one, come all. Despite the morphing of the language, we still welcome our cousins from across the pond.


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## Joe_Nobody (Oct 23, 2012)

markecooper said:


> Gulp... my first audition request is live and I've had two narrators record for me already. Talk about fast response. It was only up about six hours. Man they are so good, how can I choose? I'm going to wait until iI can be really objective because there might be a lot more to listen to soon. Wow, here I was worried no one would want to read a space opera haha.
> 
> Oh, the book is Hard Duty, the first in my mil sci fi series in case you thought it might be my werewolf one.


Given equal performances, what terms the narrator is willing to accept is part of the equation. Remember, you don't have to take either one of ACX's off-the-shelf deals. You can negotiate.


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

Joe_Nobody said:


> Given equal performances, what terms the narrator is willing to accept is part of the equation. Remember, you don't have to take either one of ACX's off-the-shelf deals. You can negotiate.


Really? I thought you had to choose one of their options to use them. Either exclusive nonexclusive.


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## JeffreyKafer (May 22, 2011)

no, what he means is that you can make whatever offer with the NARRATOR you want. But in your case, you're offering $200-$400 instead of a royalty share, so it's kind of a moot point.


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

JeffreyKafer said:


> no, what he means is that you can make whatever offer with the NARRATOR you want. But in your case, you're offering $200-$400 instead of a royalty share, so it's kind of a moot point.


Oh yeah, cool. I had to arbitrarily choose a number based upon projected length of the book. I have four in the series so I had to be sure I could cover it. I've already had one narrator scold me for not following the rules with sample length, but come on, this sample is the only one I am going to use for all four books. So I asked him to cut me a break, if not, he could just do whatever pages from the sample he wanted and I will judge on those. There were only six pages anyway, but any two or three would be okay with me. He seemed okay with that.

Live and learn right? Next time I will know what to do.


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## JeffreyKafer (May 22, 2011)

LOL, 6 pages is a tremendous amount to audition. A lot of work without any guarantee of landing the gig.

You want to shoot for 2-3 minutes (a page and a half) for a first audition. Once you've narrowed down your selection, you can ask for a callback to read a little more or from a different part of the book.


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## The 13th Doctor (May 31, 2012)

Just posted the audition script for The Whispering Tombs on ACX. Very exciting times! Once again, thank you, Joe Nobody, for the opportunity!


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

JeffreyKafer said:


> LOL, 6 pages is a tremendous amount to audition. A lot of work without any guarantee of landing the gig.
> 
> You want to shoot for 2-3 minutes (a page and a half) for a first audition. Once you've narrowed down your selection, you can ask for a callback to read a little more or from a different part of the book.


But... but... its a half million word project! Four book series, and the narrator will get all the following books too. AND I put it in the proposal that the audition for book 1 automatically gives them all the other books too! WAILS.... I can't even get 5 mins of audio for all that?

Seriously now, the narrators have been great. They all (except the one who told me off) just chose scenes from the pages I gave them. When I expressed my concern later, they said they preferred more pages to choose from and wouldn't have read the entire thing anyway. It gave them the best opportunity to show their best work they said... so there! Ha! I did something wrong in the right way... err... yeah, so whatever.

Hehehe


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## simonwhistler (Apr 10, 2013)

Hey Joe,

This is awesome. On the ACX site it says:



> "At this time, ACX is open only to residents of the United States who have a US mailing address, a valid US Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), and have or can submit Form W9. For more information on Taxpayer Identification Numbers (TIN) please go to the IRS' website. We hope to open up to a wider global audience in the future."


I'm curious how you got around the need for the author to submit the W-9 which ACX requires down the road?

As a Brit, I figured getting the address would be easy (same for an EIN or ITIN), and Payoneer could do the banking, but I got jammed up on the W-9 submission issue. They wouldn't accept a W8-BEN, only the W-9, which as far as I can understand isn't for non-US citizens...

Cheers!

Simon


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

simonwhistler said:


> Hey Joe,
> 
> This is awesome. On the ACX site it says:
> 
> ...


I'm a Brit too. Joe can explain it best of course, but it has to do with using his company info and EIN


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## sarahdalton (Mar 15, 2011)

Thanks for this, Joe. I'll be sending you an Email shortly.


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## Zoe York (May 12, 2013)

Simon, I'm pretty sure it's the same way an agent can use ACX for their clients ... somewhere on the ACX site there's an info page wrt to that.


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## Joe_Nobody (Oct 23, 2012)

simonwhistler said:


> Hey Joe,
> 
> This is awesome. On the ACX site it says:
> 
> ...


Hey Simon! Good to see you (digitally of course).

You use our US address and tax ID. This is fine with ACX because we are acting as your representative for the audio rights (you keep them). ACX doesn't care where the writer actually resides, they just don't want to deal with foreign tax burdens by paying foreign entities. How we handle taxes is between the writer and my little company. As far as ACX is concerned, they are paying a US corporation.

We might (or might not) need your W8-BEN by the end of the year, but even that's not entirely certain. I'm not a CPA and am waiting on her final opinion on the matter.


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

Does anyone have some cool ideas about using the free codes we get when the audiobook goes live?

I've set up one of those raffle-copters but response is minimal. I know ACX suggests giving them to reviewers but I have never had success with that strategy and would rather just give them to fans than do that. I offered the raffle on my email list and response was meh... four unsubs too! But four new ones so...

I guess I am looking for the magic bullet LOL, so I thought bullet... Joe will know!


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## OwenBaillie (Sep 19, 2013)

Thanks for doing this, Joe, I've signed and sent the agreement back to David, and now uploaded my book info to ACX. We'll see what happens!


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## The 13th Doctor (May 31, 2012)

OwenBaillie said:


> Thanks for doing this, Joe, I've signed and sent the agreement back to David, and now uploaded my book info to ACX. We'll see what happens!


Good luck, Owen!

