Self Publishing Audiobooks through Audiobook Creation Exchange Non-Exclusive Distribution

About this video

Dale explains publishing audiobooks through ACX (Audiobook Creation Exchange) with non-exclusive distribution. ACX is Amazon-owned and feeds Audible, Amazon, and Apple iTunes, and he says the lion’s share of audiobook profits currently comes from Audible — but going exclusive limits you to those three platforms. He says exclusive pays 40% royalties versus 25% non-exclusive, and non-exclusive loses ACX promotional codes, but opens other avenues. Those include audiobooks on CD via Amazon’s media-on-demand platform, video versions of the narration over slides or page turns — including on YouTube, where watch time could lead to the YouTube Partner Program and AdSense, plus promoting the ACX bounty program in descriptions, which he says pays $75 — and Amazon Prime Video Direct, which he says pays per watched hour and requires suitable artwork and closed captioning (he mentions using Rev.com). He also covers aggregate audiobook publishers that distribute to many platforms for a share of net profits, naming Findaway Voices and Authors Direct, and recommends checking the Alliance of Independent Authors watchdog list for vetted platforms. He notes non-exclusive is not forever and you can contact ACX support to change. The bulk of the video is a screen-share tutorial for Findaway Voices: downloading finished chapter files from a completed ACX project, creating a ‘sell existing audiobook’ project, filling in metadata, BISAC categories, ISBN links, on-sale and copyright dates, setting retail and library prices, uploading 3000x3000 cover art rather than stretching smaller art, choosing standard distribution, deselecting Audible and Amazon among Findaway’s 41 partners to avoid duplicate publishing (while noting Apple distribution via Findaway replaces ACX’s), uploading and ordering the audio files, and submitting for review. He says standard distribution provides 30 giveaway codes.

Key takeaways

• ACX exclusive pays 40% and includes promo codes but limits distribution to Audible, Amazon, and iTunes; non-exclusive pays 25% but allows distribution elsewhere, and the choice can be changed via ACX support
• Non-exclusive avenues he names include CD via Amazon media on demand, YouTube and Prime Video Direct video versions, and aggregators such as Findaway Voices and Authors Direct
• When uploading an existing ACX audiobook to Findaway Voices, download the finished files from ACX, skip the 15-minute checkpoint file, and rebuild the project with full metadata and BISAC categories
• Findaway cover art must be 3000x3000 — get proper art from your designer instead of stretching smaller artwork, which will look pixelated
• Under Findaway standard distribution, deselect Audible and Amazon to avoid duplicate publishing; set library pricing at roughly 2-3 times retail for outlets that buy the title outright

Episode details: published November 1, 2019 · 16:26 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Business results and any income figures mentioned are Dale L. Roberts’s own claims, shared for education — they are not typical or guaranteed.

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