Tag Archives: Author Marketing Experts

This Week in Links: October 1 – 5

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ACX is excited to announce that we’re once again partnering with The Society of Voice Arts and Sciences at That’s Voiceover 2018! This year’s event will take place on Saturday, November 17th at the Sheraton Universal Hotel at Universal Studios Hollywood, and we’re offering a number of ways audiobook actors and producers can interact with ACX and Audible Studios:

  • Learn from our all-star panel presentation, Becoming an Audiobook Actor-preneur. Scott Brick, Luke Daniels, and Khristine Hvam will help you develop the tools you need to grow a long career in audiobook performance/production.
  • Meet the ACX team at our exhibit hall booth. Bring your audiobook production, performance, and marketing questions. We want to hear from you!
  • Read for Audible Studios. Schedule a one-on-one session with Audible Studios producer Chris Sacco and get feedback on your performance in the moment. The top male and female talent will each land a contract to perform a title for Audible Studios. Sign up here.

Get your tickets here, and make sure to use code ACXTVO18 to get 20% off. We hope to see you there.

For Producers:

Would You Survive The Shark Tank? – via Paul Strikwerda – “If I were an investor on Shark Tank or Dragons’ Den, and you came to me with a pitch to back your business, what would I be looking for?”

6 Ways Social Media Can Hurt Your Voice Over Business – via Debbie Grattan – “To make sure your social media efforts end up benefiting instead of hurting your business, it’s crucial to steer clear of six different social media habits that can damage your VO career.

Speak From Your Diaphragm! – via Dr. Ann Utterback – Learn the why this piece of advice is so often repeated, and how to implement it in front of the mic.

For Rights Holders:

Meet the Super Fan … the Secret Sauce Authors Want – via The Book Designer – “[W]hen you set out to develop and build Super Fans, you create a cult of sorts. You are “the one” that they are dedicated/devoted to. Whatever your words are, they think you are the cat’s meow.”

Know The Media’s Purpose In Order to Have Your Book Covered by The – via BookMarkertingBuzzBlog – “[T]he media and authors need to find one another and click. They must see value in each other, a value greater than most others provide for them. Can you give the media what it wants.”

October Observances to Inspire Your Author Marketing – via author marketing experts – Turn to the calendar when in need of a touchstone for your book marketing efforts.

This Week in Links: September 3 – 7

For Producers:

Narrators Have To Look Up Pronunciations Of Those Unfamiliar, Odd-Sounding Words. (Here’s How) – via Voice-Over Xtra – “Good narrators recognize that geography, demographics, and even economic status can play a large role in how certain words are pronounced.”

What Virtual Assistants Can Do For Your Voice Over Business – via Voice Over Herald – “You want to spend more time searching for new clients, being inside your booth recording, or perfecting your craft but you can’t find the time because you have been playing catch-up. How are you going to grow your business if you are overloaded with tasks and responsibilities that take you away from the money-making activities?”

Three Ways to Spice Up Your Vocal Delivery – via Dr. Ann Utterback – “If you say phrases exactly the same way each time, they become stale and uninteresting. Worse, if you voice these exactly the same each time, they can become a bore for you and the listener.”

10 Tips for a Successful Home Audition – via Edge Studio – Herein lies solid advice for VO’s of all stripes, including audiobook narrators.

For Rights Holders:

6 Ways Video Blogging Can Save Your Author Promotion – via Author Marketing Experts – Forging a deeper connection with your fans to growing a new creative skill are just two reasons to explore a new way to marketing yourself online.

How to Sell Books to Someone Other Than Your Mom – via The Write Practice – “There’s nothing wrong with selling a book to Mom, by the way. But ideally you write and sell a book that thousands of people can’t wait to get their hands on. Here’s how to do it.”

The Best Free Media Contacts Tool You Probably Aren’t Using – via The Book Designer – Learn all about this free service and get some tips for making the most of your (audio)book PR efforts.

Writer Branding: A Cheat Sheet for Your Brand Elements – via The Write Conversation – Learn two simple ways to break down and analyze aspects of your visual brand to ensure you demonstrate consistency across all of your author materials.

 

 

This Week in Links: July 30 – August 3

Producers:

How To Edit Voice-Over Recordings A Lot Faster – With A Gaming Mouse! – via Voice-Over Xtra – Learn how to streamline your audiobook editing with some gear you may not even have considered for your studio.

Filling In The Blanks – via Paul Strikwerda – “You can’t give a client what s/he wants to hear, if you have no clue what it is.”

The Only Thing That’s Constant… – via Dave Courvoisier – Find inspiration in the ways your VO career “enhance[s] the definition of being human.”

