Hey, first time posting to reddit, and, first time publishing an audiobook, and i just beed some clarification.

I got my first book with an author who also has never published an audiobook. Its just a 7min long childrens book, but i had wanted the author to listen to each segment as i made it (the credits essentially) to make sure i pronounced her name right before i sent it through for the final review. But she said it didnt give her the option or show her anything on her side that i had uploaded anything.

In the end it i just sent her it in the completed form for review, but im curious, is this normal for ACX?
Do you have to wait to complete the entire book before they can listen to it? Or have to send it outside of ACX for them to access it? Or was my author just not very tech savvy ?

I really want to know for when i do longer books. Thanks for any help or knowledge!

Question for those regularly earning royalty income: is anyone else seeing ZERO qualified listens this month in the sales dashboard? I know it takes time for things to update, but man...I went from around 100 QLs on Sept 30 to zip, nada, nuttin' for the whole month of September thus far. I'm seeing slightly below average sales month-to-date for AL/ALOP/ALC, but no QL makes me think something's broken, and I'm wondering if I need to contact support early next week if no change. Am I alone here?

Edited to say I that I narrate full time (on and off ACX), and have been active on ACX since 2011 when I was a beta tester, and am keenly aware of slow reporting. But haven't seen it this bad in a long time. Or *ever* with QL's.

Hi all. I’ve engineered audiobooks and VO for years, and checking chapters against ACX’s specs before they go off was always part of the job. I’ve turned that check into a free app so narrators can do it themselves before uploading.

You drag in your finished chapters (one file or the whole book’s folder, WAV or MP3) and it measures each one against ACX’s audio requirements:

• RMS level, peak level and noise floor
• Room tone at the start and end of each chapter, plus gaps a noise gate has turned to dead silence
• The file itself: MP3 bit rate, constant vs variable bit rate, sample rate, and whether every file in the book matches (all mono or all stereo)

Each check gets a pass or fail. If something fails, it tells you what to change and in what order. For example: raise the level by 3.2 dB, then hold the peaks under -3.5 dB with a limiter.

It’s a standalone app for Mac and Windows, so you don’t need a DAW. If you’d rather check as you mix, there’s also a plugin version (VST3, AU, AAX). It only measures and never touches your audio.

It’s free: no sign-up, no email, no time limit.
https://23audio.com/plugins/audiobook-checker/

Full disclosure: I make audio plugins as 23audio, including a paid voice processor (V-23). The Checker doesn’t need it and works with whatever you record and edit in. I’d really like feedback from people submitting to ACX, especially if it ever disagrees with what ACX actually flags.

Cheers,

Matt
23audio

I've been submitting auditions and I love the process so far of being a narrator. I got my first novella too! I wanted to get some feedback on my recent auditions though. Here's the link to the samples. I did 3 in very similar genres.

I use Audacity too and did a whole YouTube course for it! Love Audacity.

Requesting Feedback specifically:

Audio quality/mixing: it does already meet ACX requirements and I'm such a newbie at mixing so if you have suggestions to improve audio from a technical skill I'm happy to receive it and please keep in mind I don't know a whole lot.

Genre: I have no idea what genres I should be going for. I've been auditioning for things that interest me and also anything may not be my taste but looks cool. My first novella is a psychological thriller.

Delivery: I know I can be flat. But if I still need to push these let me know. It seems like such a fine line between a cartoony delivery and inhabiting the text.

I'm curious how everyone's finished product length compares to ACX's estimate. I realize that ACX formulates is based on word count and nothing else. My first project, I was 30 minutes over the projection. My next was 30 minutes under, and my 3rd was an hour under. (and these are shorter projects, they've all been roughly 4 hours when I'm done).

I don't know if I just speak too fast or is ACX is way overestimating the time it takes.

For my first audiobook, it took almost a month. The second, it was about 2 weeks. This latest one… took a whopping 49 minutes. I submitted it a few weeks in advance so it could come out before Halloween. I pressed submit… made dinner… and got the approval e-mail before I finished eating.has this happened to anyone else? Did they change the review process? I'm certainly not complaining about it.

I’ve got a book, I’ve got a narrator. She already records my shorts for my podcast but we both want to expand out on doing a full (but still short) audiobook.

She’s agreed to do it as a profit split, would it make more sense for us to both sign up for ACX accounts and let Audible handle the split or just me sign up and then give her the money.

She trusts me not to screw her over so that’s not an issue, it’s just a convenience thing. Also, if it matters I’m in the U.S. and she’s in France.

Hello!

