OLD POST ALERT! This is an older post and although you might find some useful tips, any technical or publishing information is likely to be out of date. Please click on Start Here on the menu bar above to find links to my most useful articles, videos and podcast. Thanks and happy writing! – Joanna Penn
We know how to publish and sell ebooks and print-on-demand, and now audio is the next frontier (along with global markets, but I'll come back to that in another post!)
Why you should care about audio
Audio is booming. Shifts in technology mean it is easy to buy and consume in mp3 format directly through mobile devices. Publishers are doing full scale productions with famous names to lure new readers in. And after all, humans have been listening to stories for millennia. It's how we naturally take in content.
People can multitask while listening to an audiobook which enables people to read on the go. A survey from Bowker found that “47 percent of people who buy audiobooks listen while commuting in a car. About 25 percent listen while working around the house and 23 percent while exercising.”
In this demographic survey of American readers, 15-20% of readers in the higher earning wage bracket have listened to an audiobook, as well as skewing towards the more educated groups. I would propose that many of these people listen on their commutes, heading to jobs that perhaps they would like to escape from!
Most authors with a publishing contract will find that audio rights are included, but if you haven't signed them away, or you are self-publishing and own all the rights, then you have options!
Producing and distribution with ACX
Authors have always been able to produce and distribute audio themselves, for example, Scott Sigler still does free audio fiction for his audience, and J Daniel Sawyer continues to produce full production audio dramas.
But it has been very hard to produce professional work, and sell it to an audience, without paying a huge amount of money upfront. Self-published authors don't generally have lots of cash, so this has meant most indie books haven't been available in audio. That is, until ACX opened up, first in the US and now for UK authors. Exciting news!
You can read the FAQ at the ACX site here, and here's a full post on the process with ACX from UK based author, Roz Morris.
To add to this, here are some of my specific thoughts:
The setup is very easy in the ACX backend, with a wizard like process guiding you through. You need your manuscript and an audition selection, plus a high quality square image during the production process. Auditioning and choosing your narrator, as well as the actual quality side of listening to and reviewing your audio files are the most time consuming parts of the process.
Amazon has Whispersync technology now, particularly high quality on the Kindle Fire, which means people can stop reading on the Kindle device and start listening at the same place, and then go back into the ebook at the new place when they stop listening. To optimize the chance of your book being accepted for Whispersync, check the guidelines here.
You have no control over pricing, which is quite strange as an indie, since we are used to making decisions about all that. Also, if you choose the exclusive option, which you have to with royalty share, you can't distribute to other audio platforms. Neither of these are a big issue for me personally, but you can of course choose the paid upfront version and go non-exclusive. Or you can do the audio project entirely separately – if you want to do that, check out ‘Making Tracks' by J Daniel Sawyer, and this podcast interview about audio options.
In terms of the money, the royalty share is still a good deal (despite reducing just before ACX opened up to the UK). You can also get a bounty payment for bringing new people into Audible, which can be a good addition. Personally, I love doing joint ventures with other creatives, as both parties are more invested in the success of the finished product.
At London Book Fair, both Bella Andre and Hugh Howey were talking about how good their audiobook royalties are, but of course, they are uber-indies! For most of us, I would expect a trickle, that may turn into a thin stream with enough books and exposure.
Personally, I see this as a longer term investment in a new type of reader, and a way to reach new potential fans. I'm also thrilled to be able to profit share with other creatives in a collaborative process, and I see no downside at all with giving ACX a go!
All that said, as with ebooks and print, you still need to let people know that the books are available. ACX has their own marketing checklist here, and I have expanded on some ideas below (plus, I would love to hear from you in the comments below if you know of any more!)
Marketing Tip #1: Use Soundcloud to create audio clips to embed and share
Your ACX contract allows you to share ~15 mins so take the first chapter, or whatever is appropriate and load it onto SoundCloud, a great audio platform with 100 mins for free before you have to upgrade to the Pro Plan for a reasonable sum.
