Posts Comments

You are here: Home / VO Niches / Audiobooks / ACX Incentive

ACX Incentive

July 11, 2011 By 10 Comments

The launch of Audible’s site for narrators in May sent ripples through the audiobook business.  The blog I wrote about ACX was one of my most-visited articles.

Check back in a few days, I’m working on some Q & A with one of the principal officers you’ll want to read.  In the meantime, the folks at ACX are offering some meaningful incentives you may want to consider as you decide on auditioning.  (note, offer assumes you’re “approved”…See below the release they sent me).

The offer below is a creative tool.  Overall, the compensation model ACX has devised is not perfect, but shows they did plenty of research and consideration before launch.  It reveals what I believe to be the widest spectrum of choices for narrators seeking more work, and hoping to find a pay solution that works for them.

ACX’s limited incentive plan:

To celebrate the first hundred ACX audiobooks in production, we have a new special offer for you, THIS OFFER IS ONLY FOR PRODUCERS WHO ARE EITHER “AUDIBLE APPROVED” OR WERE PART OF OUR BETA-TESTING PROGRAM EARLIER THIS YEAR.

If you accept a Royalty Share offer on any ACX title by August 31st, it comes not only with the usual extra $100 per-finished-hour stipend (e.g. $1,000 for a 10-hour audiobook), but we’ve sweetened the pot by making your second Royalty Share deal earn a $200 per-finished-hour stipend (e.g. $2,000 for a 10-hour audiobook), and your third Royalty Share deal earn a $225 per-finished-hour stipend (e.g. $2,250 for a 10-hour audiobook). See Stipend Offer Terms and Conditions for complete details and requirements. The stipend is, of course, in addition to the Royalties and Bounties you earn on sales of the audiobook. Here’s how it’ll work, step by step:

  1. Choose any book being offered as a Royalty Share deal. We especially recommend titles from this list, which were hand-picked by Audible’s editors for their good sales potential
  2. Submit your best audition
  3. If you get a Royalty Share offer on one (or more) of these titles, accept the offer.
  4. Upon your completion and approval of the audiobook, submit an invoice to ACX for $100 or $200 or $225 X the number of finished hours
  5. We pay you that fee
  6. You also earn half of the 50 – 90% escalator royalty on each sale of the audiobook (i.e. 25% – 45% as outlined here)
  7. You also earn half of any $25 bounty generate by downloads of the audiobook, as outlined here

You can get this per-finished-hour stipend offer on up to three productions, so don’t be shy about auditioning. Good luck!

Best,
The ACX Team

Comments

comments

Filed Under: Audiobooks, Auditions, Compensation Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Comments

  1. Andy Bowyer says:
    July 11, 2011 at 7:08 pm

    I would like to add the following addendum, Dave, to your (as always) wonderful and informative posting:

    I got the SAME email.

    Almost.

    Mine read as follows:

    “To celebrate the first hundred ACX audiobooks in production, we have a special offer for you.

    If you accept a Royalty Share offer on any of these titles by August 31, it comes with”…

    Notice the lack of the all caps verbiage referring to those “Audible approved” or “beta testers.”

    I would implore ANYONE who is currently narrating an ACX title to check that list for something they are already working on. One of MY titles is on that list.

    And I intend to collect on their offer. :)

    Thanks, as always, CourVO. You’re a Prince amongst Men.

    ab

    Reply
    • CourVO says:
      July 12, 2011 at 12:40 am

      Andy,

      Interesting! VERY interesting. Thanks for making that distinction for visitors to the blog….and congrats on securing your THIRD ACX contract!

      People…wanna know how to land ACX jobs? Ask Andy…he’s got the formula!

      CourVO

      Reply
      • Lisa says:
        July 13, 2011 at 2:57 pm

        I received this email as well from the ACX team…I’ve been submitting auditions thru ACX, and looking for any tips on actually using this site effectively? is it just a matter of audition audition audition?

        Thanks!
        lisa

        Reply
        • CourVO says:
          July 13, 2011 at 4:10 pm

          Lisa,

          You need to talk to Andy Bowyer…he’s knockin’ em down….I believe he has 4 successful contracts since ACX opened. I can’t say how many auditions he sent in. but that’s pretty good success, I’d say.

          warm regards,

          Dave C

          Reply
  2. Paul Boucher says:
    July 11, 2011 at 10:48 pm

    Dave,

    As usual, well sourced, valuable info for your peers.

    You are a prince among men.

    Thanks.

    pb

    Reply
  3. Peter Bishop says:
    July 15, 2011 at 4:26 am

    Just to reiterate the points made earlier really… The recent deal is out there and anyone who’s signed up as a reader should have received an email. I’m lucky enough to have two ACX books in production, and got to do my little “happy dance” when I realized that one of them was on the list (and awarded within the eligible time window). It’s the closest to free money I’ve ever had! … I mean, I’d agreed to do it already and then someone throws me an extra $800 :)

    As the question was raised regarding Andy’s success rate (good job that man!) … My two books have resulted from a total of fourteen auditions. I’m really quite happy with that conversion rate.

    Dave, thanks for providing a constant stream of valuable and interesting information. Always top-notch… that is, except when your picture of the OOS Alesis iODock is upside-down :)

    Cheers
    Peter

    Reply
    • CourVO says:
      July 15, 2011 at 10:22 pm

      Peter,

      Thanks for visiting and commenting…ACX is an incredible opportunity as both you and Andy are proving.

      BTW, the upside-down Alesis unit was a deliberate act. :))

      Dave C

      Reply

Speak Your Mind

*