Producing an Audio Book

The popularity of audio books is definitely on the rise. I still read a lot. But there are times when an audio book just fits the bill. Commuting to work and exercising come immediately to mind. So it just seemed logical that I would offer my own books in an audio version. But I really didn't know where or how to start until I turned, once again, to ACX.com, which is Amazon's platform for connecting authors with potential narrators and producers. As an author, list your book and the rest is easy. Really. The rest is a matter of making a few decisions, do you want to pay the narrator a fee or split the royalties? The platform even estimates the number of hours your finished audio book will be.

You can look through potential narrators and send them a note asking if they would be interested in narrating your book. At the same time, narrators can see what books are available to narrate. In my case, a narrator contacted me. Patrick Peterson (no relation) saw my book and sent me a message. Through the platform, we communicated a couple of times, settled on a price and then ACX even had all the contracts available for us. 

The process was fun, at least for me. I know Patrick worked very hard on this book, especially since my books are set in Scotland. We had several initial discussions, via the messaging capability of the ACX platform, mostly about what these characters might sound like. After the first initial weeks, we settled into a routine. Every couple of days, Patrick would send a few more chapters for me to review. I must say that Patrick was a joy to work with. Any changes I requested were quickly and cheerfully completed. And all the communication and work was done over the platform. Really, within a few months, I had an audio book offering through both Audible.com and Amazon. Easy. 

If you are an Indie Author, I highly recommend you consider looking into producing your own audio book. There are several companies out there, but I do recommend ACX.com. Check it out. And if you love listening to audio books, like me, here's a deal for you: Audible.com is a subscription based audio book service. You pay one monthly fee and get a certain number of credits, each good for an audio book of your choice, and it is more cost effective than buying each audio book separately. But the best part of Audible is that they offer you a daily deal. Yes, you will get an email every day.....but, these are offers for popular audio books usually for $3.95 or less. They are a great way to build your library without breaking the bank. And they have really great periodic sales as well. For instance, they are offering their members a sale right now for hundreds of titles for $4.95. Great deals on audio books!

Oh, by the way, I was curious about what the audio book production was like for Patrick, so I asked him. In my next post, I'll share his perspective in an interview with him. He's really a remarkable and interesting young man.