ACX Projects to Avoid

ACX

First, realize that you should have experience BEFORE you represent yourself as a professional narrator who can complete the job. About half of the general population has never listened to an audiobook. If their first experience is bad, they may never come back to the medium.

If you need more experience, volunteer for an organization like Learning Ally or your state’s reading service that records material for visually impaired or dyslexic people.

Before you even look at books available for audition, be aware that ACX is an open marketplace.

It’s not ACX’s policy to police the books that people make available in the marketplace unless the books infringe copyright. It’s our job as narrators to assess the quality of the books and be selective in our auditions.

Choose books that are in popular genres in the type of portfolio you want to build. Your work defines you as a narrator, and ACX projects will show up on Audible for 7 years. Producers and casting directors look at the number, length, and genres of your titles. If you have a lot of short (under and up to 3 hours) books, they may decide you are not serious about the work or are not capable of completing a longer title. Audio publishers invest a lot of money to acquire the rights to books and must be able to trust a narrator to finish within the deadline.

Before auditioning for a book on ACX or a freelance site like Upwork.com, examine the listing to determine whether it’s a REAL book with REAL prospects of generating sales.

The 3 most popular genres are Mystery, Romance, and Sci-fi. Your best bet would be a book in one of those categories with a duration of 6-8 hours. Audible listeners are less likely to use a credit for an audiobook under 6 hours, and you’ll find it more difficult to recoup your ROI on an RS book over 8 hours.

Beware of Scams

Most problematic books — including the “short” books discussed below — will be listed as Royalty Share projects, though some purport to pay a low PFH rate like $50.

You may be wondering what the scam is or how the scammer benefits. Previously, the Audible download codes given to rights holders and RS narrators could be used for any book. In addition, codes issued before 26 March 2020 paid royalties as if the promo code was an actual sale.

Scammers sold the codes on eBay and/or created Audible user accounts to claim the codes as a listener. Of course, they pocketed any royalties made on those books.

Now that the codes are tied to the particular book, sales of promo codes have stopped. However, the scammers still get royalties on sales.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Someone who doesn’t actually hold the audio rights may claim the book on ACX and try to create an audiobook illegally. If you have any doubts about the authenticity of the RH, contact the author or publisher outside of ACX to verify their listing.

A scammer might claim a popular author’s book, set up the ACX listing, and choose a narrator. The narrator spends her time creating the audiobook. The unethical cheat approves the audiobook so that it goes to Audible’s retail shelves. The author’s fans see the audio edition and purchase it, with the audio royalties going to the thief.

The crook has invested a few minutes in creating the listing and has no risk or consequences for their illegal actions. If the audiobook gets taken down, they will simply start other listings. Also, they could post the MP3s from the book other sites and continue to earn royalties. The more narrators they can snare with their fake listings, the more money they make.

The AudiobookScout.com site, run by author/narrator Craig Tollifson, also offers this page of flagged listings of titles that are suspected to be fraudulent.

Some red flags on book listings that should stop you from even auditioning for one:

a bestselling book by a well-known, popular author or brand (like the “For Dummies” series) especially from a Big 5 publisher — If it looks too good to be true, it probably is. Major print publishers have their own audio production channels and haven’t posted books on ACX for auditions. If you see a well-known author’s book, you would do well to contact the author and/or publisher outside of ACX to confirm that the listing is legitimate.
no Amazon ratings or sales rank. Conversely, an incredibly low sales rank with 50+ Amazon reviews could be a red flag if it is listed as a royalty share book. Most authors of popular books that are selling well would prefer to pay good PFH rates and retain all royalties.
no ability to Look Inside on Amazon
an centuries-old date like 1750 or 1800 in the header of the Amazon listing
audiobook for the title already exists. All editions are usually listed together on the Amazon page for the book, but you should also check on Audible.
audition text contains several poorly written and repetitive paragraphs, possibly in Courier font, that may or may not relate to the book’s title or is just the blurb about the book
audition text and/or RH’s comments are exactly the same as the sales blurb
non-fiction titles on a diverse and non-complementary variety of subjects with the same author posted on the same day or within a few days of each other. The covers are usually quite ugly and may just be text. Beware of authors with famous names like “J. D. Rockefeller“. Trust me, the dead Standard Oil baron is not posting a book about goat yoga on ACX! If you click that link, you’ll see almost 300 books on Audible under that name. Look to see how many of them have low or no ratings and poor reviews.
the same title is posted multiple times
poor English, grammar, and/or bad punctuation in the description and/or audition text. It may look like a poor translation and/or not make much sense.
RH expects you to buy the book to get the manuscript. Per Section 1 of the ACX Production Standard Terms, the “Rights Holder will provide to Producer the final recordable manuscript for the Audiobook within 3 business days after acceptance of the offer.”
RH sends you a flattering but generic message about liking your samples and asking you to partner with them on a book. Such messages may not include your name in the salutation or link to a particular book.
books in the Public Domain —This comment only applies to PD books posted for audition, which is against ACX rules for PD books. If you want to do a PD book, you can and should produce it yourself as I discuss in this article and comments. (Express Pass members also have access to the Create Your Own Path video course and its list of resources to help you find good public domain projects and publish your own audiobook.)

