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Erggo

Karen@KarenCommins.com

470.737.NAR8 (6278)

Karen Commins

Award Winning

Atlanta Audiobook Share-rator™

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Authors

Author Seeks Narrator: Must Love Books

6 December 2017

Indie audiobook publishing, where you produce your audiobook and retain all audio rights, follows a similar format as Internet dating. You register on a site and create an intriguing profile hoping to attract Mr. or Ms. Right for a long-term relationship.

In this 2-part series, I’ll discuss audiobook publishing using the Audiobook Creation Exchange (ACX.com), the first and best-known audiobook matchmaking site. You’ll see how to maximize your ACX title listing to captivate your ideal narrator! I’ll address independent production on other platforms in future articles.

 

Girl holding laptop with ACX on the screen

[Read more…] about Author Seeks Narrator: Must Love Books

Filed Under: Audiobooks, Authors Tagged With: ACX.com, audiobook, indie

Top 10 Q & A About Audiobook Production

20 October 2017

As I’ve talked with authors about producing audiobooks of their work, I’ve noticed that many are new to the format and ask similar questions. I’ll answer the 10 most common questions I’ve heard about audiobook production in this post.

Thinking business woman surrounded by question marks.

[Read more…] about Top 10 Q & A About Audiobook Production

Filed Under: Audiobooks, Authors Tagged With: ACX, hybrid, per finished hour, royalty-share, RS

Are You Leaving Money on the Table?

3 October 2017

Each day an author doesn’t have her books in audio, she’s leaving money on the table.

man counts $100 bills and leaves some on table

[Read more…] about Are You Leaving Money on the Table?

Filed Under: Audiobooks, Authors Tagged With: audiobooks, growth, WhisperSync

Links to Help Authors Know Their Rights

9 September 2017

Last updated 12/18//20

 

My fellow narrators and I often contact authors about creating audiobooks of their books. Many times, the author tells me that her publisher has the audio rights, or she isn’t sure who owns them.

Authors could make more money by exercising as many subsidiary rights as possible for each book, especially the audio rights. The audiobook industry is on a 3-year trend of double digit growth that shows no sign of slowing.

If you have your audio rights, you could contract with a narrator or producer to create an audiobook. You also could choose to license your audio rights to a publisher or producer. The trade-off is that you earn more royalties if you retain your rights and contract with a narrator or producer. When you license your rights, your royalty rate is lower because someone else is managing the audiobook production process.

I’m posting this list of links about rights so that more authors can get their books into audio.

[Read more…] about Links to Help Authors Know Their Rights

Filed Under: Authors, Links Tagged With: audiobook, authors, copyright, mechanical license, Professor William Fisher, rights, subsidiary rights

One Email That Isn’t a Scam

20 July 2017

When you receive an email from a Nigerian prince, you probably think, “This so-called prince is just somebody who wants to take my money.”

Other types of emails may cause the same reaction. Authors are inundated every week with solicitations from marketing and web site gurus, proofers, webinar hosts, and more. It could be easy to become jaded to the constant barrage of offers.

However, one email that isn’t a scam is the one from an audiobook narrator who wants to collaborate with you on producing your audiobook. The reaction to that kind of email should be one of giddy excitement, such as, “This is somebody who wants to MAKE me money! What a prince!”

touch screen mobile phone with email messages floating in the air

Although narrators routinely work with audio publishers, we are independent, freelance business owners just like you are. We don’t have agents who deal in audiobook work. Each narrator is on her own for ensuring she has a steady workload.

Until recent years, only about 5% of all books were made into audiobooks. Even though audiobooks are the fastest growing segment of publishing and have had double digit growth for the past 3 years, the overall number of audiobooks is still a relatively low percentage of the number of available books.

Consequently, the majority of authors do not have audiobooks of their titles and may not know how to create one. Narrators frequently do outreach with authors to help them learn about the production process. We speak at authors’ conferences and workshops. Some of us (ahem) write articles to share our knowledge and love of this medium.

We also prospect to line up projects on our own. We look for authors who are prolific in writing and releasing their books and treat their writing as a business. Once we find an author of interest, we research her work to find a book that:

  1. isn’t already available as an audiobook
  2. is a good fit for our voice, skills, and interests
  3. contains content suitable for an audiobook in a genre that is successful in audio
  4. could be expected to sell well in audio

With the research complete, the narrator will contact the author — usually through email — to inquire about the possibility of creating the audiobook.

If you’re on the receiving end of an unexpected query email from an audiobook narrator, you might initially think it’s a scam. What should you do?

[Read more…] about One Email That Isn’t a Scam

Filed Under: Audiobooks, Authors, Business Tagged With: ACX.com, Ann M Richardson, Audible.com, AudioForAuthors.com, Blackstone Audio

How to Avoid 3 Costly Mistakes on ACX

21 June 2017

In my Feb. 2016 article 6 Low-Cost Avenues for Greater Audiobook Sales in InD’tale Magazine, I suggested to authors that they look for podcasts and seek interviews on shows that are a good fit for their book. I was delighted to read a case study today on the ACX.com blog about Glen Tate’s success with appearing on podcasts and selling more audiobooks as a result.

However, his persistent promotion of his audiobook editions is only one part of his success. Even more important is the fact that he avoided 3 costly mistakes that many authors make when using ACX.

Louvre Statue of man with head in hand and a bird on his shoulder

[Read more…] about How to Avoid 3 Costly Mistakes on ACX

Filed Under: Audiobooks, Authors Tagged With: ACX.com, Glen Tate, Kevin Pierce, per finished hour, PFH, podcasts, royalty-share, RS

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  • My Tuesday Tips on Twitter
  • AudioForAuthors.com
  • AudiobookMarketingTips.com
  • Links to Help Authors Know Their Rights
  • YourAudiobookProducer.com
  • How to Use My Twitter Lists

Other Articles

DigitalBookWorld.com:
  • 4 Ways Planning For Your Audiobook Can Make You a Better Writer
  • Make Audiobook Production Your Goal in 2016
  • How Amazon and Audible are Pushing Audiobooks Into the Mainstream
  • Authors, Can You Afford to Produce an Audiobook?
InD’tale Magazine:
  • Audiobooks: A Multi-tasker’s Best Friend!
  • A Week In The Life of an Audiobook of an Audiobook Narrator
ACX Blog:
  • A Narrator’s Look At Audiobook Marketing Part 1
  • A Narrator’s Look At Audiobook Marketing Part 2

Erggo

Karen@KarenCommins.com

470.737.NAR8 (6278)

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