When you are a rights holder ready to make an offer and hire an audiobook producer, the first step is to decide how you want to pay them.

-Pay-for Production deal: pay the producer for their work upon completion of the audiobook (a fee per finished hour).

-Royalty Share deal: split your royalties with the producer.

-Royalty Share Plus: a combination of the two options above.

You will be faced with this choice before you can send them the offer. 

Note: The production agreement is a binding contract, so be sure you read and understand the terms of your agreement before finalizing.

In this article:

• How do I make an offer to someone to produce my audiobook?
• How do I make a direct offer to a producer for my audiobook?
• How do I hire a particular narrator I find on ACX?
• How do I negotiate with producers I find on ACX?
• How do I cancel an offer I made to a producer?

How do I make an offer to someone to produce my audiobook?

1. Sign in to your ACX account, then select Find Talent.
2. Search and select the profile page of the producer you wish to cast, and select Make Offer.
   • If you do not see the option to make an offer, or if you receive an error, see Offer issues to learn potential reasons.
3. In the offer section, enter the offer for your desired per finished hour rate or select Royalty Share.
4. Set a deadline that keeps in mind time for the producer to send you the first 15 minutes of your audiobook for your initial review, along with time for corrections to be made to your fully finished audiobook, if necessary. Allow yourself time to approve the entire audiobook.
5. Select Submit.
6. The producer may accept your offer immediately, or reply with proposed changes to the rate or schedule, at which point you can submit a revised offer if you choose.
7. Once the producer accepts the offer, please send them the manuscript for your book so that they can begin recording the first 15 minutes.

Note: To guarantee a binding contract, please work out all details of your offer via ACX, using our internal messaging system. If you negotiate and agree to details via phone, video chat, or other means of communication, those details will not be reflected in our contract system. We built the ACX offer and acceptance process to be sure that it's clear what's being offered, accepted, and expected. The process makes it easy to understand when you are legally bound by a communication on ACX. This is for everyone's protection, including your own.

Making a Royalty Share Plus offer to a producer

To make a Royalty Share Plus offer to your producer, follow these steps:

1. Select Make Offer from your dashboard or from your selected producer’s profile.
2. Select the Royalty Share Plus option, and enter the base rate you are willing to pay per finished hour of audio (in addition to the producer’s share of the royalties).
3. Enter your production delivery dates and submit the offer to your producer.

How do I make a direct offer to a producer for my audiobook?

If you have a history of working with a particular narrator or have researched producers outside of ACX, you can make an offer directly to them, allowing you to start the audiobook production process even more quickly. To make a direct offer to a producer, follow these steps.

1. Sign in to your ACX account.
2. Select Claim your title, locate your book, then select Claim title.
3. Enter relevant title details for the audiobook, including description, categories, and vocal attributes.
4. On this page, you’ll receive a question asking if you wish to receive auditions for this project. If you want to make a direct offer to a producer, select No.
5. Enter your word count and territory distribution for your title, and preview your audiobook project page.
6. Select Make Offer if you are ready to choose your narrator, or select I would like to receive auditions for this project to upload an audition script and receive auditions.
7. On the Make Offer page, enter your preferred narrator’s name into the search bar and select Search, or choose from narrators you’ve worked with previously.
8. Enter your offer details, including preferred distribution method and payment method.

How do I hire a particular narrator I see on ACX?

You have two choices if there is a specific narrator you'd like to hire for your project:

1. In ACX.com, select the Send Message button on their profile and ask them to audition for your title. Include a link to your title profile. Make sure you've created a detailed title profile, including an audition script for them to read.
2. Select the Make Offer button on his or her profile if you're ready to make a binding offer to produce your audiobook.

Note: The narrators you find on ACX are expected to be producers who can create fully produced, retail-ready audiobooks. As producers, they may work with third parties to assist in the production of your audiobook, but the audiobook should be in their voice.

How do I negotiate with producers I find on ACX?

It's fine to negotiate if you are not yet ready to be bound by a production agreement with a producer. When negotiating, we recommend considering the following:

• Search for interesting producers on ACX and ask multiple producers to audition for your title
• Send the producers that intrigue you a message on ACX. Begin discussing acceptable rates and feasible timelines. You can also communicate with multiple ACX producers to explore potential offer terms.
• When negotiating rates, keep in mind that ACX producers are expected to provide narration and a fully-edited and mastered audiobook, and that 1 hour of finished audio typically correlates to 5-7 hours of actual work.
• When you are ready to enter into a binding agreement, use the ACX offer process to conclude your deal.

How do I cancel an offer I made to a producer?

To change your audition script, please follow the steps:

1. Sign in to your ACX account, then select My Projects in the top left corner.
2. Select the Offers tab and find the intended production.
3. Select the Review Offer icon.
4. Then, scroll down and select the Cancel Offer option.