Hey, I Know You!: Creating and Maintaining Your Personal Brand – via ACX University – Building a strong narrator brand and marketing your ACX productions can increase your earnings and provide a “value add” for the Rights Holders you work with.

Rights Holders:

How to Recycle, Repurpose and Promote Your Publicity – via The Book Designer – As you continue to build you Author brand, get tips on how to get the best return on the exposure you’re already getting.

Authors Should Promote Books Like Street Entertainers Sell Their Talents – via BookMarketingBuzzBlog – Turns out you can find marketing inspiration in the funniest of places. Find out how two different types of creatives have more in common than you may think.

11 Ways to Simplify Your (book promotion) Life – via author marketing experts – “Simplifying for authors is different…because most of us have day jobs and for us, simplifying isn’t just about keeping things simple, it’s also about preventing that bottleneck when too many things hit at once.”

How to Use Awareness Days to Promote Your Self-published Books – via ALLi – “Awareness Days of some kind or other happen just about every day of the year. There can be few authors who can’t find at least one day that somehow chimes with their books, if only they take the time and trouble to look. But what to do when you find one that suits you?”

This Week in Links: June 18 – 22

For Rights Holders:

SEO for Authors – Part 2 – via The Book Designer – We shared part one of this series last week, and the next post digs a little deeper into ways authors can leverage search engines to boost discovery of their (audio)book.

What Indie Authors Can Learn About Branding from IHOP – via Author Marketing Expert – The chain restaurant’s recent rebranding offers a lens through which authors can examine their own marketing efforts.

Are Authors Really Promoting The Benefits Of Their Books? – via BookMarketingBuzzBlog – “Many authors promote their books in simple terms – “It’s a fun read” or “You’ll learn a lot.” They may position themselves as experts on something, but fail to highlight what one will truly gain by consuming their book. Here’s a tip: know the benefits your book offers and champion them.”

How to Make Your Sentences More Descriptive – via The Write Conversation – We say it time and again: the better your writing, the better your audiobook Producer can perform it. With that in mind, read up on how to strike the right balance between straightforward and purple prose.

For Producers:

In Double-Digit Climb, Audiobook Sales Jump 23% To Over $2.5 Billion In 2017 – via Voice-Over Xtra – The audiobook business is booming! Take a look at the key insights from the Audio Publishers Association’s annual sales survey.

Why Go to an Industry Convention? Insight from the Perspective of Voice over Conferences and More – via Natasha Marchewka – Learn the “Why? What? Where? When?” of getting out of the booth and into a VO conference.

You Must Master These 4 Skills For a Successful Voiceover Business – via Gravy for the Brain – You have to wear a lot of hats as an actor-entrepreneur – four of them, according to this article. Find out how to make each one fit properly.

7 Processes to Success – via Dave Courvoisier – “The trick to discipline — beyond will power — is PROCESS. ‘…a continuous action, operation, or series of changes taking place in a definite manner.'”

This Week in Links: March 12 – 16

For Rights Holders:

9 Types of Pitches to Use When Promoting Your Book – via The Book Designer – “The success of your book depends on approaching people, companies and groups and asking for their help to publicize, promote and sell it… Here are nine things consider when it comes time to pitch your book—before, during or after your launch.”

How To Promote Your Book Like My Self-Promoting Kid – via Book Marketing BuzzBlog – Learn how emulating 13-year-old Ben in three key ways can help you shine light on your latest audiobook project.

How to Implement the Ideal Content Strategy to Grow Your Author Brand – via ALLi – “Jyotsna Ramachamdran, founder and director of Happy Self-Publishing, asks why a carefully curated content strategy is so important for authors, and how to build and implement one.”

Is a Press Release Still a Good Book Promotion Tool? – via Author Marketing Experts – AME offers a ruling on this tried and true technique. Take note of the rules you’ll want to follow to make sure your press release breaks through the crowd.

For Producers:

A Voice Artists Shouldn’t Just Talk. Also Listen to Yourself – via Edge Studio – Read up on the value of including time to listen back to past performances in your daily practice sessions.

Let’s Talk About Your Jaw – via Dr. Ann Utterback – Stress can wreak havoc on your jaw, which in turn can disrupt your vocal performance. Never fear – the doctor’s got some exercises that can help relieve tension and build strength.

Celia Siegel’s Voiceover Achiever – via Paul Strikwerda – “The big question in our industry used to be: Do you have a beautiful voice? Do you know how to act? Those are still important. But they’re no longer enough. These days the question is: Are you brandable?”

ACX U Presents: Ahead of the Curve: Prospecting for Pros – via ACX – Audible Approved Producers Steven Jay Cohen and Neil Hellegers discuss the finer points of researching authors with books not yet in audio and bringing them to ACX to produce their audiobook.

