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If I am a book publisher, should I be on this
page?
Are there any hidden fees?
How do
I make any money?
What is an Audio Book?
What is the difference between that and
a "professionally done" Audio Book?
Why should my book be available as an Audio Book?
Can I publish my book as an Audio Book, before it is published in
print?
What if my book is published by a self-publishing firm, such as
Infinity Publishng, Xlibris, Authorhouse, or iUniverse?
Do I need to determine the word count of my book?
How do I figure out the number of words in my book?
How many words fit onto a CD and what is the longest book you will
record?
Who sets the price of my audio book?
How do I know how many books are sold?
What about the royalties?
What is the "minimum list price" for my
audio book?
How do I submit my book for
consideration as an Audio Book?
What does Spoken Books Publishing look for when reviewing a book
for audio production?
What happens if my book is not accepted?
What if my book is accepted?
Will my editor edit my book for content or abridge my book for me?
Does Spoken Books Publishing publish both abridged and unabridged
books?
Why should I abridge my book and what is a good target for word
count?
Why does my book need to be edited?
Will Spoken Books Publishing hold any
of the rights to my book?
Do I still own the Copyright of my book?
Is there anything I can't do?
But what if a major publisher picks up my book; will they be able to use my audio
version?
Why do you charge a setup fee?
What happens after you receive my publishing agreement?
How do you insure the quality of my audio book?
Why can't I just record my audio book myself? Why shouldn't I just
record it all myself and self publish it?
Where will my book be recorded?
Who will be the recorded voice (the narrator) for my Audio Book?
Will there be more than one voice recorded for my audio book?
Can I be present while my Audio Book is being recorded?
Can I be the voice for my book?
Can I record my book at home and have you make it into an Audio
Book?
Where are the CDs for my Audio Book reproduced and packaged?
Where will my Audio Book be available for sale?
Does Spoken Books Publishing accept returns of Audio Books from
bookstores?
Can my Audio Book have a higher retail price than what is shown in
the price list?
How and when are Royalties paid to me on sales of my Audio Book?
What about royalties on sales of
downloadable books?
What will I, the Author, pay for my Audio Books?
Why isn't my book available on Audio Cassettes?
If I am a
book publisher, should I be on this page? No. If you are a publisher, please visit our
For Publishers
page to be in contact directly with someone who can help you, as most of the questions below will not apply to
you. back to top
Are there any hidden fees? No. We
charge a one-time setup
fee for an exceptional array of
services, and that's it. If you wish to purchase copies of your
own audio book, you may do so at a significant discount, but that will
be at your discretion. back
to top
How
do I make any money? Your book will be sold in audio format at
all of the top retailers of audio books. Each purchase earns revenue,
and you will be paid the highest royalty percentages in the industry.
Most authors break even after just a hundred or so audio books have
sold, which is a very attainable number.
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What is an Audio Book? An audio
book is a book read aloud by a narrator while being recorded.
Click here
for a description of the various types of audio books.
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What is the difference between that and
a "professionally done" Audio Book? It sounds
simple enough, but a professionally done audio book takes as much as
30
man/woman-hours of work just to get one finished hour of audio prior
to mastering. On each session, there is an engineer, a director and
the narrator. After the recording is finished, an audio editor takes
over and cleans the audio. It then goes through yet another round of
editing called, "quality control." It is later sent to mastering to
polish the sound and create the final product. An
audio book that has not received this kind of attention will not be
acceptable for distribution and sale to consumers by stores.
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Why should my book be available as an Audio Book? Audio books
are the fastest growing segment of the publishing industry. Many busy
people with little time for reading, listen in their car during a long
commute, or when traveling. An audio version for people with vision
problems or dyslexia is the only way they can enjoy a book. If your
book is well written and has real sales potential, you will benefit
greatly from additional sales with an audio version of your book.
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Can I publish my book as an Audio Book, before it is published in
print? Yes.
What if my book is published by a self-publishing firm, such as
Infinity Publishng, Xlibris, Authorhouse, or iUniverse? As long as you own the audio
rights to your book, you are eligible to submit your book for review
to Spoken Books Publishing.
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Do I need to determine the word count of my book? Yes. You need
to know the number of words in your book to be able to determine your
setup fee and also to figure out the number of CDs that will comprise your
audio book. If you have a hard time figuring out your word count,
please email us at
info@spokenbookspublishing.com
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How do I figure out the number of words in my book? It is easy
if your book is on your computer via a word processing program. Simply use the word processor's statistics function to tell you
the number of words. In Microsoft Word, use the pull down menu called
Tools and then choose Word Count.
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How many words fit onto a CD
and what is the longest book you will
record? One CD can hold Approximately 11,000 words. This is about
72 minutes. The longest book we can produce is twelve CDs which is
approximately 130,000 words spoken in 15 hours.
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Who sets the price of my audio book?
