to audio book or not to audio book?

Are you are thinking about having an audio book made of your novel? There are some things you need to know. Unless you are famous, your sales will be scanty. Audio books, while they are fun, are not a huge money maker.

So, still interested?

Before you begin, you need to ask yourself, what do I want? Are you looking for a physical CD of your book that you can sell at events? Or will a digital version satisfy your needs? How much are you able to spend on this project? Narrators can charge anywhere from $30-$145 per hour or more to record your book.

If a digital version works for you, there are two sites you might want to check out:

Audible (ACX.com)

This site produces a digital-only version of your book. You will not get a CD and nor can you download the files to create your own.

The pluses for Audible are:

1. For the budget conscious person, Audible offers a royalty share option*. The narrator and the author split the royalty. *This option locks you into a 7-year contract agreement with Audible.
2. Audible has a wide variety of narrators from which to choose.
3. Audible posts the finished product on Amazon.com and Audible.com.

Another site that produces digital versions of your book is:
Find A Way Voices (findawayvoices.com)

This site produces a digital-only version of your book.

The pluses for Find A Way are:

1. For the budget conscious person, they offer a Voices Share option. The narrator cuts their fee in half and takes 20% of the author royalty in exchange. So, as an example: if it was going to cost $1000 to record your 50k word novel, it would cost $500 upfront.
2. There are a number of narrators from which to choose.
3. Your audio book will be posted on 40+ websites.

 
Aside from these two options, there is also the DIY option. You can hire a narrator to make a digital copy of your book. Then you can produce a CD yourself, and distribute digital versions across the internet via findaway.com.

You can find freelance narrators at: upwork.com. Their hourly rates can vary from $30 per hour on up to over $145 per hour. But once your book is finished, you own your book's recording.

With all of these options, YOU will still need to market your product via social media, your website, newsletters, mailers, podcasts, etc. Your success will depend a lot on you and the time you invest.

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