How to record & upload your audiobook to Audible through ACX
From your finished chapters to a book ACX can review.
ACX is Amazon’s service for publishing audiobooks on Audible, Amazon and Apple Books. You narrate, you upload, and ACX checks every file before your book goes on sale. Here’s how to get from your last recorded chapter to a book in ACX’s review.
- Set up the title Step 1
- Get your files Step 2
- Upload them Step 3
- Send for review Step 4
Before you start
Your book has to be for sale on Amazon already, as an ebook or in print. ACX finds your title in Amazon’s catalogue, so it cannot start from a manuscript alone.
You also need the audio rights. If you wrote the book and published it yourself, you usually have them. If a publisher handles your book, ask them first.
Set up your title on ACX
- Go to acx.com and sign in with your Amazon account.
- Choose Add your title and search for your book.
- Pick your book, then choose I have this book in audio and I want to sell it.
- Choose how your audiobook is sold. ACX shows the royalty for each choice before you agree.
Record the credits too
ACX wants two short extra files besides your chapters, and both take a minute to record at the end of a session.
- Opening credits: the book’s title, the author, and the narrator. For example, “My Book. Written by Jane Smith. Narrated by Jane Smith.”
- Closing credits: “The end”, then the title, the author and the narrator again.
Get your files from Audio House
Record each chapter as its own project in the studio app, and export it before you leave. When you export a chapter in an Audiobook project, the studio app checks its volume against ACX’s range.
Your exports are saved to your account. Open the Audio House app, go to your projects, and download each chapter’s MP3.
Keep a list of your files in reading order: opening credits, each chapter, closing credits. You will upload them in that order.
What ACX checks in every file
ACX listens to and measures each file. These are the things it looks for, in plain words:
| ACX checks | What it means |
|---|---|
| Volume between -23 and -18 dB | Your voice is loud enough to hear clearly, and not pushed too loud |
| Peaks no higher than -3 dB | Your loudest moments stay under a ceiling |
| Background no louder than -60 dB | The quiet between your words is quiet, with no hiss or hum |
| Room tone at the start and end | Each file opens and closes with a moment of the room’s own quiet |
| One section per file, under 120 minutes | One chapter or credit per file, in order |
| MP3, 192 kbps or higher, 44.1 kHz | The file format ACX accepts |
Our rooms are built for this. They are private and soundproofed, so the quiet between your words is the room, not traffic or a neighbour.
Upload your files
- On ACX, open your title and go to the Produce tab.
- Add a section for each file: opening credits, each chapter, closing credits.
- Upload each MP3 to its section.
- Upload a retail sample: 1 to 5 minutes from the story itself, the part people hear before they buy. Leave out the credits and anything explicit.
Send it for review
When every section has its file, press I’m done. ACX reviews the whole book and emails you when it is finished. Your audiobook goes on sale once it passes.
If ACX sends a file back
It happens, and it is fixable. ACX’s email names the file and what it found, such as background noise or a volume outside its range.
Book a session, re-record that chapter, and export it again. Then upload the new MP3 to the same section on ACX and send the book for review again. You only redo the files ACX names.
Common questions
Do I need to upload the whole book at once? No. You can upload chapters as you finish them and send the book for review when the last one is in.
Can I record my audiobook over several visits? Yes. Book one chapter at a time or a long block, day or night. Many narrators record a few chapters per visit.
What if my voice sounds different from one day to the next? ACX listens for a book that sounds consistent. Use the same studio and the same distance from the microphone each visit, and listen back to the end of your last chapter before you start the next one.
Where can I record my audiobook in Utah? Audio House has private, self-serve studios across Utah, open 24/7. See audiobook recording to plan your sessions.