Well, after posting a project on the 15th January, I've been sent an audition! This one's for The Trouble With Pixies. I'm going to listen to it later once the kids are in bed and I have some peace and quiet. If the guy is good, I'm going to be soooo tempted to say 'yes' to him instead of waiting for more auditions.

I'll keep you guys updated.


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## sarahdalton (Mar 15, 2011)

My book is up there now as well!

I had a message from a producer but I think it might be pushing my budget. 

Anyone else struggling to find British narrators?


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## The 13th Doctor (May 31, 2012)

Good luck, Sarah!

Sadly I'm struggling to find a decent female Scottish accent. Thankfully, '... Pixies' is told from the POV of an English male, so I don't have to worry about it just yet.

I know nothing about when it comes to producers - would you have to pay half of the total costs or something?


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## 9thChapter (May 6, 2013)

Thanks for doing this, Joe (and putting me onto this thread, Marke!)

As a Canadian, this really opens up things for me   

How have other non-US authors handled the payment?  Wondering if the revenue sharing or flat fee model (with the narrators) works best


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

I have a four book series in production right now. I'm a greedy so n so and decided 30 years of royalties will be ALL mine! Muhahahah!

Seriously though, the royalty split of 50/25/25 didn't appeal to me. I want to have the max I can get, not really knowing yet how many sales I will have. If I only sell 10% of current numbers I will pay for the production in a year. So let's be conservative and give it two years just in case. That means the remaining 5 years of the royalty split deal (they use 7) is all mine.

It's expensive, but worth it to me. Also, I had tons of narrators audition for me the moment my proposal went up, because those poor starving actors would rather be paid up front I think if they can get it.


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## 9thChapter (May 6, 2013)

markecooper said:


> It's expensive, but worth it to me. Also, I had tons of narrators audition for me the moment my proposal went up, because those poor starving actors would rather be paid up front I think if they can get it.


I love the idea - connecting the author to the narrator. Mind me asking what "expensive" is? I'm wanting to get a sense of what I'll be looking at after I publish the final book in my trilogy this spring.


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

9thChapter said:


> I love the idea - connecting the author to the narrator. Mind me asking what "expensive" is? I'm wanting to get a sense of what I'll be looking at after I publish the final book in my trilogy this spring.


It depends on your narrator's price per finished hour. This is negotiable. My books are over 12 hours each and I offered $300-$400 pfh. I won't give you what I negotiated down to because the narrator might not like it, but it didn't exceed that budget.


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

Yay, my first audibook is all narrated and now with ACX'S QC department for checking. They estimate 20days for this bit and then it should go on sale. I'll finally know what I've been wondering about all this time. Just how big is the audio market as a percentage of kindle? I'm estimating 10℅


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## Joe_Nobody (Oct 23, 2012)

I'd estimate 10% as far as number of copies go. Out of my 8 books so far, that's probably been the average (just guessing). 

You make a little more per copy however, which is very nice. I'd say 15-20% income wise.


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## Scottish Lass (Oct 10, 2013)

garam81 said:


> Sadly I'm struggling to find a decent female Scottish accent...


Sorry, this is off-topic, but I think I listened to some actors' samples on ACX a while back and thought the same thing. Does anyone know if non-US actors can sign up for the site? That might be the problem!

I am Scottish and my books are set in Scotland so it's relevant for me; but I know someone who knows actors so I might be able to point some more voice artists at ACX if it would work for them.


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

Joe_Nobody said:


> I'd estimate 10% as far as number of copies go. Out of my 8 books so far, that's probably been the average (just guessing).
> 
> You make a little more per copy however, which is very nice. I'd say 15-20% income wise.


Thanks Joe. Yes, 10% will mean needing around 300 copies to break even  I'm good with that.


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

Roz Marshall said:


> Sorry, this is off-topic, but I think I listened to some actors' samples on ACX a while back and thought the same thing. Does anyone know if non-US actors can sign up for the site? That might be the problem!
> 
> I am Scottish and my books are set in Scotland so it's relevant for me; but I know someone who knows actors so I might be able to point some more voice artists at ACX if it would work for them.


They can if they set up a US company, but not otherwise.


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## Scottish Lass (Oct 10, 2013)

markecooper said:


> They can if they set up a US company, but not otherwise.


I suspected it might be something like this, thanks.

I did come across a UK audio book production company where at least one of the narrators was Scottish (but male) so they might be an option.


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

Roz Marshall said:


> I suspected it might be something like this, thanks.
> 
> I did come across a UK audio book production company where at least one of the narrators was Scottish (but male) so they might be an option.


I know the "US company" thing from The Rocking Self Publishing Podcast. The guy is an audiobook narrator, English not Scottish, who recently set up a US company in Wyoming to get into ACX. I should think, like Kindle, Nook etc, all these places will let us aliens in eventually.


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## DashaGLogan (Jan 30, 2014)

SUPER GREAT!! Been looking for it!!


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

My first audio book is out! I had to come back to the thread that made it possible and tell you. http://www.amazon.com/Hard-Duty-Merkiaari-Wars-1/dp/B00IIWQQ46 I'm so excited to see what happens. The narrator is working hard now on book 2


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## Paul K (Jan 11, 2014)

Good work. Just played the sample, and your narrator is fantastic.


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

sockmerchant said:


> Good work. Just played the sample, and your narrator is fantastic.


He was really great. I am a total newb with this stuff, and he had to teach me what to do and expect, (because of course I didn't read all the ACX tutorials thoroughly enough LOL) he wasn't phased by my questions. I asked his opinions on SFX, music intro, and all that good stuff. He has done a lot of books in his time, and sent me samples of various SFX he had used for example on comm chatter, or computer voices, translator garble effect and more. He was of like mind that less is more where SFX are concerned. Just enough and no more has a better impact. I think we got it right.


