Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS
On Oct 17, 2019, Mark Lefebvre and Kevin Tumlinson from Draft2Digital hosted a live webinar “Ask Us Anything” Q&A about audiobooks, relaying questions from authors to Will Dages, head of Findaway Voices.
This is a slightly abridged version of the audio track from this video, which you can see on YouTube.
Discussion includes the following topics:
- Findaway Voices Giveaway Codes, how they work, how authors can request them and track their use
- StoryOrigin promotion site for audiobook giveaway codes
- How to get started with setting up an audiobook via Findaway Voices
- Standard calculation for determing finished audiobook hours (9300 words = 1 finished hour – or, for easier math, assume that 10,000 words = 1 hour)
- Typical studio production hours based on word count of the original manuscript (Most audio producers work on a 3 to 1 or 4 to 1 ratio – it, if the manuscript is 100,000 words, that’d be 10 finished hours and would most likely take 30 to 40 hours of production time
- The Voices Share royalty share program and how it works (50% up front payment for production hours and a 60/20/20 split for author/narrator/Findaway) – and how the buyout works if you want to get out early
- The recent Audible text transcription controversy
- Whether or not an author can narrator their own books (spoiler alert: YES, you can, with the right setup/equipment/software)
- The origin of Findway Voices and the back story about the company Findaway, that has been around alot longer in the audiobook industry
- The built in pricing suggestion tool in Findaway Voices
- How easy/difficult it is to update your audiobook (both metadata and audio files)
- The cost and benefit of using Findaway Voices for distribution VS going direct (spoiler: Findaway keeps 20% of your royalties)
- A little bit about how exclusivity with ACX to Audible works
- Thoughts about loading audio samples to YouTube or other ways of promoting their audiobooks
- And more…
Links of Interest:
- Draft2Digital’s Blog Post: Everything Audiobooks with Will Dages from Findaway Voices (Full Transcript)
- The YouTube Video of the Webinar
- Episode 5 – Global Audiobook Opportunities for Authors
- Episode 15 – The Process of a Writer’s Life with Kevin Tumlinson
- Episode 22 – Finding My Way With Findaway
- Episode 52 – The Three Co-Founders of Draft2Digital
- Findaway Voices
- Patreon for Stark Reflections
