Tag Archives: guy kawasaki

Best of 2013: The Best of The Blog

Posted on December 19, 2013 by | 1 comment

2013 has been a great year for the ACX blog, helping actors and authors become better audiobook production partners. This year, we offered the expertise of Audible’s studio team, merchandising group, top-selling authors and award-winning producers, and you voted for your favorite stories with your clicks. Before we say goodbye to 2013 and get ready for a bigger, better 2014, take a look back at our top posts from the past year.

10. ACX Success Story: Kevin Pierce – Prolific ACX producer tells how ACX helped him make the transition from radio and TV to audiobook production.

9. How to Promote Your Titles & Get on Audible’s Merchandising Radar – Part 1 – The first part of our two part series introduced readers to Audible’s merchandising expert Jessica and her best practices for audiobook marketing success.

8. Alex Hyde-White’s 4 Tips For New Narrators – Winning our narration contest at That’s Voiceover allowed this film and TV actor to start his audiobook career with ACX.

7. ACX Studio Gear Series: Home Studio Setup – Part 1 – ACX actors were more empowered than ever to work from home with expert advice on setting up their personal recording space.

6. APE This: ACX and Guy Kawasaki Launch Open Casting Call – Back in July, We teamed with author and book-marketing expert Guy Kawasaki to cast the voice of his guide to self publishing.

5. Four Questions to Ask Before You Audition – With over 3,000 titles open for audition on ACX, we took a moment to guide actors towards auditioning for the title that’s best for them.

4. ACX Studio Gear Series Part 3: Headphones – No, not the kind you listen to music with! The fourth spot on our list is occupied by this critical tool to help producers better hear themselves.

3. Money Talks – Paying, and Getting Paid, For Your Audiobook – Does money make the world go round? This post gives authors a better understanding of the ways to fund their audiobook production, as well as info on how they’ll be paid once it’s on sale.

2. ACX Studio Gear Series Part 2: DAWs –  A Digital Audio Workstation is the software needed to record, edit, and master your audiobooks productions, and we covered the pros and cons of the most popular options.

1. ACX Studio Gear Series Part 1: Microphones and Preamps – The bedrock of a good sounding recording got the full treatment in our most popular post of the year, as we ran down various options for equipment across all price levels.

What was your favorite post from 2013? Tell us in the comments!

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How To Guerrilla Market Your Audiobook

Posted on August 22, 2013 by | 7 comments

If you’re a regular reader of the ACX blog, you know that we’ve been working with authors Guy Kawasaki and Shawn Welch to produce their book APE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur. The book is a great resource for self-published authors, and we’re joined today by Guy, who has more great advice for ACX authors (and producers too!) on marketing your audiobook.

The key to successfully guerrilla marketing your audiobook is to approach the process as a launch of a new product, not simply an extension of an existing one. Think of it as a whole new product for a whole new kind of customers—one who might not “read” you book, but would “listen” to it.

As such, you should use every method and avenue that you tapped when you launched the book:

  • Write a blog post about the availability of an audio version.
  • Add a link or badge to your website and blog so that people can buy it with one click.
  • Update your social-media profiles to include a specific “plug” for the audio version.
  • Participate in webinars by using Google+ Hangouts and Twitter chats to reach the online audience—just pretend like it’s a new book.
  • Interview the voice actor.  It’s kind of cool to have a Google+ Hangout with the person who recorded your book—this is great publicity for both of you.

Guess what: you didn’t reach every buyer of your book when you launched your ebook and/or printed book. The release of the audio version is a great excuse to go back to the guerrilla marketing well again. Plus, between the time of your initial launch and the audio book launch, you probably added new social-media followers, so Launch 2.0 will be even better.

You can find more in depth info on marketing your audiobook here. Have you tried any of Guy Kawasaki’s guerrilla marketing tactics? Tell us in the comments!

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The Chosen One

Posted on August 8, 2013 by | 8 comments

ACX/Audible Studios and Guy Kawasaki are thrilled to announce the casting of actor Lloyd Sherr as the voice of APE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur. We received auditions from some of the best talent in the industry hoping to read Mr. Kawasaki’s comprehensive and inspiring guide to self publishing.

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The Voice of APE: Lloyd Sherr

APE is Mr. Kawasaki’s first foray into self publishing an audio version of his popular titles. “I was thrilled to have received over 350 auditions for APE. Ultimately, Lloyd’s audition really stood out to me. His audition brought out the approachability of the APE method, while still educating and informing. Lloyd sounds like he should be working for NPR, and I love NPR!” Said Mr. Kawasaki.

Mr. Sherr has been the narrator of the cable documentary series “Modern Marvels” since 2000 in more than 400 episodes, and is well known to children for his work in animation, such as Disney’s “W.I.T.C.H”, “Back at the Barnyard” and “Tak and the Power of Juju” for Nickelodeon; “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” for Cartoon Network; and as “Fillmore” in “Cars 2” for Pixar. He just completed narration on  the audiobook “A Reason to Live,” a detective thriller by Mathew Iden which is due out this month from Audible.

Mike Charzuk, Executive Producer/Sr. Director of Audible Studios, was impressed with Mr. Sherr’s efforts. Said Mr. Charzuk, “From the sound quality to the performance Lloyd Sherr was pure professional perfection. Present in the text and conversational with his delivery, he added the gravitas needed, but with a light touch to keep the listener engaged. One of the best auditions I have heard in a very long time.”

You can listen to Mr. Sherr’s audition by clicking the play button below.

Mr. Sherr shared his thoughts on being cast for APE with us. “Being chosen to narrate APE is a major thrill for me. The book being written by Guy Kawasaki is a gigantic plus, and the fact that I would be paid to read something I would read anyway is really killing two birds with one stone. Writing a novel has always been in the back of my mind and this, I believe, is the book I’ve been waiting for.”

Production will begin immediately at Mark Kondracki’s Los Angeles based Outloud Audio. Look for – and listen to –  Mr. Sherr’s read of APE at the end of August on Audible!

Which book should be the next subject of an ACX/Audible Studios open casting call? Tell us in the comments below!

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APE This: ACX and Guy Kawasaki Launch Open Casting Call

Posted on July 22, 2013 by | 4 comments

ACX and Audible Studios are proud to announce our latest open casting opportunity! Audible studios is seeking a dynamic narrator to perform Guy Kawasaki’s inspiring and comprehensive guide to self publishing, APE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur. All actors are invited to participate by recording their read of the audition script and uploading it to ACX. Audible Studios and Mr. Kawasaki will select the winning audition and Audible will produce the audiobook immediately upon announcing the chosen actor.

Guy Kapeawasaki is the author of eleven other books, including The Art of the Start and Enchantment, and is the co-founder of Alltop.com, an “online magazine rack” of popular topics on the web.

“I’m happy to be creating an opportunity to encourage entrepreneurial actors. I’m continually amazed at how many great actors are embracing this burgeoning art form and I can’t wait to listen to all the auditions that come in.” Said Mr. Kawasaki.

The audition text for APE can be found at www.acx.com/ape. In order to upload an audition you’ll simply need to create an ACX account. Auditions are open Monday July 22 – Monday July 29 at 5:00PM ET. After submitting your read of APE, browse our 2,900 + additional titles and find your next audiobook gig.  We can’t wait to hear your voice!

Do you think you have the perfect voice for Guy Kawasaki’s APE? Tell us why in the comments!

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