The adage “don’t judge a book by its cover” doesn’t necessarily apply here. Audiobook buyers DO judge a book by its cover, and so should you. Poor cover design can indicate that the author doesn’t expend money for her business, which could mean she won’t pay your PFH rate or do much marketing of an RS title. You also get clues about the book’s content.

Short Books

The RHs for the types of books listed in the bullet points below do not care whether the audiobook is a quality production. Scammers spend as little time as possible in creating dreck and hope an unsuspecting narrator would be inclined to do the work because the narrator thinks it’s short and would add to one’s portfolio.

Thousands of short books have been posted by scammers who only care about making quick royalties or possibly acquiring the unsuspecting talent’s voice for artificial intelligence applications.

DO NOT DO A SHORT (up to and including 3-hour duration) BOOK SIMPLY TO GAIN EXPERIENCE! DO NOT RATIONALIZE THESE BOOKS AS “QUICK TO DO”. You should not view these books as on-the-job training or practice work as a narrator.

Professional narrators don’t look at audiobooks as a way to make quick cash. We look at them as a career choice, and, as such, I only want my name associated with high quality books. If I wanted or needed to make quick cash, I would do the problem-solving exercise in this article.

Even if the book and author are valid, I still wouldn’t waste my valuable time on it:

cookbooks
diet books
essential oils books
gaming guides
computer programming guides
how-to books ranging from social media to chicken farming
summary books of popular titles —These listings could be considered plagiarism because the ACX rights holder isn’t authorized by the author and publisher to repackage and resell the info from the original book. While you can’t copyright an idea, RHs of these books use others’ work to make a quick buck.
any short title that has more SEO keywords in the title than actual title
any title where the rights holder tells you the finished book must run at least 3 hours and asks you to slow your rate of speech and/or add unnecessary silence
Amazon or Goodreads reviews for the title indicate it has a lot of spelling and/or grammatical errors
Amazon or Goodreads reviews have similar language and were posted on the same day, indicating fake reviews. Read some of the reviews. In one review for a suspicious listing, I discovered that the author had passed away, which meant more investigation of the RH was warranted.
travel guides by unknown authors
poetry
glorified pamphlets with an estimated finished time under an hour
books where the author comments that they don’t do marketing or otherwise doesn’t expect to make money like a family history or vanity project

These criteria are not necessarily mutually exclusive!

I’ve also seen an instance where the RH offered PFH payment and then asked the narrator to speed up their pacing to cut time from the book. Someone who is paying a PFH rate and wants you to arbitrarily change your pacing to shave off time is someone who wants to pay you less money for the project.

DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME AND TALENT on these so-called “books”!

Other Issues and Info

You can find some wonderful, well-written books on ACX, but you need to be careful and intentional about the books for which you audition and perform.

Due Diligence

You should do your due diligence to investigate whether the book warrants your time to audition.

You may receive a message from a RH inviting you to audition for their book. If you’ve recently updated your samples in your ACX profile, your name will appear near the top of the RH’s search results. Do not agree to do the book simply because you feel flattered that the RH contacted you.

