Audiobook Creation Exchange Blog (ACX)

Spring is in the air, and that means that in addition to flowers, love is in the air. Here at ACX, there are a few specific things we love most, and one of them is the home studio.

Here are some great reasons to love home studios.

1. You’re the boss.

Taking greater control of your career can be an opportunity to learn new skills and uncover some you didn’t even know you had. And learning more about your industry is a process that exposes you to more people in the business and gives you a greater understanding of all aspects of production. Plus, the more skills you have, the more money you can make.

So how do you go about learning what it really takes to run your own home studio? Ask around! Talk to friends in the industry, studios and engineers you’ve worked with in the past and colleagues who have made the leap to home recording. They can tell you if you’re experienced enough to embark on this endeavor, and you can also learn from the mistakes they made. And don’t forget audio message boards, online tutorials (right here on ACX and on YouTube), and helpful blogs (ahem). Of course, you’re always free to drop us a line at audio@acx.com – we’re always happy to help.

If you’ve worked with some great engineers over the years, pick their brains for insight. Most passionate professionals love to pontificate on the positive points of their profession.  Once you gather some initial ideas, put them into use yourself. Practice practice practice! And remember, as far as recording goes, you’ll only need to learn the best settings for your voice once. When you work them out, you can use the same settings time and again from project to project.

2. More jobs.

A home studio allows you to work as you want to. And you won’t have to turn down jobs because of scheduling conflicts. So you can always go into a big pro studio when you get called by Joe Bigshot Producer, but you can also chase ACX gigs. And when you do have a home studio and at least a few audiobooks under your belt, it’s well worth contacting every audio publisher out there—they’ll want to hear from you.

3. Creative control.

There are many positive aspects to running the show yourself and being your own boss. The biggest is that you can really make the project your own, as you have more creative control without too many cooks spoiling the broth. You’ll still receive feedback from the person who hired you, and you may even want to ask your engineer friends to listen to your samples and give you some more tips.

4. Convenience.

Who hasn’t fantasized about rolling out of bed and into “the office” while still in pajamas? If you’re in the VO business know that a day’s work can often entail running uptown for an audition, downtown for a pickup session, and crosstown to deliver a batch of files. Having a few projects lined up for your home studio affords you greater control of your schedule, cuts down on commuting costs, and lets you work in a comfortable environment.

It’s true, not everyone lives in a quiet shack in the middle of nowhere. Construction, barking dogs, and your neighbor’s kids can create distractions and impart unwanted sound effects on your recording. But the longer you do it, the more you’ll learn the rhythm of your living environment and the times of day (or night) that provide a quiet window for recording. For those with flexible schedules, slotting in a few hours to record at the right time can be a productive use of what may otherwise be down time.

5. It doesn’t have to break the bank.

A mid-level setup (like the one highlighted on ACX’s Video Lessons and Resources page) can deliver great-sounding productions without breaking the bank. And while top-notch gear can often carry with it a top-notch price tag, it doesn’t have to. Want even better equipment without all the cost?  Buy used. Scour eBay, Craigslist and music and equipment stores with pre-owned inventory. Already know people in the industry? Ask around and find out if anyone is looking to part with some gently used gear. Get creative and you’ll be impressed with the results.

As with any home business, you must be able to set boundaries, and that may take some getting used to. But setting up and running a home studio can be educational, rewarding and liberating. It can provide you with more options for work and greater control over your own destiny. And best of all, if done right, it can be an additional revenue stream to compliment the money you make recording for traditional studios. Are you ready to fall in love?

April was a busy month at Audible–good news for all authors who have used or are planning to use ACX to get their books into audio. In case you hadn’t yet heard, Audible just launched a new program for authors called Audible Author Services. Authors with audiobooks for sale at Audible.com (and that includes any author who made an audiobook through the Audiobook Creation Exchange) who enroll in Audible Author Services will receive tips on promotion as well as audiobook samples and links to use in their social media, to encourage active participation in the success of their audio. Authors enrolled in the program will also receive $1 per unit sold.

Audible created Author Services because authors have a special authority among readers and listeners. Authors who personally create awareness of their work can dramatically increase their audience; Author Services rewards authors for the kind of personal interaction that only authors can do to expand their audience. Moreover, as everyone who’s been following ACX knows, digital audio is growing rapidly and has become an important part of mainstream culture. Audio is a category that contributes significantly to authors’ overall success.

