Audio Book Publishing on Audible with ACX and Adobe Audition!

Unlock Your Audiobook Potential: A Complete Guide to Publishing on Audible with ACX

Ready to turn your book into an audiobook and reach a massive audience? This comprehensive guide walks you through the entire process of creating and publishing audiobooks on Audible, an Amazon company, using the Audiobook Creation Exchange (ACX). Learn how to transform your book idea into a finished audiobook, and discover how to leverage this lucrative market.

Why Publish on Audible?

Audiobooks are booming! I've personally seen incredible success with Audible publishing, earning over $10,000 in sales within the first year, with over $5,000 earned in the first year alone. This is a fast and rewarding way to monetize your writing. With a 6-year history as an Audible Gold/Platinum member, I know Audible is a lasting platform.

Overcoming Audiobook Publishing Challenges

I understand that navigating the audiobook publishing process can be daunting. As a video producer and author, I found it surprisingly complex – with multiple revisions and re-processing required. This tutorial simplifies the process, helping you avoid common pitfalls and get your first, second, and even third audiobooks published with greater ease.

Adobe Audition & ACX: A Step-by-Step Tutorial

This tutorial focuses on using Adobe Audition to prepare your audio files for ACX. While Adobe Audition is used, the principles apply to other audio editing software.

Here's how to prepare your audio for ACX:

1. Noise Reduction: Go to Effects > Noise Reduction/Restoration > Adaptive Noise Reduction. Use default settings or adjust as needed to eliminate background noise.
2. Match Loudness: Open the Loudness tab in the Workspaces menu. Drag your file into the Match Loudness settings area. Choose Total RMS and set it to -17. Then, set Peak to -3.5. This ensures your audio meets Audible's volume requirements.
3. Export Settings: Go to File > Save As. Choose MP3 as the file type, with a sample rate of 44.1 kHz, a bit depth of 16 bit, and mono. Create a preset for quick application of these settings for multiple files.

ACX Audio Submission Requirements

To ensure your audiobook is accepted by ACX, adhere to these guidelines (based on the official Audible customer help):

• Format: All mono or all stereo files (mono is highly recommended).
• Content: Include opening and closing credits, and a retail sample (1-5 minutes). Audio must be recorded by a human.
• Technical Specifications: 192 kbps or higher MP3, Constant Bit Rate (CBR) at 44.1 kHz.
• Structure: One chapter/section shorter than 120 minutes, with section headers read aloud.
• Audio Quality: Include 0.5-1 second of room tone at the beginning and 1-2 seconds at the end. Audio must be free of extraneous sounds (computers, traffic, etc.).
• Loudness: Average RMS between -23dB and -18dB (aim for around -20dB in Adobe Audition). Peak values should be -3dB or lower. Maximum noise floor: -60dB.

Resources:

For the official ACX Audio Submission Requirements, refer to: http://jerry.tips/acxfiles

Ready to Learn More?

I'm launching a complete course on Audible publishing using ACX! I also have a course on publishing Kindle books with audio versions available on Audible.

I hope this tutorial helps you successfully publish your audiobook! Let me know if you have any questions.