Questions about audio books

Bongo · Oct 5, 2017

I know I can search for answers on my own, but this IS a forum and thought it might be more efficient to just ask

.

I know absolutely nothing about audio books. I never bought nor heard one, but it's been suggested many times that I have one made for my book. I currently have a paperback (through CreateSpace) and Kindle version.

Where should I begin in learning about doing this?
How much investment would I be looking at?
I have access to high end recording equipment (I'm a professional musician). Can voice over people be hired independently so I wouldn't have to pay studio costs?
Is there any kind of clear correlation or stats regarding the sale of audiobooks, Ebooks, and paperbacks. Like if someone sells 100 a month of readable books, can they anticipate a percentage of that for audiobooks?
I see there are iTunes audio books, Amazon has their own thing going on, and then there are CD books and who knows what else. Is there a resource where I can get good solid information on all of this?
What things SHOULD I be researching if this is something I'm considering doing?

Any help is appreciated.

RightHoJeeves · Oct 5, 2017

I haven't had one produced myself, so I'm no expert, but I've read a bit about it.

Bongo said:
Where should I begin in learning about doing this?

Quite a few people over on kboards have had audiobooks produced, and to great profit.

How much investment would I be looking at?

Honestly, probably quite a bit. Like 3-4k, from memory. It's not the thing people normally do unless they're already selling a lot of ebooks. If you've got a good audience already then sure, it can be worth the investment. But if you're not selling a lot at this stage in your career, it might not be worth it yet. I tend to think of it as a bit of a "phase two" investment.

I have access to high end recording equipment (I'm a professional musician). Can voice over people be hired independently so I wouldn't have to pay studio costs?

Sure, but then you'd be limiting yourself by location. That might be totally fine, but if the person you want lives on the other side of the country, it's probably worth paying for them to do it in their studio, rather than saving money on a local who isn't as good. Of course you might find someone really good in your city/town.

Is there any kind of clear correlation or stats regarding the sale of audiobooks, Ebooks, and paperbacks. Like if someone sells 100 a month of readable books, can they anticipate a percentage of that for audiobooks?

I think that differs hugely by person, because it would also be related to the author's marketing efforts. But from what I've read, if someone is selling a lot of ebooks, then they'll probably be able to sell a lot of audiobooks.

I see there are iTunes audio books, Amazon has their own thing going on, and then there are CD books and who knows what else. Is there a resource where I can get good solid information on all of this?

Check out kboards, there are quite a few threads going on there.

What things SHOULD I be researching if this is something I'm considering doing?

Firstly, I would buy and listen to a couple dozen audiobooks so you have a good idea of what they actually are.

One last thing:

I never bought nor heard one, but it's been suggested many times that I have one made for my book.

Who exactly is suggesting you make one for your book? My dad has suggested that I get one made, because he likes audiobooks. But I know I'm not selling anywhere near enough to justify the cost, and I'm not willing to lay down a couple grand on something my friends or family suggest. If you've got a lot of fans you don't know asking, that's a different story.

Bongo · Oct 5, 2017

RightHoJeeves said:
I haven't had one produced myself, so I'm no expert, but I've read a bit about it.

Quite a few people over on kboards have had audiobooks produced, and to great profit.

Honestly, probably quite a bit. Like 3-4k, from memory. It's not the thing people normally do unless they're already selling a lot of ebooks. If you've got a good audience already then sure, it can be worth the investment. But if you're not selling a lot at this stage in your career, it might not be worth it yet. I tend to think of it as a bit of a "phase two" investment.

Sure, but then you'd be limiting yourself by location. That might be totally fine, but if the person you want lives on the other side of the country, it's probably worth paying for them to do it in their studio, rather than saving money on a local who isn't as good. Of course you might find someone really good in your city/town.

I think that differs hugely by person, because it would also be related to the author's marketing efforts. But from what I've read, if someone is selling a lot of ebooks, then they'll probably be able to sell a lot of audiobooks.

Check out kboards, there are quite a few threads going on there.

Firstly, I would buy and listen to a couple dozen audiobooks so you have a good idea of what they actually are.

One last thing:

Who exactly is suggesting you make one for your book? My dad has suggested that I get one made, because he likes audiobooks. But I know I'm not selling anywhere near enough to justify the cost, and I'm not willing to lay down a couple grand on something my friends or family suggest. If you've got a lot of fans you don't know asking, that's a different story.

If I had the power to grant an award for one of the best post responses ever on a forum - you'd get it

. Thanks. Great info, and precisely what I was looking and hoping for. Got a laugh out of me too with your father suggesting the audio book

. I'm not selling tons of books, but more I think than most who are first time authors with a self help book. "Many times" in my OP may have been an exaggeration - 4 or 5 friends/writing buddies told me they thought it would be a good idea. FWIW, I've sold 1100 books since it's release the start of this year. I realize that isn't exactly viral, but haven't really done much advertising at all. I'm planning on sinking a lot more money into the book once I iron out the last few kinks. I want to put together the best game plan possible and have been asking lots of questions here, and on another forum. I'd like to get the ball rolling, hopefully on it's own, and then get moving with my second book. Jan. 1 is my target date to begin...

