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Anyone have any experience with ACX?
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I have had four audiobooks done through ACX and have been pleased with the program and the service. I intend to keep using them.
Just one done for me - good process and options
We have ACX on my son's novels. It's nice income. We have done over fourteen of them, and used the same actor for all the audiobooks, after a bad experience with the first one we hired. I didn't do them for my kids books- they are too short. It's an investment- you have to pay for the narrator, but people do buy them.
You can do it two ways- pay the narrator outright or you can split the income with him. We chose to pay outright.
I just completed an audiobook last month with my narrator through ACX. There weren't any major issues and I enjoyed it. However, it was not a children's book.
The forst guy we found for my son's first fiction book agreed to one price, then midway through raised the price- we were stuck- we had already given him half the money- so we finished with him. When he finished, he demanded more to load the files. We finished with him, chalked up a bad experience then found a terrific narrator that we went with all the time. A small publisher picked up one of my son's books and is having it narrated apparently by the Olivier of narrators. I'll let you all know if he is Oscarworthy. lol
I did a royalty share with my narrator.
That's what most people do- it defrays the cost of making the acx. We've had a steady deposit from acx for over five years now. I paid outright each time, and when I had to turn off one of his books ( the one bought by the publishing company)- I could remove it without having to ask permission or pay anybody out.
I am just starting my 2nd book on ACX and I've had a great experience! I did a 50/50 royalty share with an excellent narrator who is also just starting work on the 2nd book. It's a fantastic experience to hear a professional narrator make your book come to life. I highly recommend it!
Thanks guys! :)Carole wrote: "That's what most people do- it defrays the cost of making the acx. We've had a steady deposit from acx for over five years now. I paid outright each time, and when I had to turn off one of his book..."
so you're saying sharing the royalties, though more economical than paying up front, is dangerous legally?
I don't know- I never explored it. It might have never become an issue until we had to turn off his book. His agent and the publisher said we had to retire the original book, bury it- get rid of it. That included the acx. We owned 100 percent- so it wasn't a problem. If the actor was getting revenue- could he have blocked it? Could he have stopped us from closing it down or putting a new actor in his place? Now the publisher is making a new acx with a new actor. (new cover- as well).
I have learned to dot my i's and cross my t's with everything. I did the same thing with illustrators my children's books or my son's covers. I had a lawyer make us contracts giving us all the rights to the images. I ask the illustrators to sign it- because if a producer comes calling and wants to make it into a cartoon- I want them negotiating only with me.
Carole wrote: "I don't know- I never explored it. It might have never become an issue until we had to turn off his book. His agent and the publisher said we had to retire the original book, bury it- get rid of it..."Thank you Carole!
If I may ask-- one last time-- would you say that paying up front is more expensive/affordable, or would that depend on the project and the money one is willing to spend?
It's an investment in your brand. I believe in having as much control as you can in your own product. You never know where life will lead you and the less people you'll have to involve if you are negotiating later.
I've used ACX for my novel Fling! They are great to work with. NO problems.
I have been pleased with ACX. Excerpts at Amazon.com of both The Devil Orders Takeout and The Killer Who Hated Soup.-Bill A. Brier
Hi Bill, the titles made me chuckle as soon as I read them. Do you do your own audio presentations?
Hi Karl, Heavens no. I wouldn't dream of narrating anything (except my own book trailers -- in which I also act). I leave narration to the pros. ACX has plenty of good ones to choose from. Amazon offers a sample reading of each of my books. Good luck to you!
Thanks for a great discussion everyone! <3Keep it going if you so choose :)
Yes. I used ACX for my book The Boy Who Ran and was able to audition almost 20 narrators. I revised teh book to make it more audio friendly, paid the narrator outright and completed the audio book through ACX. I am pleased with the overall process.
So, for everything who has done ACX, how much have you paid to do it? And how long did it take to recoup costs?
I think I paid around $800 (for each of my three mysteries). You ask how long it took me to recoup the costs? Doctor, you've got to be kidding! Ask me in ten years. (-:Seriously, to get my name out there and establish my "brand," I've found it helps to spread a few dollars around like Christmas candy. Branding takes time, good reviews, and, well ... a dose of Christmas candy.
