Indie Book Club discussion

I've recently signed up for audible.com and will be starting to do some reviews on the stuff I listen to there so I was wondering who here has their books available. I've already found a few small pub/indie books and I'm always looking for more.

Also is anyone a member and has a favorite audio series? I've listened to the Dresden Files and I just started the Iron Druid series.

Getting an audio book on Audible is expensive, unless your sales rank high enough that you can get a narrator to take a royalty split. I'll bet some members here have their books on Podiobooks, though. I wanted to get mine up there, but haven't been able to find the time.

I was listening to stuff on podiobooks before I signed up for Audible. I'll admit that I know nothing about the process to get a book posted on either place. I've just been enjoying listening to books at work and was wondering if anyone I knew had gone through the process.

Hey Scott - This thread is old - so, I hope it’s okay to respond. I used ACX.com to publish my book to Audible.com. Not sure what you’re asking, but …. anyway, just search for author: Samyann. I’d love for you, or anyone, to listen!!


Yesterday: A Novel of Reincarnation

Wow, Larry. That's great! I will have to take another look at Audible and ACX.

I was wondering what the process was to find a narrator for books. Do you place a listing for narrators similar to looking for cover art on Deviant?

Scott wrote: "I was wondering what the process was to find a narrator for books. Do you place a listing for narrators similar to looking for cover art on Deviant?"

I began with uploading a chapter on voices.com - it’s pretty simple to do. You simply indicate how many words your work contains, and wait. Shortly, you’ll begin to get responses to your submission. I’m pretty sure ACX works pretty much in the same way, but I’m not sure. These usually include sample readings of your submission. I actually got close to 150 responses, priced everywhere from about a grand to well over twenty grand. Beginners just getting started to advanced readers. The reader I selected then went through the ACX process, and I reviewed chapters as she completed them. Final approval is you. Prices can be all over the board. It’s pretty well accepted that at minimum you’d be looking at about $200.00 per audio hour of reading. That sounds high, but it’s not, really. One hour of audiobook is about four hours of work. Recording, re-recording, cleaning up pauses/dead air, mixing, mastering, etc. You can also make a deal with your reader for a percentage of royalties with no initial out-of-pocket; it’s up to you how to put the deal together, and ACX facilitates it all.

I have one of my fantasy novellas on Audible now (and therefore Amazon and iTunes as well) and just sent two more books up for final processing. (Diversifying mediums seems like a great idea to this indie author.)

The ACX process is very user-friendly and I've found narrators willing to work for half my cut. That sounds high, but it's either that or you have to front hundreds of dollars to pay for their services. For me, starting out, sharing the royalties is worth it.

I agree with Larry, audio is a different medium. It's intesting to see how other people read my work, which isn't necessarily how it sounded in my own head. This can be good and bad, but it's always fun to see how they bring my characters and stories to life. The three works I have up now are all shorter, ranging from 1 to 2 listening hours completed. Finding a narrator willing to read my 128,000 word novel for peanuts, however, may be a bigger challenge.

If the query about reviewing (or even just listening to) audiobooks still stands, I'd love to have someone check out my stuff. "The Prince of Luster and Decay" is military fantasy and up right now. (In fact, I have some promotional free download codes left over I'd trade for reviews...) My noir-horror collection "A Long Walk Down a Dark Alley" and my military SF novella "The Thorne Legacy" have just been sent up the pike and should be available soon.

It's a brave new world we live in and a great time to be a writer.

One thing I found really interesting is that after having my book critiqued dozens of times, followed by a professional edit (paid boo-coo bucks for this) … the audiobook reader still found mistakes. The reader has to read every word, comma, pause, etc., and it is really eye-opening to get their feedback. I was amazed. And pleased. She was/is very good.

J.D. I may be interested in one of those freebie codes for your book on audible. I will check out the sample a bit better when I get a chance, I just listened to like 30 seconds of it so far.

Scott wrote: "J.D. I may be interested in one of those freebie codes for your book on audible. I will check out the sample a bit better when I get a chance, I just listened to like 30 seconds of it so far."

Awesome, Scott, thanks! Let me know.

Me!