Speaker 1: As an author, do you ever sometimes feel like so much of your success is just luck? Or that when you hear about other people who made it big with their audiobooks, that there was so much that they do that you also did, but you had vastly different outcomes? It can feel like it is all just out of our control sometimes. Like there's an algorithm behind this and trends and something goes viral and like what, how do we even make sure that we can have any success, right? Well, today I'm going to go over what is in your control when it comes to marketing your audiobook and other formats as well. Stay tuned. Hi, I'm MK Williams. I'm an author and independent publisher. I love sharing my insights about all things self-publishing with you. Before I get into the details about today's topic, don't forget to hit subscribe. You'll be notified when I release videos every week on self-publishing, making a career being an author and now being a mompreneur. And today we're going to be talking about marketing your audiobook and keep in mind many of these tips will apply to other formats as well. But before I dive into those tips, I really want to give a big thank you to Findaway Voices for sponsoring this video. I'll have more from them later in this video, so keep an eye out. But first, let's dive into what you can control when you're marketing your audiobook. You can do your best to get reviews and apply for chirp deals and do a lot of things that are ultimately out of your control. But don't stress those items. Focus instead on the key elements to help you promote your audiobook. So the first thing is that you control when you start promoting your audiobook. So for those of you who follow me on social media, you know I'm posting updates when I'm recording in my audiobooks. That's right. This thing is like in its baby stage, like not even its baby stage yet. I'm already talking about it. No, people can't preorder it yet. They could add it on Goodreads, but I still get my audience excited for the release. I can tease some of the tongue twisters in recording or lament about a lawnmower outside and things like that. You know, I bring my audience along on the journey with me from day one. You can do that, too. So start talking about your audiobook the second you decide to make one as well, right? That's going to give you control over telling the story behind the story. Okay? So the second thing that you control is giving away bonus content. Now, I think as authors, sometimes we get really burned out on all the things we're supposed to do. But if you had a chapter that had to be cut because it just didn't fit in the flow of the book, or maybe you have like extra backstory on a character, or if you have an interview with you or with your narrator or things like that, like all these are excellent bonuses you can add to the audiobook to give people a reason to buy that format. If it's an extra audio chapter, that's super easy to add in if you don't have a PDF extra. Now, if you have a PDF extra, Findaway Voices makes it super easy to add that when you're uploading your metadata. And you can even add that in later after the book has been published. You can do this with ACX as well, but you have to email them. It's a bit more manual. I really like that with Findaway Voices, you just drop, done with the PDF. And like as an example, so I'm planning to add the first chapter of the Alphanina to the Infinite Infinite as a bonus chapter as soon as I'm done editing that chapter. So boom, bonus content that will hopefully get the listener hooked for book number two, and I'm already creating that content. So like, why wouldn't I add that, right? Something I can control, getting that done, just that little extra step can make it happen. All right, the third thing that you control with your audiobook is you decide who narrates it, right? You're an independent publisher, you own the rights, there isn't some publishing house coming in saying, Nope, this is the person doing it like you are the author, you are the publisher, you decide who gets to narrate your book. So is it going to be a pro? Is it going to be you? You know, you can talk about the process with your audience, either in newsletters or on social media about how you're going through picking a narrator. You can do a narrator reveal much like a cover reveal, right? You have so many great things you can say about this process, and how much you share and engage with your narrator is entirely up to you. But you guessed it, you're bringing your audience along on the journey, and then that gets them excited. So when you can announce, hey, you can buy this audiobook, they've already been hearing about it, they're excited, they're ready to go. And speaking of your narrator, Findaway Voices is launching their marketplace soon so that you as an author can find the perfect narrator and all you narrators out there can find more authors to work with. Check it out. He's listening. She's

Speaker 2: listening. They're all searching for their next listen. Is your audiobook out there? If not, what's holding you back? After this, it won't be audiobook creation tools. Introducing Findaway Voices Marketplace, the audiobook creation platform built for a world booming with audiobooks. Voices Marketplace gives you a searchable and trusted space to connect with narrators, free production and business tools, and the power to bring your audiobooks to market quickly. We've heard everything you have asked for the past 15 years and use that to build an audiobook creation platform for you. Plus, we give you access to the world's largest audiobook distribution network, reaching listeners through more than 40 retail and library partners. No exclusivity. You keep your rights. This is your audiobook creation platform. Ready to get started? Make it on

Speaker 1: Marketplace. Alright, and the next item you have control over is your cover. So when it comes to selling your audiobook, the cover art is a big element and you have total say over it, right? You're the publisher too because you're self-publishing. So you don't have somebody dictating what your cover is going to look like. You decide what it looks like and whoever designed your ebook cover, whether that's you or a designer, you can take that and make it the audiobook square size. If it was you, look up the specs and make the square version. Your designer, if they know books, again, they should know books, should know what to do to resize that. So you have the approval and you get to say what is and isn't on the cover and you get to say how it looks. You control that, okay? And this next item that you control is a little touchy, but you have control over the price of your audiobook, or at least with Findaway Voices, you do, okay? So price isn't just a matter of deciding how much you want to make. Of each audiobook sale, I think some authors do. They're like, well, I need to make this much. No. Pricing is a very specific strategy. It's going to indicate value to your audience and to your listeners. So whether you want to set a competitive price that is below other audiobooks in your genre, or you want to be right in that middle or somewhere in between, you set the price. And the great thing is with Findaway Voices, you also can set limited time pricing discounts. So it's a huge marketing asset if you have a solid strategy around it. So again, maybe you're having book two come out. Is book one on a discount while you're trying to get people to pre-order book two? That's a great way to leverage that discounting. And again, it's something that you control the actual price. You control the messaging around it. You control that, okay? That's totally within your control. And the last item that you have in your control should not really be a surprise if you've been following this channel, but you control the retailers where your audience can find your book, right? You're the publisher. And when you publish wide and non-exclusive, you get to decide just how many retailers, including your own website, will carry this audiobook, right? So if you have that under your control, that's going to make it so much easier for your audience to find the audiobook on their preferred platform and just click buy, right? That's something you totally control. So I hope that after watching this video, you do feel more empowered about being able to market your audiobook and get those sales. People want to listen to it. You have so many assets at your disposal to make it successful, right? Thanks again to Findaway Voices for sponsoring this video. If you found this video helpful, please give it a thumbs up and don't forget to hit subscribe. That lets YouTube know that you're getting value from this information and can get it in front of other authors like us. Now you can get back to writing your book.