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Friday, June 26, 2015

Author Producing an Audiobook Using ACX (How To) Part 2

Today I received the first 15-minute preview of my audiobook for A Secret Love .  The narrator has an awesome voice. She gives life to all the characters.  To get to the preview link:

  •  Click the projects tab
  • Located at the top of the page above the ACX logo
  •  Click the offers tab in the middle of the page
  • Click your book's title to access the mini recorder

 After you have listened to the 15 minutes you need to decide if you approve.If you do, there is a link which says approve. There is also another link to email your narrator if necessary. The excitement of getting closer to a finished audiobook is thrilling.

The next step will be to work on your cover. There are suggestions of using sites such as Fivrr. I opted to do my own. I used the cover file from the book, which I downloaded from Createspace. Next I opened the jpeg on my Mac and used the picture editing software to add the narrator's name to the cover. ACX requires the cover to be square, no less than 2400x2400, 72 dpi and RGB colors. Let's face facts. Your cover on your Kindle or paperback is not square. So how do you make the cover square? It's so easy. I'll tell you.

  • Go to http://resizepic.com/
  • Choose your file
  • Enter Height and Width 2400x2400
  • Click resize image
  • Click download
Now when you open the download, you have a square picture. I wasn't impressed with the minimal size of 2400x2400, so I increased mine to 3000x3000. I liked it much better. Upload it to ACX and you're done. Now the hard part, waiting for the finished product.  In the meantime take a look at the square cover for A Secret Love.



Compare to the new Kindle and paperback cover below.


Sunday, June 21, 2015

Author Producing an Audiobook Using ACX (How To)

At the end of this article are pictures of the paperback cover and the kindle. Leave a comment on which one you like most.

I have been considering making my books available in the audiobook format for a while now. I love these books. They entertain me in my car when I don't want to listen to the radio. I can read a book in Kindle format and pick up where I left off in my car with the audiobook. So, I'm sure many readers share my love of audiobooks. This is one reason I've decided to take the audiobook route. Another reason is actually a self serving one. I wanted to bring my characters of A Secret Love to life.

I began my audiobook project by visiting the ACX site owned by Amazon. There I found links upon links to questions with answers. I was a little overwhelmed with information. After surfing through the links I decided to do it, put my book out there asking for a voice to give life to my characters. While I waited for responses I listened to voices of producers posted on the site via their auditions. This little feature is not obvious. It doesn't say producers or auditions or voices. It says search. Next to the word search is a drop down with links to producers for hire and titles accepting auditions. I linked to the producers, set the filters and listened to auditions until I heard an audition that offered me what I was searching for. I found the voice I wanted and sent an email. You don't have to wait for auditions. If you find a voice you like, ask for an audition. They can only say no or you may get a yes like me.

Before you can make an offer to a producer, your tax information must be cleared first. Most of the time it is cleared instantly. While you are waiting for your tax info to clear you are able to add your title and accept auditions, but you will not be able to make an offer to a producer. Of utmost importance; be sure that your browser does not autocomplete your information in places you don't want it. For instance, my browser added information in the business name section. Now the form is considering my tax information as a business. I put in my SS#, but it was still went to the IRS as a check for a TIN for a business. I didn't scrutinize my form during the check at the end of the tax interview. What a nightmare. If you overlook an error it can take a long agonizing time to straighten out the error. One week into the tax ordeal I actually closed that account and opened a new one. My taxes were approved instantly. The downside is I can no longer use my brigittamoon email. And to my surprise I couldn't claim my book in my new account. It was already claimed by someone else, me. So the ACX representative who answered my email when this began promised me she would stay on top of the tax situation. She was great. She called me when she discovered I had closed my account and opened a new one. She took care of helping me to reclaim my book A Secret Love   in my new account.

Since the account is new, the producer I was conversing with via ACX email was no longer available to me there. My inbox was empty of previous conversations and previous auditions. I had to go back to the page with the Producers's auditions and search for her. After clicking on her name I was taken to her page where I was able to send her an email and most importantly click the offer tab. I thought the offer was going to be time consuming and plenty of legal paper. It wasn't. It was just a few fill in the blanks, due date for first 15 minutes of the audiobook, date for completion, method of payment- royalty share or flat rate and expiration date of the offer. You can print out all the legal paper if you like. It' there to review before you send the offer.

My offer has been accepted and I am now awaiting the first 15 minutes of the audiobook. This is exciting!

Check back for continued updates on my progress with my audiobook for ASecret Love. 
In the mean time get the Kindle version available at Amazon  for 99 cents

Paperback is now available at CreateSpace an Amazon store 

Which Cover Is Your Favorite?