Creating a free audiobook on Amazon ACX can help to increase your royalties as an author. You’ll give your audience more variations of your book and it doesn’t have to cost you anything if you use ACX.
To my knowledge, Amazon ACX is still a relatively new platform that many writers are not yet hip to. There are other marketplaces, like Fiverr or Reedsy, that garner more attention from authors when it comes to creating an audiobook.
One of the biggest upsides of ACX is that you can get your audiobook created for virtually no upfront costs. It’s also easier to upload and sell on Amazon if it’s created on ACX.
But we’ll dive into all that soon, let’s start with the basics of Amazon ACX.
- What is Amazon ACX?
- Is Amazon ACX free?
- How do you earn royalties on ACX?
- How to find a good narrator on ACX?
- Takeaways of using Amazon ACX
What is Amazon ACX?
Amazon ACX is Amazon’s audiobook creation platform. It brings authors and narrators together so they can collaborate on audiobook projects. I’ve used Amazon ACX a few times for my audiobooks and it has always worked out perfectly for me.
ACX makes for a great side hustle if you’re an author or narrator. It provides opportunities for people with all kinds of voices to earn royalties. It also provides an open marketplace for authors to pick and choose from a variety of auditions to narrate their books.
Is Amazon ACX free?
Yes, using Amazon ACX is free for authors and narrators. It’s free to sign up and if authors choose to do a royalty split with their narrators (both earn 20% royalties from each sale) then you can get your audiobook created for free.
I’ve always chosen the royalty split option because audiobooks can be a hefty upfront investment. I always try to get the audiobook made for free and then just split the lifetime royalties with the narrator. I personally think the deal is more attractive to narrators because they’ll receive passive income for as long as your audiobook continues to sell.
How do you earn audiobook royalties on ACX?
Earning royalties from Amazon ACX is simple. After your book is live, it can start to get sales. Amazon will push new audiobooks to help them get more sales and they’ll also give you promo codes for your books. Using promo codes also helps generate organic sales for your books and increase their book rankings on Amazon. It’s no secret that high-ranking books on Amazon do better.
Just like with Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), you have to wait a few months to start receiving your royalty payouts. Amazon will begin direct depositing your payments to your bank account on file when those few months have passed.
How to find a good audiobook narrator on ACX?
Narrators will reach out to you on Amazon ACX. Authors submit a sample of their book to be read by narrators and they submit auditions to be listened to. I went through about a dozen auditions before choosing my narrator.
Things I look for in a good narrator on ACX are:
- Overall sound
- Reading flow and speed
- Production quality
I have to make sure the overall sound of the narrator’s voice goes with the style of my book and isn’t hard to listen to. Then, I make sure they are stopping at all of the necessary punctuation points and aren’t running through the script. Last, I like narrators who have a good sound setup. I don’t want someone who’s recording from their smartphone, I want someone who’s in a recording studio.
For example, my narrator is a choir singer who has a recording studio at his house and a very professional voice. He understood the style I wanted from my sample and always does a great job. My narrator on ACX is so good that I always go back to him after I publish a new book. Yes, you can choose to send offers to repeat narrators that you want to collaborate with on ACX.
Takeaways of using Amazon ACX
ACX is a great platform for new and veteran authors to create audiobooks. It’s easy to use, integrated with Amazon and can be free depending on which royalty plan you choose.
Of course, there are a ton of author platforms out there for writers to choose from when creating an audiobook, but my favorite is ACX. Research your options and check out our other resources for side hustle books.
Also, learn why publishing a free book, in general, is a great idea as a new author.