This Week in Links: February 5 – 9

For Rights Holders:

Five Marketing Tools for Authors Who Hate Marketing – via Writer Unboxed – “If you’re a writer and you’re on social media, have a website, blog, or even just talk about your work with friends, you’re already marketing. So here are five inexpensive and relatively easy-to-use tools to help optimize the marketing you’re already doing.”

How to Collaborate Effectively with Other Indie Authors In Your Genre – via ALLi – Find out what happened when one author decided to stop competing with his fellow writers and start building a shared fan base.

Book Marketing (and Publicity) is not About Book Sales – via Author Marketing Experts – Learn why “exposure,” while harder to measure than unit sales, can be just as important an area of focus as the number of (audio)books you sell.

15 Ways to Strengthen Writer Courage – via Live Write Thrive – Do you suffer from Imposter Syndrome? Are there steps you’d like to take in your career, if only they didn’t seem so daunting? Read on to find ways to overcome your fears and access your inner strength.

For Producers:

Who Are Finalists For The Coveted 2018 Audio Publishers Association Audie Awards? – via Voice-Over Xtra – Audible has racked up 28 nominations, including 6 titles published by ACX Producers and Rights Holders! Check out the full list of nominees.

3 Things to Consider Before You Build Your Voice Over Studio – via Marc Scott – Follow along as the VO pro and coach shares lessons (and photos) from his own home studio construction process.

The Superbowl’s 3 Big Lessons for Voice Actors – via Dave Courvoisier – “It’s not often I find inspiration in professional sports…but there is much to be noted in the successful portrayal of the truly deserving individual who masters spectacle, excellence, and legacy.”

ACX U Presents: Beyond the Booth: Monetizing Your Voice – via ACX – Find out how to make sure the time you spend off-mic is just as lucrative as the time you spend on it.

 

This Week in Links: January 22 – 26

For Rights Holders:

‘Failed’ Songwriter Goes Up Against Bruce Springsteen for a Grammy – via Variety – Have you heard? ACX’s first Grammy nomination is for Shelly Peiken’s Confessions of a Serial Songwriter. Learn about Shelly and her road to the nomination here.

Free Book Trailer Templates – via Adazing – Trailers work, especially for audiobooks! So, team up with your narrator, and use this guide to create one with software you probably already have on your computer.

How to Jumpstart Book Reviews for Self-Published Books – via The Book Designer – These easy-to-follow tactics can help you get audiobook reviews too, of course.

Indie Author PSA: Do NOT Do These Things in 2018 – via Author Marketing Experts – When setting goals for success, it can be helpful to remember actions you’ll work to avoid.

For Producers:

From Couch to Mic: How To Market Your Voice-Over Skills – via suchavoice – “What does ‘market myself more’ or ‘get more gigs’ look like to you? What do you do every day to make that happen?”

5 Tips for Working From Home – via Marc Scott – Let Marc show you the way towards achieving a healthy work/life balance when your home is your office.

Surviving the Gig Economy – via Paul Strikwerda – “Today I’d like to share a number of attributes I believe to be the trademark of any successful solopreneur. If you want to make it on your own, you have to be…”

4 Ways to Avoid Shooting Your VO in the Foot – via Dave Courvoisier – “We make enough mistakes on our own through impatience, inattention, sloppiness, or just plain ole pig-headedness.  Why add to your troubles with stupidity?”

This Week in Links: March 30 – April 3

For Rights Holders:

Where to Find Free Images Online to Use in Blogging & Social Media – via The Write Conversation – A great resource to make your marketing more compelling.

Marketing Advice When You Are Making A Leap – via Author Marketing 101 – “As creative as you are with your books, give yourself permission to be that creative with your marketing.”

8 Tips For Spring Cleaning Your Author Website  – via Writers and Authors – There’s no time like the present to ensure the information on your website is current and correct

50 Things to Tweet About – via Author Marketing Experts, Inc. – A trove of ideas you can put into action today to build your presence on Twitter.

For Producers:

Customers versus Clients – via Voiceover Mechanic – Learn the distinction and decide you want to work with in your VO career.

[VIDEO] Marketing Your Voice Over Business With Landing Pages – via Marc Scott Voice Over – Marc explains how to construct specialized landing pages that market your services better than your website’s homepage.

Would Your Voice Over Prospects Buy A Car From You? – via Voice-Over Xtra – Learn how you can “put yourself in the best position possible so you increase your chance of being hired.”

How Not to be Like Jeremy Clarkson – via Nethervoice – Don’t let success go to your head. Paul Strikwerda explains you how to avoid ending up like the former host of Top Gear.