Is Amazon Just A Wolf In Sheep's Clothing?
Carolyn Howard-Johnson shares writers’ resources on her award-winning blog Sharing with Writers
My friends and fellow authors kept telling me, “You have such a pleasant speaking voice, why don’t you try making an audio version of one of your Tales2Inspire books. So during Covid, while isolating a lot and feeling a bit bored, I decided to give it a try.
Well first, of course, I had to purchase the proper equipment. You know, without getting too extravagant, I spent about $100 for a decent microphone and pop filter. (The latter is used to screen out some of those extraneous popping sounds caused by recording certain words, especially those starting with the letters p, t, k, b, d, g. Try it yourself. Put a hand up over your mouth as you say words such as pain, kid, bag and you’ll feel the air that pops out of your mouth.)
And that’s for a professional producer – so if you’re a novice, narrating and producing your own audiobook, you can expect it to take a lot longer than that. Perhaps I recorded 3-5 finished pages per hour, and trust me that is a conservative estimate. I was constantly listening, cutting, and rerecording. So let’s do a bit of math.
The payoff must be in royalties, I thought. Here’s the rub: If I agree to an exclusive, I receive a 40% royalty, which totals $5.88 per audio book sale. (A non-exclusive yields even less – only 25%, a grand total of $2.99 per sale.)(Just as a side note, you should know that that’s well below the industry standard of 70% for other digital products, like games or apps.)Authors are given a special link to promote their audio books, so that if others order using that link, the author is rewarded. But in their own words, here is how:
Lois is an associate of TheNewBookReview, working with a passion to help other authors strengthen their visibility on this blog and elsewhere. Through her annual Tales2Inspire contest, a labor of love that has received worldwide recognition, she accepts entries from talented newbies and accomplished authors alike and continues to feature her winning authors on an ongoing basis. True to her ‘Authors Helping Authors’ philosophy, she charges no submission fee for folks to enter her contest. She receives no remuneration for any of her services, but hopes those who benefit from them will express their appreciation by purchasing Tales2Inspire anthologies and writing reviews. In her continuing spirit of “Authors Helping Authors,” Lois provides several tips on how authors can help promote themselves while writing honest reviews for others. To read her article, Be a Hero: Make Some Magic for Yourself. CLICK HERE.
All details for submitting stories to her annual Tales2Inspire anthologies are detailed HERE. To date, winning authors whose stories are published in Tales2Inspire anthologies come from across the USA, Canada, Australia, South Africa and the United Kingdom.
Carolyn Howard-Johnson is the multi award-winning author of fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry. She is also a marketing consultant, editor, and author of the multi award-winning #HowToDoItFrugally Series (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BTXQL27T/ ) of books for writers including “The Frugal Book Promoter” (https://bit.ly/FrugalBookPromoIII), and “The Frugal Editor” both offered in their third editions by Modern History Press. Others in that series are “How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically,” and two booklets, both in their second editions also from Modern History Press. The booklets, “Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers” (https://bit.ly/LastMinuteEditsII) and “Great First Impression Book Proposals” (https://bit.ly/BookProposalsII) are career boosters in mini doses and both make ideal thank you gifts for authors. The one on writing book proposals is also available as an Audio Book. “The Frugal Editor “(https://tinyurl.com/TheFrugalEditor), was recently released in its third edition. It is the winningest book in this series for writers. Carolyn also has three frugal books for retailers including one she encourages authors to read because it helps them understand what is needed to convince retailers to host their workshops, presentations, and signings. It is “A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques” (https://bit.ly/RetailersGuide). In addition to this blog, Carolyn helps writers extend the exposure of their favorite reviews at https://TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com. She also blogs all things editing–grammar, formatting and more–at “The Frugal, Smart, and Tuned-In Editor” (https://TheFrugalEditor.blogspot.com). Learn more and follow it to get news on her new releases directly from Amazon at https://bit.ly/CarolynsAmznProfile.MORE ABOUT THE BLOGGER Carolyn Howard-Johnson is the multi award-winning author of fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry. She is also a marketing consultant, editor, and author of the multi award-winning #HowToDoItFrugally Series (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BTXQL27T/ ) of books for writers including “The Frugal Book Promoter” (https://bit.ly/FrugalBookPromoIII), and “The Frugal Editor” both offered in their third editions by Modern History Press. Others in that series are “How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically,” and two booklets, both in their second editions also from Modern History Press. The booklets, “Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers” (https://bit.ly/LastMinuteEditsII) and “Great First Impression Book Proposals” (https://bit.ly/BookProposalsII) are career boosters in mini doses and both make ideal thank you gifts for authors. The one on writing book proposals is also available as an Audio Book. “The Frugal Editor “(https://tinyurl.com/TheFrugalEditor), was recently released in its third edition. It is the winningest book in this series for writers. Carolyn also has three frugal books for retailers including one she encourages authors to read because it helps them understand what is needed to convince retailers to host their workshops, presentations, and signings. It is “A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques” (https://bit.ly/RetailersGuide). In addition to this blog, Carolyn helps writers extend the exposure of their favorite reviews at https://TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com. She also blogs all things editing–grammar, formatting and more–at “The Frugal, Smart, and Tuned-In Editor” (https://TheFrugalEditor.blogspot.com). Learn more and follow it to get news on her new releases directly from Amazon at https://bit.ly/CarolynsAmznProfile.
Source: http://sharingwithwriters.blogspot.com/2024/04/is-amazon-just-wolf-in-sheeps-clothing.html
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