We have a minimum list price for any audio book. This is
determined by the number CDs in your audio book. However, you may
choose to set the list price higher, which will vastly increase your
royalty percentage. Just be sure not to over price your audio book because you want to
maintain a goal of pricing it competitively. Luckily, our minimum list
price for audio books is well below industry standards, so it is not
detrimental to pricing your book higher.
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to top
How do I know how many books are sold?
What about the royalties? We issue a report each month, as well as
a royalty check if one is due. Royalty checks will only print when the
$20 threshold is reached. In other words, we do not print checks for
less that $20. back
to top
What is the "minimum list price" for my
audio book? Take a look at our
audio books page, but first,
determine how many words are in your book. If you do not have the book
on your computer, you can make a reasonable estimate of the word count
by counting the number of words on one full page, and multiplying that
by the number of pages. back
to top
How do I submit my book for
consideration as an Audio Book? Carefully follow the guidelines on
our
submissions page. back
to top
What does Spoken Books Publishing look for when reviewing a book
for audio production? We review your book for interest,
readability, and writing quality.
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to top
What happens if my book is not accepted? We will notify you
within 60 days of receiving your book.
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to top
What if my book is accepted? We will assign an editor who will
be your personal contact at Spoken Books Publishing. This editor will
discuss the next steps, which will involve the selection of the voice
talent, the cover design, the setup cost and the selling price of your
audio book. You will also receive a simple "plain english" Publishing Agreement for
your review and signature. Once the signed agreement is returned to us
with a 60%
deposit, we will proceed with the recording, editing, and mastering of
your audio book. back
to top
Will my editor edit my book for content or abridge my book for me?
Your book will not be edited, unless you make a special request for us
to do so. back
to top
Does
Spoken Books Publishing publish both abridged and unabridged
books? Yes. We believe that some books are best left as-is, while
many books can benefit from being edited and streamlined into an
abridged version. Fewer words means that your audio book will have
fewer CDs and this will result in a more competitive retail price.
Fewer words also lowers the setup cost for you. We can produce an
Audio Book with as many as 12 CDs.
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to top
Why should I abridge my book and what is a good target for word
count? As stated above, a lower word count equates to a lower
setup fee for you, and a lower retail price for your audio book.
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to top
Why does my book need to be edited? There are two forms of
editing: 1) content editing (which we do not do, as your book must be
edited for content and be a finished product when we get it) and 2)
editing for abridgement (which we can do upon request and for an extra
fee). back
to top
Will Spoken Books Publishing hold any
of the rights to my book? No. You keep your book rights and our
publishing agreement is non exclusive. You have great freedom now and
in the future. back
to top
Do I still own the Copyright of my book? Yes, you own the words; the intellectual property. We will copyright the sound
recording that we make, so that we can protect the Audio Book of your
work against illegal reproduction and piracy.
back
to top
Is there anything I can't do? You
can't make copies of our audio books. back
to top
But what if
Hachette, Random House,
or Houghton Mifflin pick up my book; will they be able to use my audio
version? You still own the audio rights to your book, and you are
free to publish with one of those big publishers and sign over your
audio rights to them. They would either record their own version, or
ask us for the rights to use ours. The latter is the more common
scenario as our audio books are of the same quality as those published
by the larger houses, both artistically and sonically.
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to top
Why do you charge a setup fee?
There is an incredible amount of work and expense that goes into the
making of your audio book. Many hands, ears, and eyes will devote
careful attention to your book in order to make it a great. Each
person involved is a master professional. The narrators have golden
voices plus a unique ability to speak expressively. The producers and
directors have golden ears, a superior artistic vision, and years of
technical know how. Up to 30 hours of work by these skilled artists
goes into each finished hour of audio.
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to top
What happens after you receive my publishing agreement? Upon
receiving the signed publishing agreement, a deposit of 60% of the
setup fee, and 3 additional copies of the book (or a digital file of
the book), your book will be recorded over many sessions with
a professional narrator of your choice. It will then be edited.
proofed and reedited as every minute of the recorded audio will be
listened to. It will then be professionally
mastered; bringing the audio up to or exceeding industry standards. The
entire audio book is then burned to 1 or more CDs. For example an
11,000 word book will fit onto 1 CD, a 22,000 book will fit onto 2
CDs, etc. You may provide us with artwork to use for the cover, and
upon sending us the balance of setup due, we will send you a proof of
the final audio book. Beyond that, the title will be submitted into
the books in print database, submitted to amazon, audible, and the
iTunes store. It will also be made available for sale on Buy Books on
the Web.com. back
to top
How do you insure the quality of my audio
book? A typical 6-CD audio book can have over 1000 editing
points. The mastering engineer will finalize the audio recording by
employing techniques to insure that we publish the highest quality audio books in the industry.
As a final step, your book will then be screened by a "proof listener"
who will inspect your audio book for quality and accuracy and approve
your audio book for publishing upon satisfactory review.