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## Paul K (Jan 11, 2014)

I'd be curious how well you do on sales. I will most likely look at audio when my book is finally out. Personally, I consume 99% of my books as audio. I know some authors do very well with audio. Michael J Sullivan (I love his writing) in has had a lot of success there.

http://amazingstoriesmag.com/2013/12/rise-audio-books/


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

sockmerchant said:


> I'd be curious how well you do on sales. I will most likely look at audio when my book is finally out. Personally, I consume 99% of my books as audio. I know some authors do very well with audio. Michael J Sullivan (I love his writing) in has had a lot of success there.
> 
> http://amazingstoriesmag.com/2013/12/rise-audio-books/


Yes, 99% is about my position also, but I am expecting around 4% of ebook sales because of Hugh's data. Before I began I was assuming 10% of kindle numbers and figured out the break even point based upon that. Still, this is a long term business. If it takes two years to cover costs that's still a bargain.


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## Joe_Nobody (Oct 23, 2012)

markecooper said:


> Yes, 99% is about my position also, but I am expecting around 4% of ebook sales because of Hugh's data. Before I began I was assuming 10% of kindle numbers and figured out the break even point based upon that. Still, this is a long term business. If it takes two years to cover costs that's still a bargain.


I saw Hugh's data on audio books and meant to ask a question when all of that was going on. My audio books don't have a ranking on Amazon, so how did they extrapolate those numbers? I don't remember answering anything on the survey about a-books as a percentage of sales. Do you have any idea how he arrived at that number?


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

Joe_Nobody said:


> I saw Hugh's data on audio books and meant to ask a question when all of that was going on. My audio books don't have a ranking on Amazon, so how did they extrapolate those numbers? I don't remember answering anything on the survey about a-books as a percentage of sales. Do you have any idea how he arrived at that number?


Hmmm, THAT is a very good question. I remember reading the 4% and being a bit let down it wasn't MY 10% guess, but I never did ask how it was arrived at. I wonder if it comes from the buy button at Amazon, which will give a hugely false result. I mean, non members might buy their very first audio book through the amazon buy button, but from then on they will likely be members and go directly to Audible as I do.


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

markecooper said:


> My first audio book is out! I had to come back to the thread that made it possible and tell you. http://www.amazon.com/Hard-Duty-Merkiaari-Wars-1/dp/B00IIWQQ46 I'm so excited to see what happens. The narrator is working hard now on book 2


All the links went live to iTunes today as well, so I used my email list. 952 subscribers, I got 7 sales so far but it's been about an hour since I pulled the trigger. Not sure what this means: 5 AL, 2 ALOP, 0 AL


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## DaniO (Oct 22, 2012)

markecooper - Very impressed by the narrator on your sample. Hope you earn out soon.

Joe_nobody - thanks for doing this. I have been waiting for ACX to open up internationally for ages. I have some books under a pen name that I think would do well in audio so I'm really excited to finally get into audiobooks.


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## JeffreyKafer (May 22, 2011)

Oh you got Mikael Naramore. He's quite good.


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

JeffreyKafer said:


> Oh you got Mikael Naramore. He's quite good.


He had the right depth of voice I feel. Some of my characters are alien, some female human, some male human. Mike's voice seemed to work for all of them I feel. I had lots of great auditions, but even when I narrowed it down to the last three, I kept coming back to him. Another guy was really good. His name was Steven, and he was really nice, but he sounded just a bit youngish for my main navy officer.


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## Jan Hurst-Nicholson (Aug 25, 2010)

Thanks for this.


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

WHOA! Just got this from ACX, bad bad news... http://www.acx.com/help/important-announcement/201457230

Escalator has been removed and a flat 40% royalty imposed on all future deals after March 12th. Lucky then I have my main 4 titles already in production and they are protected as I signed in Jan, but all future projects get the flat royalty rate


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## Lisa Grace (Jul 3, 2011)

I just used Tristan Bowersox for a book. He's very good and his rate is only fifty per finished hour. I recommend him.


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## maggiemay (Jun 27, 2013)

Is this service for non-US authors still operating? I sent my signed agreement of over 24 hours ago and have heard nothing back


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## DaniO (Oct 22, 2012)

Amazon are presenting an ACX seminar at the London Book Fair this year. Maybe I am reading too much into this but I'm really hopeful that means they are about to open ACX for us Brits. 
Keeping my fingers crossed.


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

Carrie_Cox said:


> Amazon are presenting an ACX seminar at the London Book Fair this year. Maybe I am reading too much into this but I'm really hopeful that means they are about to open ACX for us Brits.
> Keeping my fingers crossed.


I have a feeling this is what they meant when they changed the ACX royalties and linked it with increasing their catalogue.


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## Guest (Mar 28, 2014)

Carrie_Cox said:


> Amazon are presenting an ACX seminar at the London Book Fair this year. Maybe I am reading too much into this but I'm really hopeful that means they are about to open ACX for us Brits.
> Keeping my fingers crossed.


Me too, I just got finished with my first audio book and having to go through an intermediary isn't the best way to go with this service. I could definitely appreciate having my own account.


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## Joe_Nobody (Oct 23, 2012)

Nothing would make David happier!


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

Joe_Nobody said:


> Nothing would make David happier!


Hehe. I haven't been doing this long enough for actual dollars to come through, but if they do this and allow EFT it would be nice. PayPal are handy and all, but 3% of my royalty would look much nicer in my account than theirs. Just saying 

Sales are very promising I must say. Two books on sale, both doing on average 8 per day each. I was worried about paying down the investment, but those fears are receding now.


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## Joe_Nobody (Oct 23, 2012)

David (the guy who manages this for me) called me a bit ago.

The first of the ACX checks arrived today. David said he is emailing the authors who received payments and letting them know the amounts.

If you are expecting sales and don't receive an email, please wait a few days. Each author's checks arrive in a separate envelope and there's no reason to expect them to all come the same day. 

I'm happy that our little system worked just as planned. Now, for those authors, the checks are in our hands and we are in control from here on out. 