As part of your due diligence, use the Amazon Look Inside feature to preview its text before you audition. You can even search the Amazon book for certain text that you’d find objectionable, such as sexual or violent content, as discussed in this 1:19 video.

Be sure to look at the author’s web site and social media links to determine how active and prolific they are.

I recommend that you always request that the RH send you the manuscript before you audition or at least before you accept an offer. You’ll learn:

their style of writing, including grammar and punctuation errors
their usage and frequency of curse words
their scenes with explicit sex and/or violence
their promptness in responding to messages

I don’t explain why I want to see the book. You could always say you want to ensure you are a good fit for the material.

If the text is riddled with grammatical errors, you can ask the RH to send you the edited version. Sometimes they made a mistake and uploaded the wrong file.

If you accept an offer but decide not to do the book for any reason, you should request contract dissolution before you produce the 15-minute checkpoint file. This article has some pointers and sample language.

Payments

I send RHs a link to my policy page upon project acceptance. You’ll see that I ask new clients to pay a non-refundable 50% depositwhen they approve the first 15 minutes and the balance after I upload the completed book. Remember that all PFH payments are paid by the RH outside of the ACX system. You must communicate with rights hold about your preferred method of payment.

People may contact you through the ACX messaging system about recording their book for a flat fee, but the book isn’t on Amazon. It’s possible that the author doesn’t want to use ACX for distribution but is using the site’s database to find a narrator. Once they have the audio files, they can upload the audiobook to any distributor. For that reason, it’s also possible — and I think more likely — that this situation probably is some sort of scam that can be avoided if you ask for the manuscript and insist on a non-refundable 50% deposit as I do.

Be very careful if a rights holder asks you to deliver files to them outside of ACX. On an RS or RS+ project, Audible pays you the royalties, not the RH.

In all projects that you accept on ACX, you will click “I’m Done” to send the book to the RH for approval. When they approve an RS project, your files will be released to QC and eventually Audible.

Once the RH approves an RS+ or PFH title, you then would be prompted to click “I’ve Been Paid.” You should wait to click that button until you actually receive payment. Otherwise, your files will be released for retail processing, and you will have no recourse.

What can I do to win more auditions?

Auditions/Career

The number one thing you need to do is FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS. I can’t tell you how many comments I’ve read over the years from casting directors who state they immediately reject auditions where the talent has not followed the instructions given.

For instance, if the audition file should be named and/or formatted a certain way, you should name and format your file EXACTLY as specified. Your ability to follow instructions is a test. If you can’t pass this test on an audition, how can the casting director trust you to correctly submit an actual project? Attention to details MATTERS.

Other Tips

Never submit your VO demo for an audiobook audition! Don’t even submit an audiobook sample from the same genre unless the instructions explicitly state this action is acceptable. Anyone casting an audiobook wants to hear how you interpret and perform the actual words from the book.

If the audition specifies the rate, for instance royalty share, do not audition if you are not willing to work for that rate.

Many auditions specify a particular accent for the role. If you can’t do the accent well, don’t audition. Also, you won’t be scoring any points if you upload an accent that is different than the one requested.

Auditions calling for one gender should not be submitted by a person of a different gender.

Pronunciation research is needed even for auditions. Don’t let a mispronounced word knock you out of the competition!

Most right holders provide an audition script; it’s a requirement on ACX. Some rights holders will upload the whole book. You are not expected to read the entire book for the audition. However, you should at least search it for any material you would find objectionable.

If you decide you’re right for the book and were given the book instead of a script, you would choose dialogue of the 2-3 main characters in fiction, as well as some of the narrative. The RH needs to hear how you will tell the story. Auditions on ACX should not last longer than 5 minutes.

Only audition when you are right for the book. Otherwise, you’re wasting your and the rights holder’s time.

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Thanks to project manager/director Tina Dietz for her permission to republish this information that she originally posted on Facebook.