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to top
Why can't I just record my audio book myself? Why shouldn't I just
record it all myself and self publish it? Many people send us
their home recorded audio books, or even those that are recorded in
local music studios. The quality of this material, even when
"professionally recorded" can be abysmal. The shame of it is that
these authors may have put a great deal of effort into creating these
audio books, and the fact is that they just aren't good. These audio
books, despite the enormous effort of the author, will not be
acceptable for sale at stores or via other retailers and distributors.
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to top
So you have
to ask yourself, "Do you want to publish a professional
audio book (comparable to anything you buy in a store), or an amateur
audio book?" No reputable book store or distributor will handle
your self published audio book. And the irony is that most people try
to record their own book with the idea that they will save money. When
you consider the time and energy wasted trying to do it yourself, only
to realize that the end result just isn't good enough, well, you can't
put a price on that kind of frustration and aggravation, not to
mention the feelings of rejection when book sellers and distributors
shoot down your book as "amateur."
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to top
We exist because YOUR BOOK DESERVES BETTER
THAN THAT!
Where will my book be recorded? Your book will be recorded
in the Philadelphia area utilizing a professional narrator in our state-of-the-art facility
that specializes in audio books. A staff of editors, recording
engineers, and directors will ensure the highest possible
quality. back
to top
Who will be the recorded voice (the narrator) for my Audio Book?
The narrator perfectly suited to your book will be cast based on your
selection from the narrator pool. We will provide
you with some audio samples of that narrator for your inspection.
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to top
Will there be more than one voice recorded for my audio book?
No. One narrator will handle all voices and text in your audio book by
changing pitch and tempo to properly address changes in character,
headings, chapter starts, etc. These are highly skilled, highly
trained voice professionals who know how to convey the wide range that
your book will require. back
to top
Can I be present while my Audio Book is being recorded? No.
Recording sessions require great concentration. Only the vocal talent,
director, and the recording engineer can be present during the
session. back
to top
Can I be the voice for my book?
In most cases, no. The logistics are daunting and most authors are not
suited to be the reader for their books. There are exceptions,
but in most cases, it will take a lot longer, require additional
costs, and yield a final product that would have been better with a
professional narrator. back
to top
Can I record my book at home and have you make it into an Audio
Book? No. We only publish those audio books that we record in our
facilities. Amateur recordings sound bad for numerous reasons
and are not suitable for publishing, regardless of what you may read
on the web. Our recording and mastering engineers possess a skill that
cannot be duplicated at home, and our state of the art recording gear
and environment is engineered to record and produce audio that exceeds
industry standards. back
to top
Where are the CDs for my Audio Book reproduced and packaged?
Because of our high standards and our desire to control every step of
the process, we manufacture all of our CDs and package them as audio
books in our own facility. We maintain an inventory of every audio
book so that we can ship retail sales generated on our Web site
buybooksontheweb.com that same day.
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to top
Where will my Audio Book be available for sale? CD versions: Amazon.com
and BuyBooksOnTheWeb.com. Downloadable version: Audible.com and the iTunes.com.
The book can be ordered also by any store, direct from us, via fax:
610-941-9959 or via phone at 610-941-9999.
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to top
Does Spoken Books Publishing accept returns of Audio Books from
bookstores? Yes. This is for all sales in which we sell directly
to the store. This enables any bookstore that orders your audio book
directly from us, to do so without hesitation, as it is fully
returnable for full credit for up to one year from date of purchase.
Can my Audio Book have a higher retail price than what is shown in
the price list? Yes. Our posted retail price for any audio book is
the minimum retail price. For example, a five CD audio book will
retail for a minimum of only $21.95, but if your audio book deserves
to be priced higher, you can set the price higher and this will earn
you an even higher royalty percentage. If you decide to set a higher
retail for your audio book, you will still get your 50% discount off the minimum retail price, not the higher price you set.
There is free shipping in the U.S. for any order of
20 or more. back
to top
How and when are Royalties paid to me on sales of my Audio Book?
Royalties are paid monthly after one full calendar month from the date
of the sale. For example royalty for an audio book that sold in
January will be paid to you in March. You will receive 15% on any
wholesale sales and 30% on any sale on our online bookstore
BuyBooksOnTheWeb.com. For any audio book that has a higher retail than
the minimum, you will be paid the above royalty percentages on the
minimum price and additionally 75% of the difference between the
minimum and your higher retail price.
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What about royalties on sales of
downloadable books? We sell the downloadable book exclusively via
Audible. Audible is the largest retailer of downloadable books in the
world. They are also the exclusive provider of audio books to iTunes. When your audio book is sold as
a download, we will split 50/50 the royalty received from them, which
is 20% of the dollar amount the downloadable book sold for. The actual
dollar amount the downloaded book sells for varies, as Audible has one
discount for members, and a different discount for non-members.
What will I, the Author, pay for my Audio Books? You may
purchase copies of your audio book at 50% off. This means that if you
sell any copies of your book, you will make 100% return on your
investment. back
to top
Why isn't my book available on Audio Cassettes? The Cassette
format is no longer supported by Audio book publishers, because the CD
has gained acceptance as the dominant medium for audio books. The
audio quality of the CD is also superior to the cassette.
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