When ACX.com (Audiobook Creation Exchange) opened up for auditions for Indie author books, I knew that I wanted to do it. So I began my research.
The process was pretty simple. The first step is to join the site. Before I agreed to anything, I made sure that I watched the videos, had the contract looked over by a literary attorney (Which you don't have to do, but I'm not really good a contracts and I didn't want to get stuck in a pickle.).
After I wanted to proceed, I picked the book that I wanted to be the guinea pig for the project~SPLITSVILLE.COM.
As we all write, we all know what our characters sound like and how they look, so I chose the option to pick my narrator that I wanted (no extra cost) instead of taking auditions. I picked narrator Karen Savage because in her audition tapes she was funny, able to make several different voices, and pulled me into the clips.
There are two types of royalty shares. 1) 50/50 split for the lifetime of the audiobook or 2) pay the narrator their flat fee.
I picked the 50/50 split because I wasn't sure how this whole thing was going to work out and I didn't want to front the upfront cost if I wasn't going to be happy with the outcome.
After Karen and I signed the contract that ACX produces for you, it was a go. I uploaded SPLITSVILLE.COM and she went to work.
Per the contract, she had to send me the first fifteen minutes of audio by a date agreed upon. This allowed me to listen to her voice in the part of Olivia Davis, and make changes. I LOVED IT! And we proceeded to the end.
Within a few months, she was finished and uploaded the entire book for me to listen to. Let me tell you....it was surreal listening to my book being read aloud by a professional! I played it while driving, while walking my dogs, while working around the house....everywhere!
After I approved it on the ACX site, it went live today!
The entire process was fantastic. Karen was amazing to work with and nailed Olivia Davis to a tee! I even hired her to narrate my Magical Cure Mystery Series too!
This is just another way to reach one reader! I highly recommend it!
Sounds like a really interesting adventure, Tonya. I hope you're going to keep us updated on the results. I've been wondering about audio books myself and this sounds like a great recommendation.
ReplyDeleteVery best of luck with it.
Great post - thank you.
Lynette
I can't wait to jump in that pool. Thanks for sharing Tonya!
ReplyDeleteDid you have to pay anything up front?
ReplyDeleteNo, Jesse. I picked the 50/50 split. If I would've hired the narrator on a flat fee, I would have had to.
DeleteGreat post. Thank you for sharing this information.
ReplyDelete