ACX is a company owned by the online giant Amazon, however, it’s not all rainbows and unicorns. There are some things you should know about this business.
So today I want to talk about an online company called ACX that allows people to earn money from narrating audiobooks
Keep in mind that I have done extensive research on this company, how people make money, the things they don’t tell you, and more.
So without further ado, lets get right into it.
What is ACX?
ACX stands for Audiobook Creation Exchange.
It’s where e-book owners can get there content narrated and placed on popular audiobook websites such as Audible.com.
They say that it’s mainly for professionals, and that I would have to agree with them, but it still has a lot of flaws that are worth noting.
However, first and foremost lets talk about how it all works.
In the world of online publishing, authors need narrators to read their e-book, so that they can sell the audio version as well as the original format.
That’s where authors hire narrators to read their entire book and get paid in return for their work.
Sometimes they pay via one-time payments, and other times you get paid in royalties.
Royalties will earn you a small amount of money every time your audiobook is downloaded.
If you narrate many books, this can be quite a lucrative business model, but as you’re about to find out, it’s not as easy as all that.
And why’s that?
There are things you should know.
The Problems With ACX
Many Scammers
ACX is riddled with scammers and fraudsters who will request a sample of your work, when they don’t even own the e-book, and sell it for money.
Leaving the narrators without money after delivering the majority of the e-book in audio format, and in some cases the entire e-book.
A complete waste of time and energy in the end.
ACX does have a screening process but these scammers still slip through the cracks. The best way to avoid getting scammed is to provide a sample and reject any further free samples.
Unfortunately there are plenty of scammers on the website so you have to do everything you can to protect yourself.
Takes a Long Time to Get Approved
If you’re trying to make a decent income with ACX, expect to be working for at least 2 years before making any meaningful income.
Many authors take months to reply to the narrators, then another couple of months to approve your work.
It’s such a lengthy process that you will need a lot of patience and commitment.
No Respect for Publishers and Narrators
They have incredibly bad customer service.
They have no respect for their narrators and authors, and sometimes they ban them without warning and no explanation.
May Not Get Paid For Your Work
There are reports of people narrating entire audiobooks, finding it on sale, and not paying the narrators a dime.
This is a slap in the face and likely one of the scammers.
However, because customer service are really bad, they will not fix this issue and brush you off.
They Pay the Least
Even though ACX is one of the biggest distributors for audiobooks, they are one of the cheapest.
You’re far better off joining another website that pays more and respects both the authors and narrators, and possibly has a better screening process to weed out the fraudsters.
The Good Things About ACX
Can Make Good Money
Regardless of all the bad things about ACX, if you’re careful who you work with, do your due diligence, and get a few audiobooks under your belt, you can make good money.
The amount of money you can earn depends on many factors; including author, royalties, x number of audiobooks, etc.
But more on that below.
How Much Money Can You Make With ACX?
As mentioned earlier in this review, you can earn royalties or one-time offers.
Novices can earn anywhere from $10 PFH (per finished hour) to $100 PFH.
As you get better at narrating and learn your worth, you can increase this up to $350 PFH.
However, if you want to earn a consistent income overtime, you’re better off going for royalties, which can pay about 50%.
So if your audiobook costs $10, you’ll earn $5 per sale for life.
Complete a few audiobooks, and these royalties can really start to ramp up.
That’s why I say it CAN be a lucrative business model when you vet your authors and work with good people.
Is ACX Worth It?
ACX can work if you’re willing to screen the authors you work with, and you’re in it for the long haul.
You’ll need to invest at least 1 year of your time to make any meaningful income.
2 years if you really want to see life changing results.
So yes, ACX can be worth it if you have narrating experience already, so you can be ahead of the competition.
On the other hand, as a newbie going into this, there’s going to be a huge learning curve that’ll make or break your success.
I don’t recommend ACX for newbies, but for the professionals, it’s a good choice as long as you’re selective in your auditions.
Is ACX Legit or a Scam?
ACX is an open marketplace, therefore, they are pretty lenient on who they let through.
And just like anything, people are going to take advantage of this, especially fraudsters who steal other peoples content and claim as their own.
Basically, ACX removes themselves of all responsibility and places it onto the narrators.
They say it’s your job to assess the legitimacy of the author and quality of the e-book and whether it’s worth your time and effort or not.
Again, just goes back to the customer service thing again.
They really do not care if you get scammed or not, which is a shame because it can be a really good company if they fixed up all the loose ends.
So no, ACX is not a scam per se, but you should be extremely careful who you work with as there are many shady authors on there.
Verdict: Legit, shady authors, takes a long time to make money
Is There An Alternative?
I have been in this game for many years, and can say without a shadow of a doubt that most things online are scams.
I use to be that guy that believed anything and everyone when they said they had a system that was making them thousands of dollars every month.
But those claims were ALWAYS exaggerated, or just downright lies.
I joined way too many systems that scammed me and never delivered on the promises.
Thankfully in 2016 I found a system that actually worked and now makes me 4-figures per month.
The program I use is called Wealthy Affiliate.
What you’ll be doing is creating a blog, writing content, getting ranked in the search engines, and making money via affiliate marketing.
You won’t need to wait years to make money like ACX. Actually some people report their first sale after 2 – 3 months.
After that it snowballs into more and more sales.
Brandon
My name is Brandon and this is my website. I'm just a normal guy that had dreams, dreams that would keep me up at night because I wanted them so badly. Now I'm living my dreams of being an influencer and making a good living doing so. Broke Influencers is another of my creations where I teach people how to get rich being an online influencer, or die trying. There is no in between.