Audiobook Options for Indie Authors
In this short guide, indie authors will discover ways in which they can benefit from utilizing audiobook vendors as well as their royalty rate details. Let’s face it, writing a book is hard enough, but knowing how you can monetize your book’s earning potential will allow you to maximize profits and will pay off in the long run. After making a physical copy of a book, many indie authors stop there and immediately begin their next project.
However, the most professional of indie authors should strive for their book’s full success and explore all options when it comes to their Intellectual Property (IP). The Audiobook market is expanding rapidly and still, even in 2020, is less competitive than the eBook market. According to the Audio Publishers Association, U.S. audiobook sales in 2019 totaled 1.2 billion dollars, up 16% from the previous year.
Producing Audiobooks on ACX
For traditional publishing, ACX has been the go-to route when reaching for exclusivity, royalty share, and royalty share plus options for narrators and authors. They’re able to send your book to some of the world’s most renowned book vendors such as Audible, Amazon, and iTunes.
The most popular platform is the ACX marketplace where narrators/producers and authors/publishers can link up to get the production done. Using ACX also gives you easy syndication access to Audible, Amazon and iTunes.
As an author or publisher, you can search by type of voice, gender, accent, and other criteria to find narrators to work with.
We simply added our book details, entered some metadata as well as a pitch that focused on our marketing plan. Simply showing the narrator that we are willing to do promotions and marketing for the end product definitely helps if you want to do a royalty split. You also need to upload a sample to be used as an audition piece.
Once live your book shows up on the market it can be viewed by narrators. However, we usually take a more proactive approach and submit to narrators directly, inviting them to audition.
Pay per Production
Select a narrator on the marketplace and pay them their full rate based on your audiobook’s length — one time. You can then choose Non-exclusive (wider distribution options at 25%) or exclusive (Audible, Amazon and iTunes only at 40%) and keep all the royalties.
You can also have the audio produced elsewhere and just use ACX as a distribution channel.
Pros: You retain control, can choose pricing and sell your audiobook wherever you want with the non-exclusive deal.
Cons: Audiobook narration costs can be thousands of dollars.
Select Royalty Share or Royalty Share Plus
These options enable you to share royalties with the narrator and not pay anything upfront with Royalty Share. Each party will get 20%.
Or pay an agreed amount with Royalty Share Plus to attract a higher tier of narrators.
Pros:
Great if you’re on a budget as you can get audiobooks produced for no upfront cost providing you can find a narrator.
Get Audiobook codes to encourage reviews from fans. (Although royalties are no longer paid for codes given away on audiobooks published after March 26, 2020. Click here for details.)
You can earn bounty referrals of up to $75 when new listeners sign up to Audible through your unique link.
Cons:
You can only do exclusive (7 year commitment).
You cannot choose the retail price of your audiobook.
Find out more here:
https://www.acx.com/help/what-s-the-deal/200497690
ACX also gives bonuses. Rightsholders and producers can earn an extra $50 when their first audiobook is purchased by an AudibleListener. Let’s say the rights holder and the producer is the same person, for example, an Indie Author, that $50 goes into your pocket on top of royalties.
Along with the process of getting your book ready for its audio conversion, ACX provides helpful advice on your book’s marketing! Without a market plan and marketing strategy, including ways to utilize your professional social media pages, how else will you be able to take advantage of ACX’s royalty plan and bonuses? Because let’s face it, without the marketing, you can send your book to the moon and back, or deep down in the ocean without a nibble, if you don’t market correctly. Taking advantage of their helpful information will only put more money in your pocket.
ACX isn’t the only option, of course, when it comes to audiobook options.
Findaway Voices
Findaway Voices is another vendor and distributor that is becoming a top choice for authors and publishers who shy away from the restrictions of ACX.
Their distribution reaches 43 library platforms. They’re partnered with popular services such as Bookmate, Bookbeat, Axiell, Bokus Play, and AudiobooksNow.
Ways to produce:
Pay up front
For the most flexibility in regards to your product and distribution, this is the best option if you can afford it.
Voices Share
Share revenue (20%) with the narrator and halve your upfront production cost. A great way to produce an audiobook, even if you’re on a budget.
Audioworks
Findaway will do all the heavy lifting. This includes casting, script prep & pre-production research, QA & proofing, final mastering, and more but will cost $450 per finished hour and up.
You can find out more about their pricing here. https://findawayvoices.com/pricing/
Findaway Voices is also a distributor for Bookbub’s Chirp Audiobook Deal which gives more pricing control. You can choose to do submit a price promotion to Chirp and get exposure to their vast database of avid listeners.
Author’s Republic
If you’re looking for the widest audiobook distribution network, Author’s Republic is an amazing choice with a royalty rate of 70%. Author’s Republic has over 30 major retailers including Audible, Kobo, Apple, Barnes and Noble as well as various libraries, and they’re adding new channels every month.
They’re eco-friendly, which means authors will get paid online via Paypal or direct deposit, etc., and their major distributors include Audiobooks.com, iTunes, and Audible.
When it comes to audiobook publishing, you certainly don’t want to get left behind. With this growing trend in the digital market, audiobooks are a great way for indie authors to maximize their book’s profitability.
The options available to help indie authors are countless, and whichever vendor you choose to go with, each will put you on the road to independent success.