David wanted me to thank all of you for your patience. His hair is only partially grey now.


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

Joe_Nobody said:


> David (the guy who manages this for me) called me a bit ago.
> 
> The first of the ACX checks arrived today. David said he is emailing the authors who received payments and letting them know the amounts.
> 
> ...


Yeah, I got an email from David. I was pleased with the number considering my first book came out 10 days before the end of the month.


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

How many Audible stores are there? I mean I found my books on audible.com, Audible.co.uk, audible.de, audible.fr and I know iTunes has 51 stores. THe dashboard lumps all sales together though so I can't tell where they come from.


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## Joe_Nobody (Oct 23, 2012)

Mark E. Cooper said:


> How many Audible stores are there? I mean I found my books on audible.com, Audible.co.uk, audible.de, audible.fr and I know iTunes has 51 stores. THe dashboard lumps all sales together though so I can't tell where they come from.


That's a good question. I know my statement breaks them out by store, but I don't have any of those sheets in front of me. I think the other channels (iTunes and Amazon) are lumped together if memory serves.

I've asked David to scan and email the statements to each author, so maybe that will shed some light.


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

I think l there are just those four. I've update my smart links with the known ones anyway.


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## Krista D. Ball (Mar 8, 2011)

Replying to bookmark


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

ACX have just updated their tax info pages and included Non US publishers/authors! http://www.acx.com/help/completing-tax-information/201494330

Hmmm, US are still paid monthly, UK will be paid quarterly by EFT


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## Guest (Apr 6, 2014)

Mark E. Cooper said:


> ACX have just updated their tax info pages and included Non US publishers/authors! http://www.acx.com/help/completing-tax-information/201494330
> 
> Hmmm, US are still paid monthly, UK will be paid quarterly by EFT


Brilliant - my first book went live this week so I need to see if I can get it transferred to my account.


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

TobiasRoote said:


> Brilliant - my first book went live this week so I need to see if I can get it transferred to my account.


We will have to do the whole "W8-BEN thing" again. There's no online survey for ACX like there is for Amazon and Google Play. So although you can enter your banking info and personal info, you will have to post the form. I wish they would pay monthly. It feels unusual now to get paid quarterly when everyone does it monthly now. Why can't they standardize? I mean Amazon pays monthly already.


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## The 13th Doctor (May 31, 2012)

Wait, so they're letting us non-US folk play? At last!

I'm doing well (imo) with the audiobook I have out already, but I've been itching to get more done, especially some of my pen name stories.

I really need to get the W8-BEN thingy sorted out.


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## @Suzanna (Mar 14, 2011)

Mark E. Cooper said:


> Hmmm, US are still paid monthly, UK will be paid quarterly by EFT


It looks like it will only be the UK outside the US for now. I didn't see any other countries listed.


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## Joe_Nobody (Oct 23, 2012)

For those from the UK who signed up for our service, David said to pass the following along:

_Keep your same ACX account, just change the name, address and banking details to what you desire.

This will cause ACX to send payment as per your instructions and bypass Kemah Bay.
_

I've not seen David so happy since we started all this...


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## The 13th Doctor (May 31, 2012)

Joe_Nobody said:


> For those from the UK who signed up for our service, David said to pass the following along:
> 
> _Keep your same ACX account, just change the name, address and banking details to what you desire.
> 
> ...


LOL! Thanks, Joe. And thank you for giving us a chance in the first place. Much appreciated!

Incidentally, does anyone know what we do about pen name books? I would like to make some audios of my pen name titles but unsure whether I have to open a new ACX account or not.


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## Selina Fenech (Jul 20, 2011)

Joe, this is a wonderful offer! Are you still taking on people not in the US (or UK now)?
I have a friend who is a voice actor/sound editor who wants to get into packaging audio books, but his one stumbling block, being Australian, has been distribution. I'm going to forward this thread to him.


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

Joe_Nobody said:


> For those from the UK who signed up for our service, David said to pass the following along:
> 
> _Keep your same ACX account, just change the name, address and banking details to what you desire.
> 
> ...


Did that this morning, Joe. Thanks to you and David I know now that audio IS the next big thing. Well no, it's already here for me and it is going big guns. Seriously, I estimated it would be about 10% of my sales. The actual figure is closer to 50% already and because of the way royalties are higher (despite only being 50% of net) it means my royalties have jumped a staggering amount--maybe up 30%? This could just be "new release or format syndrome" of course and might settle at a lower amount, but still... amazing!

EVERYONE should test at least one book in audio. They should choose their best seller and get it narrated.

I had to post a W8-Ben for ACX today. They have the mailing address in their FAQ now. Guess where it goes? That's right, Amazon in Seattle again, like you had to do before the online form appeared at KDP. Why can't they incorporate all the changes they have already done with their other businesses? Don't they talk to each other?


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

garam81 said:


> LOL! Thanks, Joe. And thank you for giving us a chance in the first place. Much appreciated!
> 
> Incidentally, does anyone know what we do about pen name books? I would like to make some audios of my pen name titles but unsure whether I have to open a new ACX account or not.


I have no inside knowledge, but when you claim your titles at ACX (first step of getting a book narrated) the system looks for the book on Amazon, and auto fills in the details. Things like title, series, and author are not changeable as far as I know, because it uses amazon's own ASIN database.

So... if I am right, your book will use the penname that you use on amazon automatically, and on Audible sales pages you will see Title, Series, Author, Narrator, and the Publisher. Now what's important about this is that the Publisher is who you say it is. The very LAST thing you do when the book is all done and you have paid for it, is click a certain button. BEFORE you click, you MUST enter the publisher name. When I did this, it already was filled in with Kemah Bay LLC (because my account was using Joe's excellent offer, and that was the account holder's name) I simply entered my own imprint's name in the final release box and clicked the button.

What this means is that as long as you enter who the publisher is in that box when you finally release the audiobook to audible, your account name and penname and publisher name can and will all be different and not revealed on sales pages.


