13115: AMA! Ask Me Anything About Audiobooks, ACX And More
Hey there, hero!
Next week, Dan O’Day and I will be opening registration for the brand-spankin’-new edition of the ACX Master Class.
In fact, we’re running (as this podcast episode is being released live) a series of free video training on ACX, audiobook narration, the tech you need, the challenges you’ll face (and how, as a new narrator, we’ve seen our students meet them) and so much more.
But…if you have questions about audiobooks or ACX that you’d like to ask me directly, here’s your chance.
In this episode, I let you know what you can ask (pretty much anything, but I give you some guidelines) and how to ask (where to put your questions…hint-hint: scroll down to the comments here and leave them).
Then, next week, I’ll answer them all. I’ll be doing a last-minute produced podcast, plus a live event online, with Dan to answer each and every question.
What do you want to know about audiobook narration? If you want to become a narrator, what’s stopping you? What worries you about it? What do you need help with? Let me know in the comments below.
Raw transcript:
Raw transcript:
coming up in just a few days we are
going to be opening up registration for
the brand new uh ACX master class that
Dan O’Day and I put together and I
wanted to give you an opportunity by
giving you a heads up that I’m going to
be doing an AMA in next week’s podcast
during our registration period but I
wanted to give you the opportunity to
sort of cogitate on this and ask your
questions now
so I’m going to share with you the sort
of curriculum the kinds of questions you
can ask me which is pretty much anything
and we’ll do that in this episode of the
vo Heroes podcast
[Music]
So currently Dan and I are sharing free
videos with all of our uh viewers about
the world of audiobooks ACX uh narration
how it pertains to voiceover the gear
that you need the technique that you
need to put together the technical
nature of things uh how to run the
business these are all the things that
we do during the course of the four
weeks that is the ACX Master Class
and I’m always surprised
at the breadth of questions that are
asked by people when they get into the
guts of the course the course is very
deep very broad we begin with simply
creating the expectation about what the
business is your profile how to write it
uh how to attract rights holders the
people that want to hire audiobook
narrators during the second week we talk
about fiction audio and we talk about
presentation and narration and how
audiobooks are the same as and differ
from other areas of voice over and we
also just begin to touch upon the
equipment for a little bit in the third
week we actually dive into the equipment
because once that math problem is solved
you can move on to the rest of the
things and we deal with non-fiction
audiobooks as well and then we really go
deep into the business side of things
and not just with a CCX and audible but
with all of the other Publishers and
producers and platforms that have come
along in the almost 10 years or so that
we’ve been teaching the course and the
over 10 years that ACX has been around
that you can apply all the stuff that
you’re learning in the ACX masterclass
to all those other platforms so all of
those things together can generate an
amazing number of questions if you have
questions you don’t have to be an ACX
masterclass student to ask them of me in
this podcast next week between now and
probably the weekend
if you have questions that have either
just you’ve been curious about you don’t
really know the answer to how do you
know whether a book is worth doing
whatever what if it never sells uh what
kind of mic do you use you know all the
typical stuff that you might be thinking
um great but also
questions like you know how do you
differentiate between male and female
characters when you’re doing audiobook
narration uh why why would I want to do
non-fiction what does that you know how
what kind of you know Joy do I get from
from relating facts or or a you know a a
table of contents you know that kind of
thing
um think about it think about all the
things that I just laid out think about
if there’s things that you’ve been
curious about that have thought you know
come into your mind while you’re driving
or or while you’re doing other work
jot them down send them to me either
post them as a comment underneath this
video
or send me an email at davidlawrence
gmail.com
and I’ll be happy to answer them in next
week’s podcast I usually do these
podcasts several weeks if not a month or
so in advance but in this particular
case I’m doing this uh this next week’s
podcast based on what you give me in the
next few days so don’t wait right now if
you’ve got a question that you you have
always wondered about when it comes to
audiobooks I want to answer it so we’ll
do an AMA and ask me anything next week
and I would love to hear what your
questions might be so if you’re watching
this on YouTube uh you can go ahead and
leave a comment under the YouTube video
if you’re watching it on veoheros.com
leave a comment on the page where this
uh this audio or video resides
um let me know what it is that you want
to know about audiobooks about ACX about
Audible
about the equipment about building a
business around audiobook narration what
has puzzled you let’s answer those
questions for you in an AMA next week
right here I’m David H Lawrence the 17th
I thank you so much for watching and for
listening if you’d like to hit the like
button uh if you’d like to subscribe to
the channel to know when we release that
episode uh or any future episodes or be
notified of new episodes uh there’s a
bell you can ring I don’t know these
kids with their technology I thank you
so much for watching and for listening
and I will see you in the next episode
of the vo Heroes podcast
[Music]
from YouTube
I’m new to audiobooks, and I have two questions:
1. Is there a way to market myself as being a family-friendly audiobook reader, without meaning that I’ll only read children’s books, self-help guides, and technical manuals?
2. Is there a way to review a project completely before signing to do it? I imagine the answer is a very simple, “yes, read the book.” 😄
One of my main reasons for staying away from audiobooks is that it seems like it would take a lot of time to record and produce. As it is, my timeline for doing voiceover auditions and jobs is after the kids are in bed at night. I usually get about 2 hours of VO work done and then off to bed and wake up for the day job. So, what is a normal timeframe for producing an audiobook, and what is the average work time per day for that normal timeframe? Also, are clients looking for quicker turnarounds and how long is too long to turn in a finished product?
Hi David,
I have been watching (and enjoying!) the current videos for the ACX Masterclass with great interest – looking forward to seeing the Number Three!
I have a concern: There has been much ‘chatter’ online over the past year about Audible seeming to take advantage of Narrators (and Authors) over the issue of Returns of Audiobooks when performed on a Royalty or Royalty Share+ basis. (The previous Royalty Share/Royalty Share+ amount being clawed back for each audiobook returned from the respective Narrators & Authors).
What appeared to make this situation even more disadvantageous, it seemed, (for Ns & As) was Audible’s apparent encouragement for purchasers to return the product if they did not like it, for whatever reason – whether listened to in part or even in whole and without any apparent time limit within which to make the return.
In promoting the ACX Masterclass for audiobook work via ACX/Audible, I imagine you will have much better knowledge of how Audible currently treats its Narrators & Authors than the general public. Is this a subject that could perhaps be addressed in some way during the ‘Ask Me Anything about Audiobooks’ session?
I hope you may be able to provide some reassurance for those about to consider an audiobook narration career.
Ah! Found the comment – not under one of the three videos, but here! So…
…yes, this is a thing for some people – but it’s turned out to be far less of an issue than some narrators have worried it would become. I can only speak for myself (and my clients), but I’ve heard no outcry that our incomes have plummeted because of this – it’s not a new policy by any means (it’s been Audible’s policy since before Amazon bought them), and it’s the essence of a money back satisfaction guarantee.
Are there people who abuse it? Yes. They are few and far between and Audible bans them if they do it too often. Remember, it’s in Audible’s best interest not to refund money either, so they’d be losing even more than the narrators and authors would be losing.
Our industry is populated with some who are loud and righteously indignant about various issues, and because they’re not shy about voicing their opinion, that opinion can seem far more prevalent and common than it actually is. To confirm, yes this exists, and it’s far rarer than those who are the most angry about it would like you to think. My income is up over the last few years, and although that’s anecdotal, I think it’s far more indicative of the actual “fake returns” situation than “the sky is falling” is – we’d have seen the entire industry collapse from returns it it was actually as bad as some make it out to be.
Hope that helps!