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| I am book, hear me roar! |
ACX.com is a division of Audible.com which, in turn, is a subsidiary of Amazon.com. They've essentially created a place for authors, narrators, and producers to come together and make audiobooks. As an author, You simply sign in with your Amazon account and create projects based on your books. You upload a sample that you want to have read and, eventually, you may receive an audition or two. You can also browse through auditions from their library of narrators and request to have them work with you. The best part, at least from the indie author perspective, is that it can cost as little as $0. With their 50/50 contract, and exclusive distribution through Audible, Amazon, and iTunes, you can have your book narrated for no cost at all to you.
I recently received an audition from a career voiceover actor and was absolutely blown away. I had uploaded my Prologue several months ago and had sort of given up hope of ever hearing back from someone. And, to be honest, I hadn't really put much effort into finding a narrator. It seemed like a superfluous thing to have. I mean, it's not like every book has an audio version, right? Well, after listening to the audition, I think I'm changing my tune. Get the right narrator and your story takes on a whole new life.
It was both terrifying and exciting to listen to my own words come back at me, acted out as I had heard them in my head. He had really nailed the intended voice, which made me feel pretty good about how I'd written it. I can only imagine what it must be like for someone to watch a movie based on their book. Listening is one thing; watching is a whole other story. It's still early yet, but I hope to follow up with more details and perhaps a sample chapter.
Have you used ACX, or are you considering it? Would love to hear your thoughts!