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## The 13th Doctor (May 31, 2012)

Thanks, Mark. I just sent an email to ACX support before I saw your post, but thank you for replying.


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## The 13th Doctor (May 31, 2012)

Just heard back from ACX Support, regarding pen name titles.

"_Dear Gayle,

Thanks for contacting ACX!

We're really excited to be opening ACX.com to our UK customers and glad you are too! The good news Gayle is that you won't need to open a new account to use your Pen name. The name that will be advertised on both Audible and ACX will be the name the title is written under. So as long as you used your Pen Name to Author the title then that is what will appear on the site!_"

So clarification for anyone who wasn't sure.


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## Scottish Lass (Oct 10, 2013)

garam81 said:


> "_We're really excited to be opening ACX.com to our UK customers and glad you are too! The good news Gayle is that you won't need to open a new account to use your Pen name. The name that will be advertised on both Audible and ACX will be the name the title is written under. So as long as you used your Pen Name to Author the title then that is what will appear on the site!_"
> 
> So clarification for anyone who wasn't sure.


I've got as far as filling in my personal details there, and, when they asked for 'Name' (right at the top of the first form) there was an annotation saying it would be public.

I write under my married name rather than my 'tax' name. From what you guys are saying, that sounds like it's not really true, unless I put my name as the publisher?


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

Roz Marshall said:


> I've got as far as filling in my personal details there, and, when they asked for 'Name' (right at the top of the first form) there was an annotation saying it would be public.
> 
> I write under my married name rather than my 'tax' name. From what you guys are saying, that sounds like it's not really true, unless I put my name as the publisher?


Mine isn't public, BUT it CAN be if you aren't careful. Let's say your account name uses Roz Marshall, but you write under R. Marshall, and you choose to have an imprint as your publisher as I do. Impulse Books UK LTD.

IF you are not careful when you click the final button to give the finished file to Audible after all checks are done and you have paid your narrator, the box next to the button WILL say Roz Marshall because that's your account name, BUT you can change it as I did to Impulse Books UK. What should appear then on sales pages is this:

Author R. Marshall
Narrator
Publisher Impulse Books UK

Mine looks like this (none are my account name):

Author: Mark E. Cooper
Narrator: Mike Narramore
Publisher: Impulse Books UK
Series Merkiaari Wars


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## Scottish Lass (Oct 10, 2013)

Okay, thanks Mark, that's what it sounded like from what you guys said above.


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## Joe_Nobody (Oct 23, 2012)

I have received a few emails/messages as of late inquiring if we were still offering this service.

We are, and it is my understanding that over 50 authors have signed up. Poor, poor David. I don't expect a Christmas card this year.

Anyway, I wanted to bump this thread in case anyone had missed it.


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## Paul K (Jan 11, 2014)

I was one of those, and David has been quick to respond. 

Thanks for setting this up Joe.


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

Joe_Nobody said:


> I have received a few emails/messages as of late inquiring if we were still offering this service.
> 
> We are, and it is my understanding that over 50 authors have signed up. Poor, poor David. I don't expect a Christmas card this year.
> 
> Anyway, I wanted to bump this thread in case anyone had missed it.


Muhahahah! Poor David. My first book absolutely flew off the Audible shelves using Joe's excellent help. I am now a bona-fide audio author/seller on my own over here using ACX in the UK, but I would never have got started with out you Joe. Thanks for the help and the opportunity.

*Waves to David,*

Mark


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## Paul K (Jan 11, 2014)

I have no idea how mine will do. I only have the first book written, but I figured I may as well get them in audio as I release them. It would save me from paying a fortune all in one go. 

Also, seeing as I do pretty much all of my "reading" via my ear holes, I really wanted it in that format. 

Being in NZ, I would be screwed without something like this.


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## KateSparkes (May 6, 2013)

Thank you for bumping this thread! People have been asking me about an audiobook, and I was disappointed when I found out ACX wasn't open to Canadian authors. I'll be signing up soon!

(Too many exclamation points... so excited!)


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

KateSparkes said:


> Thank you for bumping this thread! People have been asking me about an audiobook, and I was disappointed when I found out ACX wasn't open to Canadian authors. I'll be signing up soon!
> 
> (Too many exclamation points... so excited!)


Well, grats for the near future then!


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## 68564 (Mar 17, 2013)

Joe_Nobody said:


> I have received a few emails/messages as of late inquiring if we were still offering this service.
> 
> We are, and it is my understanding that over 50 authors have signed up. Poor, poor David. I don't expect a Christmas card this year.
> 
> Anyway, I wanted to bump this thread in case anyone had missed it.


Cool. I have seen a few posts about "If Joe is still..." so now I can sound smart and inthe know and say, "Well, yes, my close personal friend Joe just told me yesterday he was still doing this."


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

VydorScope said:


> Cool. I have seen a few posts about "If Joe is still..." so now I can sound smart and inthe know and say, "Well, yes, my close personal friend Joe just told me yesterday he was still doing this."


I bookmarked this thread a long time ago, because I get pm a LOT asking about audio.


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## theaatkinson (Sep 22, 2010)

Joe_Nobody said:


> I have received a few emails/messages as of late inquiring if we were still offering this service.
> 
> We are, and it is my understanding that over 50 authors have signed up. Poor, poor David. I don't expect a Christmas card this year.
> 
> Anyway, I wanted to bump this thread in case anyone had missed it.


*waves* I would love to give this a try too! I didn't want to bug before, but now that I see you're still taking signups...sign me up! what do you need from me?


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## EC (Aug 20, 2013)

Can I just say that the service that Joe offers is remarkably efficient. Although I'm a UK author and can access ACX direct now, I'm sticking with Joe for a while so that I can put some cash back into the pot. 

It's nice to be nice - and fairs fair - the vast majority of the titles I have up are at the 50% band previously offered, if it wasn't for Joe, I would never had access to it.