From the Director/Project Manager’s Desk: 10 ways to get yourself cut from the running for an audiobook narration job

Sound like you’re in a fishbowl, tunnel, or cavern
Have the first sound you make be a mouth noise (still twitching)
Don’t read first words on the audition page (even if it’s “Chapter 15”)
Be nasal
Manage to sound both acid and flat at the same time (like a day and a half old cup of coffee)
Send an audition reel or set of samples instead of the actual audition script
Email the rights holder/project manager over and over again asking for updates
Narrate at the speed of being chased by a pack of wild dogs
Submit an audition that’s clearly the first time you’re reading the copy out loud

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Author Josh Steimle wrote the article How I Chose A Narrator for My Audiobook. Thanks to narrator Paul Heitsch for his permission to republish below his analysis of that article which he originally posted on Facebook.

The salient points for me were –

“In some cases I could tell within five seconds there was no way I was choosing a certain narrator.”

Takeaway – if the audition script is longer than 5 minutes, pare it down to sections that reflect what’s most likely to matter to the RH’s decision (see below). They won’t have time or the inclination to listen to dozens of 20-minute auditions looking for that nugget of wonderfulness that only you can create.

“Some of the voices were fine, even great, but the technology they used put them at a disadvantage…. I felt bad for these folks, because my rejection had nothing to do with their talent, and everything to do with them not using the right equipment.”

Takeaway – Does anyone still think that doing their physical space and signal path on the cheap is a clever strategy?

“There were other narrators who were “eliminated” because they never auditioned. They sent me questions through the ACX system but I didn’t have time to answer them so I never received their auditions.”

Takeaway – Never wait to audition when you see a title you think you’d be good for, and that meets your other criteria. If you have questions you can follow up later, but get that audition in their hands ASAP.

“I did not reject anyone due to price or gender. The winner was actually the most expensive…”

Takeaway – Don’t worry about being underbid. Bid what you’re worth. If the client disagrees, they’re not who you want to be working with.

“The winning narrator came close to making me feel as though I were there with Seth Farbman and the other CMOs, hearing their real responses. It felt natural, friendly, authentic.”

Takeaway – Read the audition script, and tease out which aspects are likely to be most important to the RH. And commit to performing *everything* as authentically as you can.

Common issues encountered by post production pros

Post Production

Thanks to sound engineer Amanda Rose Smith for her permission to republish this information that she originally posted on Facebook.

1. Don’t give your post person *your* deadline! Give them their own deadline, and pad in time from yours, preferably 48hrs. Things happen. People get sick. Also, there are turn around times. When I get a 7/15 deadline, what that means to me is 11:59 7/15. If YOUR deadline is 7/15, that poses a problem.

2. DON’T ACT OFF MIC! I know there are some coaches telling people to look away from the mic when you yell, or step back. They are WRONG. Both those things pose serious audio problems. You must learn to create a reasonable yelling approximation ON mic. While we’re on the subject, recording off axis in general, for other issues like plosives and sibilance, is ALSO WRONG. Those things are not helped by that and are actually usually exacerbated instead.

3. You should be 10-12 inches from your mic. Pop screen should be a minimum 2 inches away from the mic; you should be 8 inches from that. THIS will help with clicking, plosives, and sibilance — NOT being off mic.

4. It is not an editor’s job to change the character of your read. Most will shorten or lengthen pauses that seem out of character, but if you’re leaving wide gaps all over, those will likely stay in. This is just one reason why punch and roll is so important.

5. If you aren’t listening with headphones (everyone should be, but I know some people don’t), be very sure of your system and mic placement. If your book is full of plosives because your positioning is wrong, no one is going to fix that. An editor’s job is to support the overall performance of the book, NOT TO CHANGE IT.

6. An editor expects to spend a maximum of 3:1 on your punch recorded book. If you have so many issues that more than that is required for a great performance, they’ll start prioritizing, and smaller issues may not get fixed. This is not unreasonable. They need to make a living wage. If you’ve worked with several people and always find things aren’t to your standard, either the audio coming in isn’t high enough quality, or there’s an issue with hiring practices. The 3:1 ratio counts going over the edits you make and the admin involved in noting pickups and such.

7. NEVER think “we’ll fix it in post”. Post is for things you don’t even know need fixing, not things you don’t feel like fixing.

8. If you’re sending in a book to be mastered, SEND RAW. NO PROCESSING UNLESS APPROVED. This includes those of you on Studio One or Reaper especially. ALL channel plug ins on the input must be removed. If your mastering engineer can’t make the book sound better without your template, you shouldn’t be working with them to begin with. Channel strips are for auditions and some publishers ONLY (since some pubs require some slight tweaking before sending).