Create a bio that relates to the author brand you have audiobooks for, in my case, I only do this for my thriller fiction as J.F.Penn. Use the same keywords as you usually would for your books and bio, and upload each excerpt. You can add one buy link to the file so make sure you've added that!
Marketing Tip #2 : Update your website with links to Audible and iTunes
Next, you need to audio-fy your website. (I'm not sure that's a word, but it should be!)
A great model is Bella Andre's audiobook page which includes all her audiobooks and information about her narrator. As Bella has so many, the page is quite busy but still manages to hold all the appropriate information.
Soundcloud has the option for including the cover as part of the Embed code, which I have chosen to do for my J.F.Penn Audio page.
Marketing #3: Get promo codes from ACX and get reviews started through your own email list
You can get free review codes from ACX if you email them directly. Then you can use those codes to give away for review copies. I tend to do this through my email list and also through my podcast, since those people are already favoring audio.
There are also a number of sites that review audiobooks specifically, but it's best to search for those by genre, and only pitch those who like books similar to yours. If you are an audiobook reviewer, please do leave a comment below which what kind of books you like, and you're likely to get some new books! You can also use a service like Audiobookboom which offers a paid email list option.
Marketing #4: Promote where audio is consumed e.g. podcasts
Work with your narrator to get an excerpt created, with atmospheric (royalty free) music if possible. You can then use that on your own podcast if you have one, or you can pitch related podcasts to include your trailer. For example, I have included my ARKANE audio adverts on my own podcast, and also on AuthorCast with David Wood and Alan Baxter.
There may be paid opportunities for promotion on some shows, but only pitch if your book is appropriate for the audience.
Marketing #5 : Advertise on your own blog with text links and banner ads
Remember also to mention that you have audiobooks whenever you do an interview or talk about your books.
For example, I do a lot of podcast interviews these days, and I now always say “My books are available in ebook, print and audiobook formats at the main online stores,” so people know they can get the books everywhere.
Caution: Thoughts on ‘voice' and narration
“You live or die by your narrator,” Bella Andre told me at LBF, and how true that is.
Audiobook listeners are used to a very high quality of sound, and I was discussing this new outlet for indie books with a friend who is blind and only reads on audio. He was excited about the potential influx of new, more varied reading material, and was looking forward to new indie authors.
But he also described his favorite audiobooks as being narrated by famous actors, many more well known than the books they read, for example, audiobooks and the celebrities that were born to read them.
The complication for indies are:
- We (generally) don't write books specifically for audio, or adapt them, so the story may be too heavy on narrative for some audio listeners. Check out this interview with AJ Hartley about Macbeth, written specifically for audio on the differences in writing for audio.
- An audiobook listener needs to like a) the author's ‘voice' in the book and b) the narrator's voice – so there are two dimensions by which a judgement is made
Choosing a narrator can be difficult, especially if you don't listen to audiobooks as a general rule. I listen to podcasts, but rarely audiobooks, and the ones I have listened to have been non-fiction and read by the author. Fiction is quite different, so I recommend trying a few audiobooks first. I have three narrators, Veronica Giguere for the ARKANE series with female protagonist (American voice), Jeffrey Kafer for ARKANE novella One Day in New York, and also Rosalind Ashford for Desecration and the London Psychic series (British voice). These are two very different voices, and I like both for different reasons. Listeners will also have their favorite type of voice and reading pace, with some following narrators from book to book.
Overall, I think getting your books into audio through ACX is a brilliant way to expose your work to new readers, as well as potentially generating another income stream. However, it's best done if you already have a number of books, or the ones you have are selling reasonably well, and make sure you get a fantastic narrator!
I'd love to know what you think about audiobooks in the comments below, as this is a very new part of the business for authors. What are your tips for producing audio? How do you market audiobooks? Do you review audio, and what genre do you prefer? Please do leave a comment below and join the conversation.