Thanks again.

M. H. Lee · Oct 6, 2017

RightHoJeeves answered most of your questions, but I'll just add a few points.

Most self-publishers in the U.S. use ACX (www.acx.com) as their platform for producing audiobooks. It's a good resource if you're just trying to figure out where to get started and what's involved in all of it. (You can also have a place like ListenUp or Findaway Voices do all the work for you and they're available if you're non-U.S., Canada, UK, Ireland. I think Kobo is affiliated with ListenUp and D2D with Findaway, so should have links from their sites.)

If you're doing non-fiction the cost may not be as high as for a novel. $4K is about right for a top-quality novel. I've gotten away with paying less but not sure I'd do it that cheap again. You pay for audio based on finished hour and the estimate is that it's about 9300 words per finished hour. For non-fiction I've done well paying in the $100-$200 range for narrators and some of my non-fiction is only a couple hours long in audio, which means I was able to put those books in audio for less than $250.

The general consensus is that your audio sales will be a smaller percent of your ebook sales. Think maybe 5%. However...one of my non-fiction audio titles has sold about ten times as many copies in audio as it has in ebook or print. That's not the case with my other non-fiction, so don't think that's how it always goes. It's just to point out that sometimes you won't know how your book does until you try it.

Dennis E. Taylor · Oct 6, 2017

M. H. Lee said:
The general consensus is that your audio sales will be a smaller percent of your ebook sales. Think maybe 5%. However...one of my non-fiction audio titles has sold about ten times as many copies in audio as it has in ebook or print. That's not the case with my other non-fiction, so don't think that's how it always goes. It's just to point out that sometimes you won't know how your book does until you try it.

I'm sure that the ratio can vary all over the place, depending on when you release each version, who you have as a narrator, etc. My audio sales for the Bobiverse series are about 3-4 times my e-book sales. But since I make almost twice as much per unit for e-books, I end up with about 2/3 of my ongoing royalty income coming from audio and the remaining 1/3 from e-book. Physical copies, as a percentage, barely register.

In my case, all versions were released at the same time, and my narrator is well-known and already has a following. And he was perfect for the part.

One of the advantages of audio books, from an author POV, is that there are far fewer of them. This is partly because most of them are not "self-published" in that the audio company (audible.com in my case) is acting like a traditional publisher, i.e. you query them and they offer you a contract; and partly because the self-published ones require some commitment from the author ($$). So you have a smaller number of books to choose from and you're not lost in the massive listings.

RightHoJeeves · Oct 10, 2017

Bongo said:
If I had the power to grant an award for one of the best post responses ever on a forum - you'd get it .

Oh, thank ye kindly!

FWIW, I've sold 1100 books since it's release the start of this year. I realize that isn't exactly viral, but haven't really done much advertising at all. I'm planning on sinking a lot more money into the book once I iron out the last few kinks. I want to put together the best game plan possible and have been asking lots of questions here, and on another forum. I'd like to get the ball rolling, hopefully on it's own, and then get moving with my second book. Jan. 1 is my target date to begin...

That's a good number, especially given its your first book and you haven't done much advertising.

May I suggest something though (this may or may not be relevant)... are you looking to publish more stuff? If you are, I would hold off on sinking a lot more money into the book.

If you've got, say, 5 books out there, "a lot of money" is going to get a bigger return than if you've just got one book, because there's nothing else for people to buy. If Apple advertises a new iPhone, people go onto/into the store and see a whole bunch of other stuff they can buy.

It's just a thought. Not saying you need to write more. But if you are, it would be more strategic to save your marketing budget for when you've got more stuff to sell.

MaeZe · Oct 10, 2017

As an avid listener of audio books (best use of stuck-in-traffic commuter time), let me add one thing to what's been posted, listen to the readers. A bad reader can ruin your book, a good one can sell it.

Super_Duper · Oct 12, 2017

Here's a dirty secret about audiobooks through iTunes -- they are really just coming from Audible, through iTunes. So realy it makes better sense to just cut out the middle man and buy straight from Audible.

MaeZe · Oct 12, 2017

Super_Duper said:
Here's a dirty secret about audiobooks through iTunes -- they are really just coming from Audible, through iTunes. So realy it makes better sense to just cut out the middle man and buy straight from Audible.

Would those be the audio books that turn written books to audio through a computer program? Because I tried that with my Kindle and it was awful, impossible to listen to. Instead of a person reading the book, it was a monotoned, erroneously inflected audio.

Questions about audio books

Bongo

RightHoJeeves

Bongo

M. H. Lee

Dennis E. Taylor

Get it off! It burns!

RightHoJeeves

MaeZe

Super_Duper

Jedi Knight

MaeZe