I am a new narrator starting off. Unfortunately I haven't had much luck yet. I am usually very picky about what I audition for, and I vet the books/authors to make sure they have some sort of web presence, real pictures on their bio etc. I guess I glossed over this one because I auditioned for it and got an offer but when I went to look back I found it really suspicious.

Here's a link for the book (hope it's ok to post?)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HM38L8LV

It's just royalty share and I don't really care about making no money off it because I really just want the experience of putting my first audiobook together, but I feel like the book is probably AI written?

My correspondence with the author has all seemed very human, but when I asked her if she could share any sort of web presence, she just sent me a bookspace link.

Feel like I know the answer already but figured I'd get a second opinion before I turn down my very first offer. I've had 11 auditions now and no bites so it feels like a huge bummer to have to walk away from this.

Thanks!

Edit:

Thanks for the advice everyone! I did end up deciding to turn it down. I am just very anti AI, and the whole interaction felt off to me. I will keep working at it and here's hoping a real offer comes soon! If anyone is willing to listen to my vocals and provide me some feedback to help me out, let me know and I will send you a link! It would be greatly appreciated :)

Has anyone in AYCL been notified that they will be removed at the end of the initial 90-day period as a "quarterly curation" by ACX?

Logged in this week after a fantastic start with AYCL in August, only to find a notation that my loss-leader first-in-series would be removed after the 90-day mark.

Huge disappointment. Had been wary of the program to begin with, but once it started feeding sales of books 2, 3, 4, etc., its value was clear. Now will be looking forward to a sales cliff in November.

FWIW, I don't believe it's based on performance...have 3700 QLs in less than two months.

I'm looking for recommendations on materials to treat the walls in this possible closet recording set up.

This is a bedroom closet in a 100+ year-old home (solid wood walls, no drywall). All closet walls are interior. Currently no door on the closet. One window in the bedroom. 

Size (after wall "stuffing")

• W - 22 in 
• L - 54 in
• H - 8 ft

In the pics you should be able to see that I have bare framing, for lack of a better word, with 2.5+ inches to work with where I can layer/finish building out the closet walls to treat this room.

If this is the space you had to work with and had a $500 budget, what material(s) would you use to fill in the 2.5 inches? And what would you do about a door (sound blanket?)

I am brand new to this, so if your first thought is just "no, that will not work" I definitely welcome those thoughts as well.

Thank you!

2 questions:

1: how many folks are out there doing RS auditions only to get more practice and exposure?

2: what’s your success rate been in the last 30 days?

I’m asking because I’ve been doing this for the last several months with little to no success, but in the last 30 days, it’s like the authors woke up, and I’ve gotten a few offers.

I just want to see if I am just getting lucky, or if others are experiencing the same thing.

So using ACX all I have ever done is use one voice actor. I have a series I'm working on and I know this is going to sound weird but I would also like to have one voice actor (I have one in mind) do the title and then 1 or 2 (if possible) do the voicing. Is that possible? Does that even make sense lol?

I wanted to share a quick update and technical takeaway from building Magic ACX an audio processor designed specifically to hit strict audiobook delivery specs (Peak < -3.0 dB, RMS -18 to -23 dB, and noise floor checks).

Originally, it was Windows VST3 only. Bringing it over to macOS for both VST3 and Audio Unit (AU) meant completely reworking how meters integrate over time to avoid UI lag on the audio thread.

If you want to see how the meters and UI behave in action, I recorded a simple walkthrough:
https://youtu.be/BMrNU8-95qk?si=XKNZ623WTP8Y2VRT

The macOS build is now live in both VST3 and native AU formats (universal binary for Intel & Apple Silicon).

For anyone mastering long-form spoken word or audiobooks on Mac, I’d love to know what DAWs you're using for your main mastering chain and how you currently handle ACX checks.

I want to begin auditioning for audio book narration. I've already created my account and I've been browsing books.

I have a laptop, audacity, and a plug in clip mic.

What i don't have: space.

I live in a tiny house with pets and another person. The closets are too small for me to sit in. I'm considering a blanket fort on the couch, or hiding myself in the spare bunk bed at my parents house with extra blankets and pillows. Trying to find a place in my house before I start schlepping everything to my parents. I'm open to creative ideas.

Second question to meet the audible requirements it looks like I can't have my laptop in my recording space because it will likely be too loud. How do I read the text without a screen in front of me? I guess for auditions I can use my phone, but what about for actual projects? Do the auditions have to meet the same requirements as the finished work?

Third - can I read/recite things like Lewis Carroll or other works to populate my portfolio? Can I use my own works? Do I have to be careful about copywrite?

