After the Audiobook is Done – An Author’s Guide to What’s Next

November 1, 2013 1 By Brian
After the Audiobook is Done – An Author’s Guide to What’s Next

ACX_LogoSo your narrator just finished your book on ACX and it’s on its way to Audible, Amazon, and iTunes (or it’s already there) and you’re trying to figure out what to do next.

Or worse, you think you’re done with the audiobook. If you do, you’re dead wrong.

Self-Publishing Means Self-Marketing

selfmarketing

I realize that most of the audiobook process has been hands-off time for the author. You wrote it, edited it, rewrote, re-edited, and so on. Then you had to hand it over to the narrator who lovingly crafted a work of auditory perfection (at least we narrators think so). Now it’s off to publisher where you can’t change anything about the work any more. But that doesn’t mean you’re done with it. Not by a long shot.

Just having the book up for sale does not guarantee that people will buy it. You may get a handful of buyers because it’s in the new release section. But that won’t last.

Fan Base

If you’ve been at this a while, hopefully you have a fan base. It may not be large, but they love your work and want to buy it. Let them know there’s an audiobook version available.

I you’re having trouble cultivating a fan base, make sure you have a website. At a minimum (and cheapest) look at WordPress.com, Blogspot.com, or Tumblr.com as a way of getting and communicating with fans. If you’re willing to pay for a full domain, check out 1and1.com as a host. An extra upside is that you can run your own ads on your own domain (like I do).

Post updates about your work. Where’s it at? What’s the cover art going to look like. Reviews you’ve had. Other authors you like. Anything that keeps them engaged and coming back for more.

Fans don’t just include folks you’ve never met. Family and friends are your fans too. My wife is a huge advocate for my books and she’s gotten a bunch of her friends to download my work. And I’m just the narrator. Imagine what that’s like for an author.

Social Media

Do not underestimate the power of a good Facebook page or Twitter feed. Like a website, you can keep people engaged with content other than your writings. And Social Media is all about “sharing” so it’s easy to do word-of-mouth marketing.

Local Media, Libraries, and Bookstores

Local media, particularly if you live in smaller town or city, will eat up any news about local authors. Read up on submitting stories to your local papers and news stations (including PBS) about your work. They may bring you in for an interview.

The same goes for libraries. Some have meet local author nights or a display stand for local authors. If you’re lucky enough to have a locally owned bookstore, they too might have stuff for local authors.

Exploit Your Niche

If your book falls under some genre niche, exploit it. The Internet is full of groups that cater to specific tastes. Find a site (blog, forum, whatever) that has people that like what your book is about and spread the word there. As long as you’re not obnoxious about it, people won’t mind.

What’s a niche? Well, what would categorize your work as, specifically? Not just Romance, Comedy, Sci-Fi, etc. More specific like Steampunk, Christian Teen, or Vampire Horror. That sort of thing. Believe me, if you’re into it, odds are, there’s a fan-group online that is as well.

Tip Your Narrator

headphones

OK, so ACX doesn’t have a tip jar, but we need a little love too. Remember, the more books we produce, the more titles link back to your work on Audible.

Feedback

We need your feedback. What did do right? What did we do wrong? Narrators learn with every project we work on and identifying what was successful (and not so successful) helps up tremendously. Especially, if you want to use that same narrator again.

Share the Love

Authors tend to have author friends. Don’t keep us to yourselves. Share us. Recommend us to other authors. Just like writing, the more we do, the better we get.

If your narrator has a web presence (site, blog, Facebook page, or Twitter feed), throw them some love out there. ACX doesn’t have a “recommendations” section, so it’s the only way we can get public kudos.