~Bill A. Brier
I used ACX for my novel FLING! and have been very satisfied with the service they give. I chose one of their readers who was willing to do royalty share so I didn't put out any money for the project. ACX takes a good chunk but it's worth it to have my book in audio format.
I use it. What I will say on the negative side is if there is a problem they take ages to fix it and the support isn't great, but overall it is a good experience. Worth doing for sure
I found that if you CALL ACX (as apposed to writing them), things move faster.~Bill A. Brier
I have 3 title recently completed and 4 on the way, I did royalty share with producer, it's been a wonderful process But we still waiting on ACX approval for the completed ones so I have no idea what type of income I'll be making, I'm really curious about this, I also tried a agent deal
Mod
It takes a couple of weeks for ACX to approve your title or tell you it needs fixing. Things like too much silence before the narration starts will get you a 'fixit' message.
As for the money, good luck figuring that out. The rules would frustrate a magician who dwells in the most arcane of ancient books!
My novels, which tend to be long, generate about $5, which I split with the producer. But 'about' is the key word here, and when you add in 'bonuses' for attracting new buyers, the money can go up considerably.
Sales aren't guaranteed; one of my two producers does reasonably well, the other hasn't sold much at all. At some point, I may unpublish those books and put the titles out for bids again.
Pricing stifles the industry, IMO; case in point, an audiobook will sell a few copies when it comes out, but a Boxed Set (which is a bargain, compared with buying the books individually) sells more copies, sometimes a lot more.
Mod
Do the 50-50. If you're a writer, you don't have time to do the audiobooks. Let someone else do the work, you get half the money.
The money you're mentioning is part of publishing. But you didn't mention the most important investment of all, advertising.
Advertise, or go home. It's just that simple. If readers can't find your books, they can't buy or borrow them.
I'm picky about who I spend my money with. BookBub, IF you can get a promotion, is worth every cent of the ridiculous cost they charge. And more.
But I've never gotten one.
So I advertise through BookSends each month and ENT now and again. B/S works for me. Cheap, too. For the first book in a SF series or a stand-alone SF/Fantasy book, Book Barbarian works well.
Other advertising: A friend uses Facebook. For me, it's mostly been money wasted. Ditto Amazon ads.
My latest effort, just posted yesterday, is a landing page for my blog. I paid a fellow I found on Fiverr to design it and do the work. Cheap. But I had to upgrade my WordPress account to the commercial version, which cost $280. Altogether, considering costs and a tip for the designer, I'm in it about $360.
Was it worth it? You be the judge. The new page is here: http://jacklknapp.com/home
And I'll be paying that $280 fee each year to keep it open.
So where did I get the money? I earned every nickel from book sales. NO money invested until I had earned it. First year, I made around a thousand. Second year, I added several more books and I began to advertise, just starting; income up to $7000. Third year, thanks to ONE book, $48k. Last year, down to $22k. This year, probably about the same. That's gross income; expenses reduce the net.
But I've found a reliable readership. People are buying and borrowing my books.
Of that, two or three thousand came from audio sales. Because advertising your ebook takes buyers to your Amazon page, which lists...guess what? Your audio book too. So ads can boost both.
My projected income, which will arrive next Wednesday and the following Monday, is somewhere between $425 from audiobooks based on sales last month of 170 units, and $1271 from ebook sales and borrows, roughly half from each. Good to have audiobooks, wouldn't you say?
One more bit of advice: publishing is a business, treat it like one. Work at it. Keep records; whatever you spend on your business is deductible for the most part.
Good luck.
Mod
Thanks for all of this great advice, Jack. Your blog looks great!
I published my own book on ACX, but it was a memoir. That process included a very interesting learning curve (I did an off-the-cuff summarization of it in first goodreads blog). If anyone has questions about that process, I am happy to try to be helpful.
I'v been considering getting audiobooks of my children's titles made there, but I'd love to hear your thoughts on the service first! :-)