Audiobooks are the fastest growing segment of the publishing market and more opportunities arise every month for authors who want to get their books into audio format.
Streaming audio in smartphone apps means that it's easier than ever to buy and consume audiobooks and podcasts. Google Auto, Apple Carplay and Amazon Alexa make streaming audio in cars easy as well, boosting commuter listening. The Amazon Echo and other smart speakers have brought audio into the home.
Whispersync technology means that you can be reading on your phone or device at breakfast, then get in your car and continue listening where you stopped reading, and when you get home, cook dinner while listening again, all without losing your place. Amazon also bundles audiobooks with ebooks, and if a customer owns an ebook version, the audiobook is cheaper.
Listeners can get great value audio subscriptions with Audible, Kobo Audio, Scribd, Storytel and other services, plus library users can borrow audiobooks through local providers.
Most traditionally published authors have licensed their audiobook rights and many of those will never be turned into audio, so indies have the advantage of a faster response to this growing market.
The number of audiobooks available right now is considerably smaller than print or ebooks, so you have more of a chance of standing out. So, how do you get your book into audio?
ACX for Audible
ACX.com is the Audiobook Creation Exchange, where authors and rights holders can collaborate with narrators and producers to essentially self-publish audiobooks. It's an Amazon company and your book will be for sale on Amazon, Audible and iTunes.
At the time of writing, ACX.com is only available to authors in the US, UK, Canada and Ireland, but hopefully, they will expand to other territories over time and I’ll refer to other options after this section.
If you are able to use ACX, the process works as follows:
The rights holder/author logs into ACX and claims their book
You can search with the Amazon ASIN, the number that Amazon assigns to every book on the store.
You have to legally own the rights to do this, for example, if you're an indie who hasn't signed a contract for the book or a traditionally published author who didn't license audio rights.
Enter in any extra details about the book that are relevant for narrators
For example, what type of voice would be best? An older African-American male vs. young adult female would be two extremes. You can also add information about reviews and sales, which is particularly important if you want to attract an experienced narrator.
Decide on the contract
The options are:
a) pay the narrator an amount per finished audio hour and you retain the entire royalty.
If you do this and then choose a non-exclusive contract, you can publish the audiobook wherever you like. This is now my preferred option when finding narrators on ACX as I like to go wide with my audiobook distribution.
b) do a 50:50% royalty split with a narrator with no money upfront.
This can be a good way to get into audio if you don't have a budget, although this is only available for ACX exclusive contracts.
c) record the audio separately, either yourself or with an external narrator, then upload and retain the entire royalty.
I'm now doing this with my non-fiction, which I record locally and upload later.
Decide on whether you will go exclusive with ACX
If you go exclusive, you will get higher royalties, but you won't be able to sell outside the channels of Amazon, Audible and iTunes. I choose to be non-exclusive so I can go wide with audio.
Upload an excerpt from your book for narrators to audition with
If you’re looking for a narrator, you need to include a section that will reflect the book e.g. dialogue featuring the main character so you get a good sense of how the book will turn out.
Once you have loaded the book, narrators will be alerted to open options and some may audition for you.
When auditions come in, you can decide whether or not the narrator is what you're looking for.
You can decline auditions and give feedback if you want. If you're not getting any narrators auditioning, it's likely to be because your book doesn't have enough reviews or sales on it.
You can also find narrators through your author contacts and go looking for them instead of passively waiting. I actively found two of my narrators through recommendations from friends, and another found me through ACX.
When you find the right narrator, accept the audition, and then decide on dates for production
You'll need to QA the files, listening and checking the words as well as any audio issues. I trust my narrators as professionals and I consider the audiobook to be an adaptation, so I only correct obvious pronunciation issues which usually stem from British vs. American pronunciation or unusual place names.
Once the files are QA'd, the audiobook will go live. If you’re exclusive, you will receive some promo codes from ACX so you can get some early reviews on it, then you can start promoting.
Go wide with audio through Findaway Voices
If you are exclusive with ACX, your audiobook will only be available to those who listen on Audible and iTunes.
You’re missing out on other global markets and companies which are expanding at an incredible rate like Storytel, Scribd, Kobo Audio and more, with new services emerging all the time.
You also miss out on library distribution if you’re exclusive on ACX, and you can’t sell direct or use a promotional service like Chirp from BookBub.
I use FindawayVoices.com to go wide with my audiobooks and I’m pulling all my books out of exclusivity when the contracts come up for renewal. I want my audio as well as my ebooks and print to be available in every market in every country. It is such an exciting time to be an author!
There are other companies that will help you get your books into audio and of course, you may choose to license your rights to an audiobook production company. Whatever you choose, make sure you understand where the audiobook will be distributed and how your royalties will work.
The money side of audio
If you do a royalty split deal with a narrator, there is no money paid upfront and you just split the royalties between you. ACX do this for you so the money is deposited into your bank account every month. You can also use Voices Share with Findaway Voices for this, too.
If you pay narrators upfront, which will usually be several hundred dollars per finished audio hour, you will receive all the royalties.
You can hire a studio and narrate the book yourself, or build your own home studio and record there as I do with my books now. There are some new skills to learn if you want to try this, but it can be creatively and financially rewarding.
Most authors with decent sales cover these upfront costs within the first year, and future sales will be profit.
If you retain the rights, then this can be a significant income stream over the long-term.
If you’re traditionally published and have not licensed your audio rights, then consider working with a narrator to get your book into the world through audio.
For more detail on how to successfully self-publish audiobooks, check out Audio for Authors: Audiobooks, Podcasting, and Voice Technologies.