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. Once published, ACX operates as your book sales dashboard. 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. If you’re used to self-publishing ebooks through Kindle Direct Publishing, then you can think of ACX as the KDP of Audible. It’s the same way that a movie script can translate into a great movie with the right actor in the role. 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. I’d written the words that were spoken, but somehow my writing just sounded better. Here was James Hayden, full of swagger, larger-than-life, debating with a gruff William. When I listened to him read a sample of 43 Seconds, I couldn’t help but smile. Shamaan Casey is a professional narrator who approached me with a pitch for 43 Seconds. It was one of those happy coincidences where the timing is right and everything falls into place. Just as I began searching for a narrator, a narrator found me. In November of 2020 I began researching how to publish an audiobook. It had a whole new life of its own in those spoken words. I loved the book, but when I heard it narrated it was like watching the first Harry Potter movie after having read the book. All of that changed when I listened to Wil Wheaton’s narration of Ready Player One.
Indeed, I was a late adapter to ebooks for the same reason (which is ironic because I now primarily publish in ebook format). I love the appearance of the typeface and the slippery touch of a book jacket. I enjoy the feel of book paper as I turn the page. I think the reason I didn’t consider audiobooks is because I’ve always been a physical book fan. 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. My first ahah came when I realized I could listen to podcasts and actually learn something during my ride. Each morning I got in my car, drove thirty-five miles to work, then drove back.
0 kommentar(er)