We encourage all ACX authors to visit www.audible.com/authorservices to begin taking immediate advantage of this new revenue stream. Of course, if your book is not in audio, we are here to help!

ACX is nearing its one-year anniversary, but in so many ways we feel like we’ve only just begun–and so we never tire of hearing from authors who are thrilled ACX has made it possible for them to reach the rapidly growing audience of audiobook listeners. That’s why we’re here–to expand the audiobook selection for Audible listeners and to help authors expand their audience. Acclaimed writer of paranormal romance Marta Acosta has just begun to blog about her experience using ACX to get her novels into audio, and we’re delighted to point our readers to her first post, and not only because she applauds our service! Acosta also offers some useful insights and advice for any author who wants to get her work in front of the widest possible audience. Thanks, Marta!

From the post:

“Most authors sign away their audio rights in a publishing contract, and nothing ever happens, because publishers are still working on the old model with cavemen slowly carving out physical recordings. All those possible audio books never ever get made and the author can’t do a damn thing about it because she no longer owns the rights.

It’s maddening. It’s infuriating. It’s needless.

The Husband admires my tenacity. Actually, what he says is “You’re like a dog with a bone” and “You’re a walking nightmare” and “You’re like rust — you never stop.”  Same thing! Anyway, I kept gnawing at the gate, wanting my audio rights returned for my books, badgering my first agent, badgering my editors, etc. And I got a new agent — and she got my audio rights returned from my publisher!”

Read Marta Acosta’s entire post here:

http://vampirewire.blogspot.com/2012/04/my-audiobook-journey-with-acxaudible.html

Here at the Audiobook Creation Exchange, we’re often explaining how the service works by likening it to a matchmaker, albeit one that connects rights holders to narrators and producers. Little did we know one author would be using ACX and match.com almost concurrently, thus gaining particular insight into the similarities between the two services. Below, Richard Shapiro, the author of The Welcomer Edge: Unlocking the Secrets to Repeat Business, produced on ACX and now available at Audible.com, shares his ACX story, including the opportunity to work with Scott Brick! The story ends happily ever after…

In May of 2011, I found my perfect mate on match.com. On our first date, I told Susi about my book. I explained how I had developed a classification process for all service and sales associates: Welcomers, Robots, the Indifferent and Hostiles, and how this concept could help any business secure repeat customers.  At the end of our 45-minute rendezvous, I not only told Susi that I wanted to see her again, but also said, “You are a Welcomer!” The first question she asked was, “Will I really hear from you again?” to which I responded with an emphatic “yes.”  The second thing Susi said was, “I’m not sure what a ‘Welcomer’ is, but it sounds like a good thing.”

Over the next few months, Susi and I got to know each other very well and spent a great deal of time together. One of my friends and neighbors, Jen, works for Audible.com and I wanted Susi to meet her. Susi enjoys listening to audiobooks and mentioned that she was in love with Scott Brick.  She listens to all of his books, especially the Nelson DeMille mystery novels. When Jen heard this, she blurted, “Maybe he can narrate your book!” Susi almost fell out of her chair. My first thought was, “Who is this Scott Brick?”

Jen also told me about ACX and how I could get my book narrated. I registered for the site the next day. It was really easy. I selected the portion of the book I wanted read, the type of narration style and my proposed royalty arrangement. The first thought that came to my mind is “Hey, this is just like match.com.”

The process was amazing. When I received my first email that an audition was waiting, I was so excited. To hear the narrator read the words I had written was energizing. Although the first submission was fantastic, I was eager to hear more, since I know from any experience, it’s always best to be a comparison shopper.

During this process, I got a call from Jen, who told me that Scott was participating in ACX and might be available to narrate my book. When I told Susi that Scott Brick might be reading my words, she said, “Oh my God, I now know what it feels like to be in heaven!”

After Scott submitted his audition via ACX, I immediately accepted it. He was a pleasure to work with.  After he read the manuscript he had two questions. The first was, “When it says ‘readers’ in the book, do you want me to say ‘readers’ or ‘listeners?” I told him “listeners.”  Additionally, my book has many sidebars and he recommended that those be read by a woman friend of his to help differentiate between the narrative of the stories and the text within the shaded boxes.