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1 2 3 4 Next »Joanna
my advice is don't try your own recording with a low spec mic like a headset. I broadcast on the oldies station solidgoldgem.am (www.solidgoldgem.am) and use a podcaster mic called a Rodecaster (£150). I shall be voicing some of the Studymates titles since I am used to broadcasting but if you have never done it, then do get a narrator. Good Female voiceovers are hard to get, so if you get a good one , look after her
to your success
Graham
I agree Graham, and I am not considering doing my own narration at this point :)
I actually did produce an audiobook through ACX within the last four months (my first). I think it is a great way to get more exposure. I am an audiobook listener, so when I heard about this opportunity through ACX, I jumped on it. I did review my own audio and my narrator was great to work with. I like to listen to fantasy, suspense and romance on audio. I'm actually a fast reader and audio forces me to slow down, which is good. On the marketing end, I've kind of been at a loss, but I will take the advice you posted here. Thanks!
Thanks AP, it's great to hear you're a listener as well as a producer :)
Oh, yes- this has been a great program so far. My non-fiction book was a test case, and that started selling well, so managed to finish all the story collection audio versions just a few months ago, and the first of the novels is in production. With a couple of hundred new folks finding my work, and more income every month, I'm really happy with their offering. I even highlighted the program as a guest blog:
http://mainecrimewriters.com/guest-blog/dale-t-phillips-on-producing-your-own-audio-books
I'm so glad it's going well for your Dale - do you have any marketing tips? or did people just start finding you?
Did very little for the audio other than announce it and supply links. Was astonished when a little interviewing help book was selling all over the world, without a genuine push. The second-best seller is the horror short story collection, which translates well to audio format. With a variety of works in print/ebook/audio, it's instructive to see what sells where. It'll be good to see what happens with the first novel in audio.
Too often I feel guilty for not marketing enough- time and energy go into producing more. Need to share a publicist for all media/channels. Was thinking a person who could do this for a number of writers part-time could do well.
I am interested in the idea of audiobooks but I don't really want to be exclusive to one seller. I've been looking into doing something low key as a giveaway - an extract, probably rather than a full story - just to test the market and see if they want any more. A lot of people have requested an audio version of my stuff and strangely, a high proportion want to hear me read them, myself. I used to do stand up, so am familiar with the idea of performing but not sure I have the kit to do it justice for paying users. I think I'll just have to see how it goes.
Thanks for this step by step guide, anyway. Whatever happens, I'll have to do something. Like you, I think that that audiobooks are going to be bigger in future.
Cheers
MTM
Hi MTM - You should definitely have a look at what Scott Sigler does, in the example near the top, as he reads his own audio and puts it out every week, and doesn't do exclusivity. He's done really well with it.
Great post, and an excellent conversation to have. Audiobook definitely are the next big area in publishing and it's a very exciting time right now.
Let me share a couple ideas from the narrator's perspective. I like your comment about being excited "working with" other creatives. The best results come from a true collaboration between the author / publisher and the narrator, in all stages of the project. Pre-production, production, and marketing.
Pre-production
Don't hesitate to communicate with your narrator -- alot. The more information I get from an author about their ideas of the characters, names, environments, accents, voices, pronunciations, etc. -- Nothing worse than having to re-record a book after having mis- pronounced a main character's name through the whole book. -- I know. :) Put together a synopsis of the story and a small description of each character that the narrator will need to know about. The more work that is done in pre-production the faster production will go, and the better the product.
Production
Don't wait until the book is done to listed to the files and continue to give feedback. Work out a schedule with your narrator by which you will review and approve "rough cut" chapters as you go to save time editing and mastering chapters that will need pickups or replacement later.
I also got a kick out of your comment about writing not being appropriate (especially if there are a lot of parentheticals) for audio. Talk to your narrator about how you want them to handle language that doesn't flow out loud the same way it does on the page. For example it's common practice for narrators to add contractions, or move parentheticals to the end of a sentence.
