Some time ago I had an epiphany. Each morning I got in my car, drove thirty-five miles to work, then drove back. During that time I listened to XM Radio. My first ahah came when I realized I could listen to podcasts and actually learn something during my ride. My second ahah was so obvious that I wondered how I hadn’t thought of it during all those years of driving: I could listen to audiobooks. I think the reason I didn’t consider audiobooks is because I’ve always been a physical book fan. I enjoy the feel of book paper as I turn the page. I love the appearance of the typeface and the slippery touch of a book jacket. Indeed, I was a late adapter to ebooks for the same reason (which is ironic because I now primarily publish in ebook format). All of that changed when I listened to Wil Wheaton’s narration of Ready Player One. I loved the book, but when I heard it narrated it was like watching the first Harry Potter movie after having read the book. It had a whole new life of its own in those spoken words.
In November of 2020 I began researching how to publish an audiobook. Just as I began searching for a narrator, a narrator found me. It was one of those happy coincidences where the timing is right and everything falls into place. Shamaan Casey is a professional narrator who approached me with a pitch for 43 Seconds. When I listened to him read a sample of 43 Seconds, I couldn’t help but smile. Here was James Hayden, full of swagger, larger-than-life, debating with a gruff William. I’d written the words that were spoken, but somehow my writing just sounded better. And I knew why - it was the inflection, the dramatic pauses, the extra weight and nuances that Shamaan expertly placed upon my prose that breathe life into it. It’s the same way that a movie script can translate into a great movie with the right actor in the role.
If you’re used to self-publishing ebooks through Kindle Direct Publishing, then you can think of ACX as the KDP of Audible. Unlike KDP, you are probably collaborating with someone else (the narrator), and ACX has features to search its narrator database, listen to samples, contact narrators, have them audition, negotiate payment terms, sign a contract, upload chapters for proofing, and get final author sign-off before publishing. Once published, ACX operates as your book sales dashboard. Note there are many other services besides ACX to publish audiobooks and some of those services publish to Audible, so ACX is not the only way to get your audiobook on Audible, just as KDP is not the only way to get an ebook into Amazon.
ACX title screen for configuring a new audiobook
ACX production screen. As the narrator completes and uploads each chapter, the author reviews them and provides approval or requested changes.
In my case, Shamaan and I had worked out the details offline, so in ACX I skipped the auditions step and sent an offer directly to him. ACX emailed us both contracts to sign. I admit, as each new chapter was uploaded, I was excited to listen to it for the first time and hear how Shamaan tackled each scene. I’d make notes as I listened and send any pronunciation corrections, which he’d quickly make and resubmit. Corrections were few - things like acronyms I’d made up for the story - and if I were to do another book I’d know to scan it first for acronyms or unusual names and send a pronunciation cheat sheet before narration began.
I should note at this step that narration involves much more than narrating. The narrator is also the sound engineer and needs to edit and produce the audio file to meet ACX’s standards. Once the book is submitted to ACX, it can spend up to a month in QA review. A professional narrator handles all of this so that you don’t have to. Also, much like a two-hour movie takes much longer than two hours to make, you should keep in mind that most narrators give you a quote per finished hour (PFH). It will probably take them seven hours of work to make one hour of audio. So, if the price seems high you need to realize it’s not an hourly rate, it’s a price to produce a finished product that is one hour long.
If you’re used to KDP for ebooks, ACX’s process will seem slow. Shamaan’s narration went quickly, but ACX’s approval process takes weeks. The project was completed on Dec 23 and in the Audible store on Feb 1. My advice: have patience.
My experience was great, overall. ACX is easy to use and I was fortunate to connect with a talented, professional narrator. Shamaan also helped me through the process, offering advice at different steps and helping with promotion by cross-posting to social media.
43 Seconds is available on Audible and iTunes. Note ACX sets the price based on the length and it’s currently around seven dollars.
