Goodbye ACX

This is a bitter/sweet day.

I had to end the ACX contract with the narrator of my first three books that were exclusive with Audible since 2019. I learned that YA Historical Fiction books need wider distribution to find their audience. But, leaving exclusive meant my narrator and I would lose Royalty Share. *Currently, not a great loss.

I discovered a distribution company called Spoken Realms and reached out to them about my audiobooks. My narrator sent them one of the audiobooks for approval. However, they had to decline because the audiobooks produced through ACX lacked the sound quality required by platforms Spoken Realms distributes to—like libraries. The books would have to be redone. However, Angelina Kelly is super busy now and not doing audiobooks.

With Angelina’s full support and encouragement, I secured professional narrator, Elizabeth Klett, already on the approved narrator list—and she had an opening.

Elizabeth is excited about my series. I sent her a 10 minute selection and received the mp3 clip of her reading the next day. Our deal is official. She will have the first chapter of Defiance on Indian Creek to me for approval by Nov. 23.

Sometime in 2027, my audiobooks will be available in libraries, and other platforms, including Audible—this time on my terms.

*Kindle Unlimited is meshing into Kindle + which now includes AI generated audiobooks. Their new royalty model is an insult to non-AI authors and narrators.