How to Make Money Publishing Audiobooks on Audible ACX (2024 Guide)

About this video

Sean Dollwet says he has made over $400,000 publishing audiobooks on Audible via ACX and sold over 100,000 audiobooks, and lays out his method. First, write to market: before creating a book, check Audible profitability — look for competing books with an Audible BSR below 20,000 and ideally 100 or fewer search results for the keyword, and pick topics that make sense as audio (not design- or illustration-heavy topics like recipe or coloring books). He shows checking BSR manually on the Amazon product page or with the paid BookBeam Chrome plugin. Second, favor longer audiobooks because ACX prices by finished length and Audible members tend to spend their credit on pricier books: he uses the rule that 10,000 words is about one hour, targets around 30,000 words (about three hours) as the sweet spot, and gives his own royalty estimates per sale rising from about $0.90 for under one hour to about $5.60 for 10-20 hours; guided meditation is offered as a low-word-count way to gain length through slow narration and pauses. Third, outsource production: he says a 30,000-word ghostwritten book costs around $650-$1,000 via Upwork or The Urban Writers, covers come from Fiverr (as low as $5) or a roughly $200 99designs contest, and narration on ACX costs $50-$70 per finished hour (about $150 for a three-hour book). Fourth, bundle existing narrated books into box sets. Finally, collect reviews using the 50 US and UK promotional codes ACX gives per book, distributed manually in Facebook groups or automated through BookSprout, following up about two weeks later. He closes by stressing quality plus volume of books.

Key takeaways

• Creator claims over $400,000 earned and over 100,000 audiobooks sold via Audible/ACX
• Validate topics first: competing books with Audible BSR below 20,000 and ideally 100 or fewer keyword search results; avoid design-heavy topics that do not translate to audio
• Target about 30,000 words (roughly three hours, at 10,000 words per hour) — ACX prices by length and, per his estimates, royalties per sale rise with finished hours
• Outsource: ghostwriting a 30,000-word book at around $650-$1,000 (Upwork or The Urban Writers), covers via Fiverr or 99designs, and ACX narration at $50-$70 per finished hour
• Bundle existing books into box sets and distribute ACX’s 50 US and UK promo codes via Facebook groups or BookSprout to generate reviews

Episode details: published November 14, 2022 · 15:02 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Business results and any income figures mentioned are Sean Dollwet’s own claims, shared for education — they are not typical or guaranteed.

← Previous: KDP Millionaire Tries Low Content Book Publishing - EASIEST Passive Income Idea? · Next: How to Get HUNDREDS of Reviews for Your Books on Amazon KDP →

All Sean Dollwet videos · Sean Dollwet profile · Sean Dollwet on YouTube