When the book was completed, it was perfect. Scott and his friend turned my manuscript into an amazing play. When I listened to the entire version, I was so happy. I never realized how emotional I would feel hearing my own words read out loud by such a renowned narrator.

As a new author, I certainly feel lucky to have worked with Scott. While corresponding with him to make final payment arrangements, I told him how much I appreciated that he agreed to read my book and that I hoped he thought it was good. He quickly responded that he thoroughly enjoyed my book, thought it was not just good, but great, and had already implemented some of the recommendations I provided into his own business. I said “Wow!”  I have a winning book in my hands!

Without match.com, I never would have met Susi, or heard of Scott Brick. Without ACX.com, Susi would never have heard my words read by her favorite narrator.

ACX.com is a terrific way to meet narrators. It’s easy and fun! Try to find your perfect match!

Tucker Max may not be the first New York Times bestselling author to use ACX, but he’s certainly one of the most skilled at understanding and adapting to the new paradigm for publishing success today. Max had a flourishing website and a TV deal before selling his first book, I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell, which became a bestseller in 2006 thanks to Max’s tireless promotion of his book (and himself) and his ability to connect with his fans through the internet. Since that initial success, Max has published two more bestselling books, built a legion of fans through social media and word of mouth, and in another example of forward thinking we particularly like, he just made two of his books in audio himself through ACX. Since Max personifies the idea of author empowerment we talk about so much at ACX, we thought other ACX users might learn something from a Q&A, to which Max generously agreed. Thanks, Tucker!

How did you discover ACX?

I found out about ACX through my old assistant, Ian Claudius. He’s now running a publishing start-up I invested in, and he came to me with the idea of retaining my audio rights and just doing the audiobooks myself. I thought it was a great idea, and I was in.

You’ve now narrated four of your books. What makes the audiobook format important to you as an author? Do you think the audio format is becoming more important for authors?

I actually didn’t want to narrate the audiobooks at first, and only did it because they paid me 5k (Editor’s note: “they” refers to the audio publishers of Max’s previously published, non-ACX audio titles). But once I did it, and I started getting feedback from my fans, I realized that they really liked how I told the stories. They liked that I laughed at certain parts or that I ad-libbed certain things not in the book, or my little intonations or things that I did that only the person who wrote the book could bring to the reading of the stories. Once I realized that they liked it, I started taking it seriously and really putting some time into it.

I have no idea what the future holds for audio format for books. Sometimes I wonder about this–I think that oral storytelling is an incredibly cool and difficult art form, but I don’t think most authors currently give any real thought to creating different products for audio than for print–myself included–and maybe they should. Though the fact is, they are different art forms. For example, because I am a funny writer and quick-witted in person, lots of people tell me I should do stand-up comedy. No chance. That is a VERY different style of comedy, but people who aren’t artists don’t get that.

Any advice for other authors considering narrating their own work? How challenging is narration, and does it get easier?

It depends. If you like doing it, and you can bring something to the work that a professional voice actor cannot, then yes. I hate my recorded voice, but I do bring an authenticity and immediateness to my readings that no actor could ever replicate, because he wasn’t there and he didn’t live these experiences. I did.

Did you find yourself changing or editing your book as you narrated it? Did the experience change the way you felt about the book(s) in any way?

Oh yes. No matter how much I edit it, reading the book out loud fundamentally changes how I see it. I ALWAYS want to make changes and it drives me nuts each time. But that’s part of writing a book–you can always find something to fix. Sometimes you gotta just put it out.

A big part of the ACX message is self-empowerment for authors—promoting your work and driving your sales. You have proven that this method works. What tips can you give other authors about effective promotion and use of social media? What approaches/strategies have worked for you? 

Oh man, there are about 1000 things I could say here. I wrote a big piece about this for Tim Ferriss, but the big takeaway is this: The best marketing is a great book. The second best marketing is having something out there for free that people can try.

You recently described your “new life” in The New Yorker. What’s next for Tucker Max on the book front?

I just signed on to co-write the autobiography of the highest grossing movie star in the world. I can’t say exactly who it is until his people announce the book, but you should be able to guess who it is from that pretty obvious clue.

To download Max’s new audiobook of Hilarity Ensues, see here; for Sloppy Seconds, go here.