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

theaatkinson said:


> *waves* I would love to give this a try too! I didn't want to bug before, but now that I see you're still taking signups...sign me up! what do you need from me?


You should probably pm him He might not ccheck the thread that often, but he has never NOT responded to my pm ing him


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## EC (Aug 20, 2013)

I believe all you need to do is email David -  [email protected]

Introduce yourself and he will forward you the contract and sign up details - allow four or five days for initial response, David can get swamped at times.


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## Joe_Nobody (Oct 23, 2012)

theaatkinson said:


> *waves* I would love to give this a try too! I didn't want to bug before, but now that I see you're still taking signups...sign me up! what do you need from me?


As stated above, just email David. [email protected]

He normally checks emails a couple of times on the weekends, but don't be surprised if it takes a bit before he responds on non-business days.


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## theaatkinson (Sep 22, 2010)

Thanks, Joe, EC, and Mark. will do once I get to my email on my laptop.


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

I just heard back from ACX. First quarter will be paid to the Brits (we get paid quarterly not monthly like the rest of you super privileged guys haha!) on the 25th August


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## EC (Aug 20, 2013)

Mark E. Cooper said:


> I just heard back from ACX. First quarter will be paid to the Brits (we get paid quarterly not monthly like the rest of you super privileged guys haha!) on the 25th August


What do you intend to do that evening, Mister Cooper?


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

I can foresee much dancing and drunken revelry at Casa del Cooper!


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## britrocker (May 16, 2011)

I had a question about this.

I'm based in Canada, but my mother is based in the UK ( that's actually where I'm from )

Now from what I've heard ACX isn't open to Canadians and if you want to get setup the only way is to go through the guy who started this thread.

But what if you have a family member in the UK? It says on ACX page they are open to USA and UK only. So if i used her address would that work and would she get the direct deposit or check? Also would she have to submit a W8-BEN so we avoid tax? This way I wouldn't need to go through the guy who started this thread.


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## 555aaa (Jan 28, 2014)

As a Canadian author you can also just create a contract with a US or UK producer outside of ACX. I have an audiobook at ACX under contract with a Canadian author currently. Most producers on ACX have a profile that has a website link, and so you can contact them via that link. There's also several voice talent websites were you can post jobs, like Voice123.


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## JVRudnick (Sep 12, 2014)

Not hijacking this -- but as many here are doing the audio book thingy with Joe -- could anyone offer up any kind of numbers?

What does a book that sells say 75/100 copies a day as an eBook "do" when it comes to "audible" sales...

Is there a formula anyone has or an idea etc etc....


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

JVRudnick said:


> Not hijacking this -- but as many here are doing the audio book thingy with Joe -- could anyone offer up any kind of numbers?
> 
> What does a book that sells say 75/100 copies a day as an eBook "do" when it comes to "audible" sales...
> 
> Is there a formula anyone has or an idea etc etc....


It's all about genre and the narrator. My best thing atm is my space opera box set of 3 books. 11 kindle sales a day, but 59 audio yesterday. NOW, THAT is very unusual and my audio box set is new. Of course I hope it never slows down, but normally I expect only about 10% of kindle will be audio.


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## JVRudnick (Sep 12, 2014)

Mark...thank you very much for your candor...

my first sciFi novel continues to see tween 75 and 100 a day...but the ACX one only has 22 in total sales after 30 days or so....

that's what is stumping me...


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## RomanceAuthor (Aug 18, 2014)

Is ACX still open only to US/UK authors? Can't seem to find the restriction on their website


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## 555aaa (Jan 28, 2014)

RomanceAuthor said:


> Is ACX still open only to US/UK authors? Can't seem to find the restriction on their website


Yes apparently - 
"To open an account on ACX, you must be a resident of the United States or the United Kingdom and at least 18 years old or the legal age of majority in the jurisdiction in which you reside."

which is in the account agreement here:

http://www.acx.com/help/account-holder-agreement/201481940


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

RomanceAuthor said:


> Is ACX still open only to US/UK authors? Can't seem to find the restriction on their website


Or use the OP of THIS thread and do it the way I did before the UK was folded in to ACX.


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## Matthew Eliot (May 4, 2015)

Thank you for bumping this thread. I'm British, but I live in Italy, so I can't yet officially use ACX. 

I've emailed Joe, hopefully he'll be able to help.


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## britrocker (May 16, 2011)

mattstevens said:


> Thank you for bumping this thread. I'm British, but I live in Italy, so I can't yet officially use ACX.
> 
> I've emailed Joe, hopefully he'll be able to help.


Tell me about it. I'm British and i live in Canada. Makes no sense, they open to the UK ( when Canada is just across the bloody border ) asshats!


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## britrocker (May 16, 2011)

555aaa said:


> As a Canadian author you can also just create a contract with a US or UK producer outside of ACX. I have an audiobook at ACX under contract with a Canadian author currently. Most producers on ACX have a profile that has a website link, and so you can contact them via that link. There's also several voice talent websites were you can post jobs, like Voice123.


Let me understand my options here ( beyond the OP alternative which I don't plan to use )

1. I can ( not create an account on ACX ) but browse their audio folks, get a link. Contact them and ask them to setup an account for me then trust they will pay me?

2. I can go to another website pay someone to create an audio of my book and then upload that book where? ( as i won't have an acx account)

3. Contact my brother in the UK have him setup an account, he gets paid via direct deposit or check then, he cuts me a check?


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## Joe_Nobody (Oct 23, 2012)

Just to chime in here, David told me last week that we are now over 100 authors using the service.

While I still wouldn't consider it profitable by any sense, it does give us all a good feeling to help our non-USA/UK friends, and that's why we started it in the first place.

We're considering a direct deposit option so we can process everyone's payment a few days faster each month.  

Also, someone asked me recently if I could provide some numbers/sales averages for the authors using the service. I declined because I don't know.
Only David and our accountant know the individual sales by author, and both have been instructed to keep that information confidential. Private stuff. No one needs to know, including me.


