Have you finally finished writing that book that’s been trying to be birthed, perhaps like the small creature in the Alien movie?  And perhaps you have decided to publish it yourself through Kindle and Nook, even Create Space.  So, you’re finished, right? Now, all you need to do is wait for the money to start flowing in.
Well, I’d like to suggest one other possibility for your book that might just expand that flow of money — create an audiobook edition that can then be marketed through such sites as Amazon.com, Audible.com and even iTunes.
There’s even a new web-based service that makes this easier than it’s ever been before. It’s called the Audiobook Creation Exchange or simply ACX.
At ACX you’ll have the choice of recording the book yourself or contracting with a narrator/producer. According to ACX there are some advantages to recording it yourself:

  • “It’s your book, so your voice tells it best. You know your characters, your story or subject, and your words better than anyone else. Narrating is a creative way of expressing your thoughts to listeners, just like articulating them on paper is a way to express yourself to readers.
  • You keep more revenue. If your book is produced through ACX, you’ll likely share royalties with a narrator or pay a narrator upfront to perform your audiobook. When you narrate your own book, all of your audiobook’s revenue goes to you.
  • You just might enjoy it! Narrating your own book can be a rewarding, satisfying way to bring the creative process full circle.”

But if that’s not your thing, then you can connect with other professionals who can record it. Here’s what ACX says about going in this direction:
Once you find your book in ACX’s database (they use Amazon’s database), you “then create a Title Profile for your book. Afterwards, one of the following three things will happen:

  1. Narrators, audiobook studios, and other Producers will find your book on ACX and proactively audition to record your book.
    OR
  2. You’ll search ACX’s database to find the perfect Producer to record your book.
    OR
  3. An Audio Publisher searching ACX will message you about buying the audio rights directly from you.”

Pretty nifty, right?  But there’s one more little twist that I think is the niftiest of all. It’s called Whisperync for Voice:
“Now you don’t have to put a good book down even if you’re cooking, running, or commuting. Switch back and forth between the Kindle book and the Audible audiobook without ever losing your place.”
How cool is that for both authors and readers.