We’re very excited to announce that journalist and author Teresa Carpenter‘s masterful work of crime reportage, Missing Beauty, is now available as an audiobook via ACX. The opportunity to revive a book of this caliber and broaden its audience is what makes us excited to come to work every day, but don’t just take our word for it. Ann Rule called Missing Beauty “a classic…exposing murky passions and bizarre secrets. A truly incredible book.” And Robert B. Parker raved, “Compelling, wonderfully told. Don’t miss it.”

Carpenter, a former editor at the Village Voice, where her articles on crime and the law won a Pulitzer Prize, is also a longtime ACX supporter. During the audio production of Missing Beauty, she agreed to collect a few of her thoughts on the book and the audiobook. We’re happy to share them below.

Missing Beauty was my first book. It was published over  twenty years ago by W. W. Norton and Company and in recent years, hardcover copies have been increasingly hard to come by. (Every time I would find one on Amazon. I’d snap it up). So I am thrilled to know that it will now be enjoying a brand new life — as an audiobook.

I’d been aware for the past few years that editors, agents and other publishing people in my acquaintance were relying more heavily upon audiobooks; this so that they could maximize their reading time while driving, or taking cross-country flights,  etc.  But it wasn’t until my husband’s recent book, In the Plex, was published by Audible last spring that I realized what a huge audience this  medium is gaining. Authors are enthusiastic about its potential because we are all painfully aware of how many good books have been tanked by a print sales force that is conditioned to sell nothing but celebrity biographies. A small, eccentric and brilliant little book can now, in theory, be launched onto a level playing field where it receives a first print run that stretches to infinity. Electronic and audiobooks  offer the possibility that the book will be staying in print forever. Believe it or not, that matters to an author.

I was sold on Audible when I went to the rollout of ACX and realized that older books of mine could enjoy new life by being recorded as audiobooks. I asked my agents at ICM to send a copy over to Audible’s headquarters in Newark and they worked with me to find a suitable actor. I sat in for a bit of the Missing Beauty reading, narrated by the actor, L.J. Ganser. (He also recorded Plex.)   My initial reaction was surprise that I found myself so drawn so deeply into the plot as it was read. I, of course, know how the story turns out, but L.J.  brought to it a fresh interpretation which made me realize how much of a performance art the reading of audiobooks is. You could have the same book read five times by five different actors and you wouldn’t tire of it because each would be a fresh interpretation. I am actually putting that theory to the test. The first Gothic novel ever written, The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole, has been recorded in at least seven audio editions. I plan to listen to them all. I’ll let you know what I find.

Also, we urge you to check out Teresa’s new book, New York Diaries, which The New York Times called “the most convivial and unorthodox history of New York City one is likely to come across.”

We are continuing to go full steam ahead at ACX, adding and producing titles at a rapid clip. And we want to keep the momentum going! Just to remind everyone, our extended special stipend offer is good through the end of March. For producers, this means that if you accept a Royalty Share offer on any stipend-eligible ACX title by March 31^st, it comes with an extra $100 per-finished-hour stipend (e.g. $1,000 for a 10-hour audiobook, up to a maximum $2,500) if you complete full production of the title (and the Rights Holder approves the title) within 60 days of accepting the ACX Production Standard Deal Terms for the title. The stipend is, of course, in addition to the Royalties and Bounties you’ll earn on sales of the audiobook. See here for all the details.

To reiterate, here’s how it works, step by step:

1. Choose any of these eligible titles, which were handpicked by Audible’s editors for their promising sales potential. (You must be logged in as a studio or narrator to see the list.)
2. Submit your best audition
3. If you get a Royalty Share offer on one (or more) of these titles, accept the offer. (You can get this $100 per-finished-hour Stipend Offer on up to five productions.)
4. Completion and approval of the audiobook within the next 60 days.
5. Submit an invoice to ACX for $100 X the number of finished hours (Please contact audio@acx.com for our invoice template and complete instructions.)
6. We pay you that fee, up to a maximum $2500
7. You also earn half of the 50 – 90% escalator royalty on each sale of the audiobook (i.e. 25% – 45% as outlined here)
8. You also earn half of any $25 bounty generated by downloads of the audiobook, as outlined here

We hope many of you take advantage of this extended offer, and we wish you luck. More than anything, we encourage you to please keep auditioning and helping us get more audiobooks into the world!