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## Joe_Nobody (Oct 23, 2012)

jonemills said:


> Let me understand my options here ( beyond the OP alternative which I don't plan to use )
> 
> 1. I can ( not create an account on ACX ) but browse their audio folks, get a link. Contact them and ask them to setup an account for me then trust they will pay me?
> 
> ...


I would go with option 3. First of all, ACX doesn't allow you to take titles down or off-sale like Amazon and ebook outlets. Once you sigh up, it's a seven year commitment. That means if someone absconds with your royalty, you can just shut off the source.

Secondly, ACX is going to report taxable income off of your title(s). We offset the income we receive by showing the payments to the authors as an expense. This would be slightly more difficult for an individual to do, and in some situations could put them into a higher tax bracket.


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## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

Joe_Nobody said:


> 7. We will handle all US tax issues on our 10%. Your 90% is up to you and your home country.


I've just seen this thread. Its the tax issue which is the main problem as far as I'm concerned.

I looked at this a couple of months ago, when a company in the US contacted me to make audiobooks through ACX for me.

The problem is this:

ACX, because it is only set up for the US and UK, cant accept an Australian Tax Number like KDP does. Hence, 35% is taken out in tax on the whole royalty.

This is ok if you already make so much through KDP or other outlets, that you can claim the tax as a deduction, and it doesnt exceed the amount of tax you would normally pay.

The big problem is when the amount of tax taken out by the US, exceeds the amount of tax you are liable to pay in Australia. However much you paid to the US, which is over what your tax liability is here, is LOST. We cant claim it back in Australia, because it wasn't collected in Australia.

So while this may work for some people with big enough incomes to need a very big tax rebate, it wont work at all for anyone doing just ok.

For now, I'm waiting for another alternative, or for ACX to get its act into gear for the rest of the world.


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## Decon (Feb 16, 2011)

Is the problem for ex-pats not having a bank account in the UK for ACX to make payment? Or is it not having a UK Tax ID? Or it it all about the address outside the UK?

I only ask because I live in Brazil but I have an account in the UK.


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## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

Decon said:


> Is the problem for ex-pats not having a bank account in the UK for ACX to make payment? Or is it not having a UK Tax ID? Or it it all about the address outside the UK?
> 
> I only ask because I live in Brazil but I have an account in the UK.


I cant speak for the UK, but here its the Tax ID. I have a US account to be paid into, its what they take out of it first that is the problem.


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## Joe_Nobody (Oct 23, 2012)

TimothyEllis said:


> I've just seen this thread. Its the tax issue which is the main problem as far as I'm concerned.
> 
> I looked at this a couple of months ago, when a company in the US contacted me to make audiobooks through ACX for me.
> 
> ...


ACX will not withhold 35% if you go through our service. Nor do we withhold any tax.
What I meant by that statement in the original post was that at the end of the year, it's up to you to claim your income on your own taxes. Since we pay through Paypal, they can provide a statement of your earnings at the end of the year. What you do with that is your own business.


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## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

Joe_Nobody said:


> ACX will not withhold 35% if you go through our service. Nor do we withhold any tax.
> What I meant by that statement in the original post was that at the end of the year, it's up to you to claim your income on your own taxes. Since we pay through Paypal, they can provide a statement of your earnings at the end of the year. What you do with that is your own business.


I dont follow that. How do ACX get a tax number so they reduce it to 5%?

No tax number, they have to take 35% out. Its US law.


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## Guest (Nov 29, 2015)

TimothyEllis said:


> I dont follow that. How do ACX get a tax number so they reduce it to 5%?
> 
> No tax number, they have to take 35% out. Its US law.


If I understand correctly (and please correct me if I misunderstood) you are using David's US tax number & status. Therefore ACX deducts the relevant tax for an American resident, as opposed to Australian, or kiwi or wherever the author is resident. David then receives all royalties, deducts 10% and pays you the balance. Which you then return on your domestic tax statement.


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## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

Tilly said:


> If I understand correctly (and please correct me if I misunderstood) you are using David's US tax number & status. Therefore ACX deducts the relevant tax for an American resident, as opposed to Australian, or kiwi or wherever the author is resident. David then receives all royalties, deducts 10% and pays you the balance. Which you then return on your domestic tax statement.


Oh.


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## Matthew Eliot (May 4, 2015)

On a side note, for those who are on the fence about this, I recently signed up, and was very impressed with David and Joe's professionalism, the clarity of the agreement and the excellent communication. 

Thank you for providing this service!


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## MysticInkwell (Jan 7, 2016)

Looks good, I'm In!


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## Nancy Warren (May 5, 2014)

I use the service and wanted to jump in and say how happy I am with it. David is super fast to reply if I have a question, they pay me the second they get paid, I invoice through PayPal, minus the ten percent to Kemah Bay. I'm Canadian and also incredibly peeved that we across the border can't use ACX. No offence to the Brits (I live in Britain after all) but how come they got ACX first

Anyway, high marks to Joe and David for this option.

best, Nancy


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## Joe_Nobody (Oct 23, 2012)

Thank you all for the kind words. David works really hard trying to keep all of the authors happy. The program continues to grow, so he must be doing pretty well.

If anyone wants to see how this works in a more graphic presentation, or read FAQ's, references, or the agreement, go to www.kemahbay.com and click on the "Audiobook Distribution" tab. We recently redid this website and there is a ton of information there.

***Full disclosure - I am associated with Kemah Bay.***


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## Aaronhodges (Dec 19, 2015)

Joe_Nobody said:


> Thank you all for the kind words. David works really hard trying to keep all of the authors happy. The program continues to grow, so he must be doing pretty well.
> 
> If anyone wants to see how this works in a more graphic presentation, or read FAQ's, references, or the agreement, go to www.kemahbay.com and click on the "Audiobook Distribution" tab. We recently redid this website and there is a ton of information there.
> 
> ***Full disclosure - I am associated with Kemah Bay.***


This all sounds great, sent through an email now. Glad there's a way to get around Amazon's stupid UK/us only stuff!