9. Be clear in communication ALWAYS. If you’re asking for mastering, or editing, or proofing, be completely sure what that includes. If your post person sends a sheet detailing that (I do), READ IT.

10. I can’t think of a #10 but the list bothers my neurotic sensibilities without one so here we are.

How to switch characters during recording sessions

Performance

When you start out, you may be tempted to record each character separately and edit them together.

Avoid this temptation. You should read the book straight through and switch your voice as needed for each character as s/he appears. However, when doing dialogue between characters with a wide variety in accents, you may find that you need to stop and punch in more frequently.

Each moment in the book builds on the one before it. Recording the voices independent of each other would cause 2 negative effects:

1. Editing the files together into the finished book would take entirely too much time.
2. The finished book would sound disjointed and choppy, which would result in listener frustration and complaints.

To be honest, if you’re not comfortable with the practice of easily and quickly switching voices as you progress through the book, you need to spend more time in practicing performance skills and perhaps doing more prep before undertaking a project to be sold commercially.

When should you upgrade software or hardware

Studio Configuration

Do not upgrade your software in the middle of a book if you can possibly avoid it. Set your system preferences for manual updates of your operating system.

If you are a Pro Tools user, be sure that your version of PT is compatible with any new operating system BEFORE you upgrade it. Look at the Pro Tools Operating System Compatibility Chart.

You never know whether you’ll run into a problem during the upgrade. Even if the upgrade does go smoothly, it could cause something else in your signal chain to break. I once upgraded my Mac OS without checking whether my Pro Tools or hardware interface would work with it. I had to upgrade Pro Tools and buy a new hardware interface, not that I had budgeted for either expense.

In addition, you may need to learn a new way of doing things. Software developers seemingly change the interface just for the sake of change rather than to actually improve functionality. You don’t need the added pressure of a looming book deadline while you figure out the differences in your software.

You don’t want to change your hardware or studio space in the middle of a book, either. You need to maintain a consistent sound throughout the course of the audiobook.

Also, keep in mind that you should backup your system before doing any upgrades. Regular backups are a very good idea. When I worked in IT, we told people: The only day you need to make a backup is the day before your system crashes!

What is Co-Narration?

Performance

Most audiobooks are performed by a single narrator. Co-narration occurs when 2 or more actors divide the performance of the text. These types of projects can be done 3 ways:

Dual narration — 2 actors narrate everything in the chapters associated with their main characters’ points of view, including the lines from the other actor.
Duet narration — 2 actors narrate their characters’ lines (and potentially those for all characters of the same gender) throughout the book. Normally, one person is the main narrator who would also voice the narrative portions. This approach requires extensive editing and therefore has a higher cost.
Multicast / Full Cast — 3 or more actors perform the text. The producer would determine which approach above would be used and inform each actor of their roles. The producer may mark or color-code the parts or divide the text to aid the actors and editor. This style of narration requires significant coordination and editing and is the most costly type of audiobook to produce.

Dual and duet narrations are especially popular in romance books when the point of view (POV) switches between the main characters. Both narrators read and prep the entire book so that they can fulfill the author’s vision. It’s important for the actors’ studios to be of similar sound quality so that switching back and forth in the audio is not jarring to listeners.

In a co-narration project, actors can perform their roles:

In the same studio at the same time. This option offers the highest quality recording and best collaboration, but it could require travel expenses and studio rental in addition to the narrators’ and editors’ fees.
At the same time in separate studios but connected via Zoom or other real-time system so that they are responding to each other as they record their lines.
Independently in their own studio. This option is easiest to schedule and budget, but the performances may not sound connected to each other.

Any time you’re an actor working with 1 or more narrators to create an audiobook, you need to collaborate and coordinate with your fellow actors so that you understand and utilize each others’ choices, especially with voices, accents, and pronunciations. The goal is creating a smooth and consistent listening experience, as if the customer was listening to the audio from a TV show or movie without any effects. You will want to follow the Co-Narration Standards developed by the Professional Audiobook Narrators Association.