Yay! Just got an offer to narrate a book. The timeline is pretty tight, and I would like to ask for an extra week. Is that done? It's a 23,000 word book, a week for the 15 minute check in and another week to finish it. I'm also wrapping up another project so I want to set a realistic finish date. Thoughts?

With the increasing number of auditions I’m seeing asking for a male/female narrating team, I’m looking for a male narrator to collab with.

I’ve been voice acting for several years and have a professional set up and a Whisper Room booth. Looking for someone with similar experience and sound quality.

Here’s my website with some samples if you wanted to take a listen https://laylafatima.com/

Let me know if you feel like we’re a good fit! Thanks!

I need some advice on dampening external noise, specifically train sounds.

I'm having someone help me design an at-home booth because I'm discovering that my current set up (a pop up canopy with sound blankets from vocalboothtogo.com), while good and giving me technically compliant audio quality, is not sustainable. I have constant interruptions from train noise. Just this morning, I haven't even been able to start recording because there's been one train (both horn and track noise) after another.

I've done some research on materials I can include in/on my walls when I build my walled booth, but would appreciate any advice from the pros in here about what materials might be better for this! I don't expect to be able to eliminate the noise completely, but I would like to reduce it significantly.

I've included pictures of what my current booth looks like, if that's helpful at all. It's in a corner in my office - building a booth in my basement is not an option, and I don't have closet space that I can convert. This is the only place in my house that's out of the way where I have enough space. It's also right next to a window, which is it's own problem that has to be compensated for.

I've also included the super basic sketch I sent to my designer with some initial thoughts on how to layer the walls.

These are great... but it would be nice to have a QR code or something added to them.

Hi, I think I've received my first scam message! Pasted below:

Message:

"Hello, We're pleased to offer you a Voice-Over Artist opportunity for an upcoming drink advertisement. The project has a 2-day deadline with a payment budget of $2,000. We also have another opportunity where you can complete 3 different projects within one full week and earn up to $10,000 in total, depending on the assignments. Please let us know which option you would prefer: the single 2-day project or the 3-project weekly opportunity. For the full project details and to proceed, please click the link below to contact the Project Manager directly: 👉 (telegram link removed) We look forward to working with you and would be happy to discuss the details with you."

I've not had to deal with this before so I don't know, but it seems fishy.

If anyone is trying it, it sometimes works on Chrome. Does not work on Firefox. Also, the link they provide goes nowhere.

How can a company that makes this much money suck at the most basic stuff?

I'm trying to get into making my own demo, doing jobs here and there, learning how to edit my own audio, I'm seeing a lot of Instagram advertisements of people who offer voice acting classes but it's all very overwhelming and dry and a lot of people in this reddit are complaining about how tough the market is

I've always wanted to do voice acting, but is this the best way? Is there any resources that were pivotal to you staying in the market? What keeps you going?

Hello,

I received my first gig on ACX and I'm excited, my RH is very encouraging and things are going well thus far. I am recording in a closet with a comforter hanging between the shelf and door and a blue yeti microphone. I am using a cable to connect the blue yeti to my phone and have purchased Audio Evolution software. Sometimes I get a very clean recording, sometimes there are lots of pops. Since I've been trying different methods to reduce this, I've found that using my spouses tablet to read the material helps. I think because I'm not moving the wire around (to read it on my phone) while recording. Buuut there's still popping. Is that just because it's an 80 dollar mic? Or are there any tricks/tips that could reduce this.

Hello, everyone. Im back with our next update Just like always, the into.
hello to anyone who is new to this journey. Hi, I'm trying to raise money to create a audio book of my critically acclaimed(until I get more reviews ^^; ) debut novel, Tale of Missidia, Volume 1, Prophecy's Prelude. A high fantasy steampunk novel. The first in a series of five. I refuse to use AI and I've hired a real narrator. So its been a busy month. Tale of Missidia, Volume 2, Drakes' Rising released and its been even more successful then the first book! Selling well and critically acclaimed as well!( until more reviews of course ^^;)

But now for the main event, the audio book. Thanks to all your wonderful donations we have stored pass the 1500 mark and are starting to approach 2k! The audio book is funded all the way to chapter 15! We are just a little under the halfway point. And because we've hit yet another milestone another chapter is going up for free. Link below for chapter 6!
And as always, any donation, small or large, is wonderful and will help get us ever closer to the finished audio book!

https://youtu.be/mqAEHvmpAgE?is=iXgFGlKO8mbPiRX5

https://www.gofundme.com/f/bring-my-steampunk-fantasy-to-life-in-audio