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## Ardin (Nov 1, 2012)

I've been using this service for over a year now and it works very smoothly. I use ACX just like anyone else does, even though I'm based in Canada where it isn't available. The only difference for me is that instead of them sending the money to my account, they send it to David. He deducts 10% and sends the rest to me by paypal. He's always prompt. He's never missed a payment yet. I don't have to keep an eye on it at all. And there's no tax issue. ACX sends the money to him without deduction. He does his taxes for what he keeps. He sends me my 90 percent and I add it to my taxes here in Canada. It couldn't be simpler and I'm very glad I did it.

I make an average of $500 per month on ACX.


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## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

Ardin said:


> And there's no tax issue. ACX sends the money to him without deduction. He does his taxes for what he keeps. He sends me my 90 percent and I add it to my taxes here in Canada.


I dont get that.

How does he avoid having any tax taken out?

Amazon take 5% of mine. Or is this just because I'm overseas?


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

TimothyEllis said:


> I dont get that.
> 
> How does he avoid having any tax taken out?
> 
> Amazon take 5% of mine. Or is this just because I'm overseas?


He does it the way we all do. When we do the tax form, we claim 0% using the tax treaty. Amazon doesn't deduct anything for tax that way, and we all handle tax in our various countries ourselves.


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

A new podcast you might like to see by Jo Penn is all about ACX


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## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

Mark E. Cooper said:


> He does it the way we all do. When we do the tax form, we claim 0% using the tax treaty. Amazon doesn't deduct anything for tax that way, and we all handle tax in our various countries ourselves.


I'm using the tax treaty as well, but Amazon still take 5% out in tax.


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## Steve Vernon (Feb 18, 2011)

britrocker said:


> Tell me about it. I'm British and i live in Canada. Makes no sense, they open to the UK ( when Canada is just across the bloody border ) asshats!





Nancy Warren said:


> I use the service and wanted to jump in and say how happy I am with it. David is super fast to reply if I have a question, they pay me the second they get paid, I invoice through PayPal, minus the ten percent to Kemah Bay. I'm Canadian and also incredibly peeved that we across the border can't use ACX. No offence to the Brits (I live in Britain after all) but how come they got ACX first


I'm in the same boat. I've got a couple of books out through ACX through a similar set-up as David's and I am looking at this very seriously. With the push to my numbers that I am hoping my Kindle Scout release is going to bring me I am hoping to have some pretty happy numbers by the end of the summer.

I think the problem with ACX and Canada is twofold.

Number one problem is just that, numbers. We have a lot less people and a lot smaller market up here in Canada. I'm talking a Cheetah-to-King Kong ratio when you are looking at Canada-to-US and I think even the UK is in Mighty Joe Young territory compared to us punky banana peeling Canucks.

Number two problem would be tax laws. The legislation that we Canadians have strung across border makes Donald Trump's Mexican wall look like a hopscotch across a worn-out-feathered-boa.


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## RinG (Mar 12, 2013)

Tim: the 5% withholding is because Australia has a tax treaty with the U.S., and they are required to withhold it. 

I do believe that you can claim the 5% as a tax deduction, but so far I'm not earning enough for me to bother to check up on that.


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## JB Rowley (Jan 29, 2012)

Rinelle Grey said:


> Tim: the 5% withholding is because Australia has a tax treaty with the U.S., and they are required to withhold it.
> 
> I do believe that you can claim the 5% as a tax deduction, but so far I'm not earning enough for me to bother to check up on that.


Yes, I claim the 5% as an expense.


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## Guest (May 2, 2016)

JB Rowley said:


> Yes, I claim the 5% as an expense.


If you are claiming the 5% as a deduction make sure you also claim the gross amount of royalties, not the net that hits your bank account (as that already has the 5% deducted). Otherwise you are claiming the expense twice and the ATO will ping you hard for it.


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## 555aaa (Jan 28, 2014)

Tilly said:


> If I understand correctly (and please correct me if I misunderstood) you are using David's US tax number & status. Therefore ACX deducts the relevant tax for an American resident, as opposed to Australian, or kiwi or wherever the author is resident. David then receives all royalties, deducts 10% and pays you the balance. Which you then return on your domestic tax statement.


I think he is still required to withhold the tax treaty amount before he pays you because that's his responsibility as a US company. Suppose my company licenses an Australian author's copyrighted materials, and I pay them a royalty from my sales revenue. I have to withhold the 5% BEFORE I pay the licensee as I have no recourse to compel the Australian person to pay US taxes. I am the withholding agent, it's my responsibility (and liability). The taxes are owed in the US, not Australia. Maybe there's some way around this but I don't know what that is.

You can't claim the 5% in Australia unless it has been withheld.


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## JB Rowley (Jan 29, 2012)

Tilly said:


> If you are claiming the 5% as a deduction make sure you also claim the gross amount of royalties, not the net that hits your bank account (as that already has the 5% deducted). Otherwise you are claiming the expense twice and the ATO will ping you hard for it.


Better check that out with my accountant. Thanks for the tip.


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## brunoruela (Sep 21, 2016)

Hey guys,

This service still active?

Regards


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## LimeTangerine (Mar 14, 2017)

Hey there! Just wondering if you're still doing this, Joe Nobody? I emailed a while ago and haven't gotten a response.
Thanks!


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

As far as I know, he is.


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## Yup (Nov 7, 2016)

Just wanted to add that I have been researching this as a non-U.S. author who is creating an audio book. Check out Author's Republic (Google is your friend), they are offering 70% royalties right across the board for non-U.S. authors with access to Audible/Amazon/iTunes platforms bypassing the need for ACX. I'm planning to release my first audio book via their platform.


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