The other month I happened upon a post on my local writing association's FB page. One of the people there was describing how easy it had been to get her book turned into an audiobook. Of course, I balked at this. I mean, how easy could it be? Sounds terribly expensive, and how do you get the right narrator?
I had, in fact, tried to make my story into one the other year, and man it was tough. I had to carve out the time (always difficult), set up a sound booth with a nice mic and some sound deadening foam, and be consistent on my voices. I gave up after the 4th chapter.
So, I looked into this site, ACX.com, and wondered how had I missed this? It seems too easy and good to be true. Check out the potential "producers" (as the narrators are called since they pretty much do EVERYTHING to get the audio ready to go), even ask potential ones to check out your book. Even if you want to BECOME a producer, you're in the right place. Get training, and sign up to accept projects. Once your project is in progress, producers can audition based on a script you provide.
Easy! Maybe I got lucky, but in a few days I had a couple of producers interested in my story and soon I was off to the races. I've been in contact with my narrator as he uploads chapters, making corrections as needed.
It has been a 2 month project and it will be all ready next weekend. Once the story is ready to go, ACX will make the audio available on Audible, Amazon, and iTunes. Seems like a pretty good way to market it.
Edit: I forgot about payment! There are a couple of options for you and your producer. One is the flat fee. Pay your producer a set amount and you're done forever. If you're like me, you might go the other route if you're not willing to drop $500 for your project. The other way is the royalty deal. This way you go 50/50 with your producer. For me, I'm looking at a $10 product, and I would get 4 bucks per book, same as the producer.
Let me get back to you after it is available! Want to check out my titles? It is the Soulkind Series, including The Soulkind Awakening and The Shadow of the Soulkind. The final book in the series, The Soulkind Master, will be available this Fall, 2019. Available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and some local Indie Bookstores around Portland, Oregon.
See me on FB (the Soulkind Series), @sciteachah on Twitter, and the Soulkind Blog here.