Marketing and Payments
I'm glad that you have included thoughts about marketing your audiobook. It seems to me -- and I could be completely wrong-- most of the work for the author is done when the print version is finished. Producing an audio version is very little risk financially, especially if you are paying your narrator with a royalty share. For the narrator on the other hand it's a huge risk agreeing to royalty share payment. Depending on the complexity of the book the narrator will work 4 - 6 hours per hour of your book. So a 10 hour book could take up to 60 hours of work. Being able to show current sales and demonstrating a marketing plan will help you attract better narrators. In fact, if you are able to offer a "per finished hour" stipend in addition to your royalty share will again get you better narrators. High end narrators will get paid between $400 - $600 per finished hour (this is not including the celebrity narrators that you mentioned as well.) Mid range narrators between $200 - $400 per finished hour. With a royalty share you are asking the narrator to work for free, and trust that sales will make it up in the long run. The more you can pay up front, and the better your marketing plan the better narrator you will be able to land.
Hope this provided some good context from the other side of the microphone. :)
If you're looking for a male, neutral American, adult voice for your next book check out some of my samples at ACX, or my site.
Thanks,
Tim McKean
http://timothymckean.com/audiobooks
Hi Tim, WOW! That's awesome advice - thanks so much for that! It's great to hear some tips from a narrator, and I love your thoughts on pre-production. My narrators have been really pro-active in asking me things, but I will definitely offer more upfront in the future. On marketing, I like the royalty share option as I like us both having skin in the game as such :) but I appreciate that top end narrators have to weigh up risks given the time involved. Thanks so much :)
Thanks Tim. Those are great tips to remember. I'm working with a narrator for both of my non-fiction books. One thing I noticed in the auditions was that a few people pronounced my name wrong. So I was able to let my narrator know before she started. It's been a great experience so far.
THIS is the post I've needed! So helpful. I had no idea how to make the most of my audiobook, but I'm so thrilled with it, and I really want to get the word out. I just recently learned about the Audible codes and I'm starting to use those, but Soundcloud looks like a great direction. Thanks for sharing, Joanna.
Glad you found it useful Heather :) Working on posts like these help me get my own thoughts organized!
I have my three Wishing Rock books in audio book production right now, and I'm so excited! I got them all in under ACX's previous contract rules (the 50%-90% sliding royalty pay rather than the current 40%) and found a narrator who is absolutely a partner in this adventure. Since these three books have already been out in print for a while, I'm planning to do a new marketing push at the end of July, at which time all three books will be out. I think there's a huge and growing market in audiobooks. My books have a sort of odd format, but my narrator has found a way to read them that I think will work really well. I'm so excited for this new format with my books!
That sounds like a great collaboration, Pam! All the best with the launch.
Very timely, Joanna! On advice from others, mainly Jillian Dodd, I am about to venture into audiobooks next week beginning with The Bridge Club. Thanks for the tips!
I haven't published or self-published my chapbook at all. Although, I intend to do so in the near future. I created my own website through Webs.com. My website's called It's Not All Gumdrops & Unicorns. The title is meant to be sarcastically humorous. I mostly blog on It's Not All Gumdrops & Unicorns at least twice a week. Most of my time is spent managing my website and blogging. After reading this article, I'm starting to think about, who I would want to be my future audiobook narrator. The audiobooks sound like they would motivate non-readers into liking books because not everyone enjoys sitting down and physically reading books.
It's worth waiting until you have some sales on your book before thinking about audio, Anna. Especially if you want to do royalty share as narrators are unlikely to pick up a brand new book from a brand new author. But worth putting on the list for later! All the best!
Joanna-
I am interested in the idea of creating audiobooks for the books I've written (and independently published). Two of them "Reichold Street" and "Zebulon" have been Readers Favorite award winners, and I'm seeking another avenue to market them. I also just produced a sequel to my first novel, titled "One Way Street." Your article is both fascinating and timely. Thank you!
Ron Herron