1. About ACX
  2. How It Works
  3. Promote Yourself
  4. Production Resources
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About ACX

How It Works

Audio Production Resources

Promote Yourself

Need Help?

Frequently Asked Questions

Offers

What should I consider when making an offer?

When you’re a Rights Holder ready to make an Offer to a Producer, the first step is to decide how you want to pay. Do you want to pay them for their efforts upon completion of the audiobook (a fee per finished hour, as part of a Pay For Production deal) or do you prefer to split your royalties with them 50-50 (as part of a Royalty Share deal)? You will be faced with this choice before you can send them the Offer. Also, make sure that that you’re certain of the terms you’re proposing, because you’re about to enter into a binding agreement. Yes, the Offer process results in an official (in other words, legal) contract.

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What does "Offer Pending" mean?

The orange "Offer Pending" flag on a book's title profile indicates that the Rights Holder of the book has extended an offer to another ACX Producer to produce it as an audiobook. Producers may still upload an audition for a title that has a pending offer, though we recommend you consider the “pending” status before recording and uploading your audio. You can also send a message to the Rights Holder prior to auditioning.

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Can I negotiate with Producers I find on ACX?

Sure. It’s fine if you’re not yet ready to be bound by a production agreement with a Producer. Do a little due diligence first—ask a few Producers to audition and search for interesting Producers on ACX Send the Producers that intrigue you a message (each profile you look at will show a “Send Message” option); begin discussing acceptable rates and feasible timelines. You can also communicate with multiple ACX participants to explore potential offer terms. Then, when you’re ready to enter into a binding agreement, use the ACX Offer process to conclude your deal.

IMPORTANT: To be sure that you end up with a binding contract, please work out all Offer details using the ACX system. If you negotiate and agree to details via some other channel—phone, video chat, whatever—those details won’t be reflected in our system, meaning that you might not end up with the contract you want, or any contract at all. That’s not the safest way to work. 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’re—and when you aren’t—legally bound by a communication on ACX. That’s for everyone’ protection, including yours.

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How do I make an Offer to someone to produce my audiobook on ACX?

  1. Go to the profile page of the producer you wish to cast, and click on "Make Offer" right below their picture.
  2. Next, please set the offer to your desired per finished hour rate or select “Royalty Share.”
  3. Please ensure you 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.
  4. Submit the offer.
  5. Once the producer accepts the offer, please send them the manuscript for your book so that they can begin recording the first fifteen minutes.

IMPORTANT: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, those details aren’t going to be reflected in our contract system.

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What are the legal terms of the offers I make or receive?

We built the ACX offer and acceptance process to be clear what’s being offered, accepted, and expected. Some of the basic rules that apply to Offers are:

  1. If the Rights Holder makes an Offer to a Producer, the Offer will be valid until the expiration date in the Offer expires or the Offer is accepted by a participating ACX Producer.
  2. If the Producer accepts an Offer, the agreement will not be binding with the Rights Holder who made the Offer until the Producer gets a confirmation that the offer has been accepted.
  3. A Rights Holder can only make one Offer at a time for the same audiobook project.
  4. A Producer’s acceptance must be on the same terms as the Offer, with no changes. Trying to accept an Offer with changed terms won’t result in a valid contract between you and the participating ACX Rights Holder who sent you the Offer. If either party wants to adjust the terms, the Producer should decline the initial Offer (or let it expire), then the Rights Holder should make a new Offer that reflects that.

You can read the full Offer and Acceptance Procedures here.

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Why can't a producer accept my offer?

If a producer is unable to accept your offer, he or she may need to complete your ACX tax survey. U.S. tax regulations require ACX to collect information about your tax status under U.S. law using our short online tax interview. Once your producer completes the interview and has had his or her information, you'll be ready to proceed with your ACX project."

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Why do Offers for productions made under Royalty Share deals have to have exclusive ACX distribution?

When a Producer accepts an Offer with a Royalty Share deal, they’re accepting that they won’t be paid the traditional flat fee upon completion of the audiobook. Instead, they’re risking their time and work to share in half the royalties. This marks a new way of doing business, and is a big leap of faith for a Producer. They need to be confident that they really will get 50% of all proceeds.

If the Rights Holder were to generate revenue by distributing the audiobook to retailers outside of ACX, it’s not clear how the Producer would get paid for those sales. Because ACX can’t guarantee the Producer would get their fair share of any non-ACX-related revenues, all audiobooks produced on ACX under a Royalty Share deals must be exclusive to ACX.

Furthermore, we feel that a Producer accepting half of the 40% royalty rate makes much better financial sense for them, than accepting half of the non-exclusive royalty of 25%.

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