Frequently Asked Questions

Open Book Audio is an audiobook production and digital distribution company founded in 2009 by long-time friends Matt Armstrong and Andrew Parker.  We work with independent authors and smaller publishers to make their audio titles available to the world.

We specialize in recording and selling audiobooks for independent authors, narrators, and small publishing houses who want to create and sell audiobooks but who may not have a large enough catalog to be listed in the major digital audiobook retailers.  Open Book Audio acts as an aggregator, using our ever-increasing catalog to get you and your title access to retail locations that may be closed to you otherwise.  If you record with us, we handle the voice casting, direction, and production of your title, and provide the final product to you in whatever format you want. We also handle all the formatting, mastering, and submission of your titles to our many different retail partners, taking care of the sometimes onerous task of ensuring that your title meets the retailers’ different (and stringent) demands.

Open Book Audio was created in 2009 by Matt Armstrong and Andrew Parker—two friends who met in the summer of 1997 during their college years and found that they had a lot in common.  Both Matt and Andrew had a deep love of performing (particularly music and theater) and spent the next several years gathering a handful of degrees between them, including degrees in Music, Theater, Audio Engineering, Dance, and Entertainment Marketing.  After college, they went their separate ways, and each independently decided to change course and get MBAs.

Open Book Audio's founders have a whole lot of experience between them, both as performers and businessmen. They have worked with and for companies like Microsoft, The Walt Disney Company, Paramount, CBS, Target, Dell Computers, Apple Computers, Novell, The Wyndham Group, Eddie Bauer, Ann Taylor and many others. Between them, they have done film, television, movies, commercials, radio, podcasts, concerts, and produced/recorded several albums.  They play several instruments, sing (one of them even sang in the world-famous Mormon Tabernacle Choir), write, and arrange music.

We love to talk about audiobooks and Open Book Audio.  If you’re interested in contacting us for media inquiries, please use the Open Book Audio contact form.

Open Book Audio is a privately held Limited Liability Corporation, and does not currently have any outside investors.  While we have not (and have no plans) to actively pursue outside funding, we are always open to meeting with potential investors who are as passionate about good storytelling and good business as we are.  If you are interested in investing in Open Book Audio, please contact us via the contact form.

Yes.  Open Book Audio has an in-house digital distribution system.  We will take care of formatting your books, submitting them to our retailers, and managing the royalty and payment information.

No, we won’t.  First and foremost, we are interested in distributing only those books which we believe will sell and that meet the high quality standards required by many of our retailers.  We may reject audio titles because the quality of the recording or performance is poor.  We also will not distribute titles whose content we consider illegal, obscene, or offensive.  But if you have any questions, please contact us and we will be happy to discuss your particular case.

When we review an audiobook title for distribution, we're looking for several things.

• Generally, we want a title that is over 2-3 hours in length.  Anything shorter than that is less of an audiobook and more of a spoken word album.  We find that the longer books tend to sell a little better. We can make exceptions to the length rule, depending on the quality of the title.
• The audio quality must be pristine.  There should be no background noise, room sounds, strange echos, etc.
• The audio of the narrator's voice must be well-recorded.  It should be clean and clear. There should be no "muddiness" to the audio quality. The Mic should have been positioned in such a way that there are no plosives (e.g., popped P's or B's).
• The narrator's performance should sound professional.  The narrator should have a pleasing voice, and a solid performance.  It should be well-paced and easy to understand. There shouldn't be stumbles or mistakes in the recording.
• The content of the audio title should be engaging. 

If you believe that your title meets all of these criteria, please contact us about submitting your title for consideration.

We distribute to major audiobook retailers like iTunes and Audible, as well as many smaller retailers around the world as well.  To get a current list of the retailers to whom we distribute, contact us.

No.  Open Book Audio manages to keep its percentages and royalties low by not navigating through the fast-disappearing world of physical distribution.  Bookstores are going out of business left and right.  Libraries, one of the last buyers of physical audiobooks, are fast transitioning to online digital distribution of audio titles.  The overhead of producing, warehousing, and shipping physical titles would require us to take a much larger percentage of your sales.   You will still maintain the physical distribution rights to your title, so if you want to sell your CDs on your own or through another distributor, you are free to do so.

It can vary, but usually it’s about 20-30% of the net revenue generated from the sales of the audiobooks.  (After the retailer has taken their cut.)  For instance, if your audiobook was selling for $20 and the retailer took a 40% cut ($8), your net revenue would be $12.  Open Book Audio would take a 20% cut of that amount ($2.40), and you would be left with the remainder: $9.60.

Open Book Audio as a company does not believe in Digital Rights Management, and we count among our retailer ranks, many retailers who do not put DRM on the products that they sell.  That does not mean, however, that we will not sell in stores that do utilize DRM.  Audible.com, for instance, our largest retailer, does use Digital Rights Management.  If you have concerns about this, please let us know and we can limit the scope of your distribution agreement to include only those retailers that do or do not have DRM programs in place.

The first step to do is to contact us and let us know that you’re interested in submitting a book for consideration.  We can then work out the details on how to get the digital version of the book over to us for review.  You can also send CDs, DVDs, Thumb Drives, or Hard Drives to the following address:

Open Book Audio
ATTN: Book Submission
PO BOX 3304
Redmond, WA 98073.

We can not return any titles submitted to us, so don’t submit on a format that you want back.

Audiobooks are a rapidly growing field.  They cater to people who like to read, but may not have the time.  They are fantastic for listening to while gardening, commuting, cleaning the house, or doing chores.  There are many people who simply don’t have the time or the ability to read, and if you want to reach those people, audiobooks are a way to open your title up to an entirely different audience.

Open Book Audio maintains a small stable of narrators with whom we like to work.  Depending on the kind of voice you need, we will try to meet it with our stable of narrators.  If we can’t, or if you’re looking for a different kind of reader, then we utilize one of the major voice talent websites on the internet to audition and select and narrator that will meet your needs.

For the most part, recording your audiobook with Open Book Audio is an easy, wonderful experience.  There are a few things that you won’t necessarily experience when you record with us, though.  For starters, you won’t be able to attend or direct the recording sessions, since we work in smaller studios and with narrators across the country.  You won’t be able to narrate your own title if that’s what you want to do (and frankly, it would likely be cheaper to go to a local recording studio to record your audiobook if you want to narrate your own title.)  And lastly, we will send you the first chapter to review to ensure that we’re on the right track.  But after that, Open Book Audio’s very talented producers and directors will oversee the production entirely and send you a rough mix to review once the project is done. 
 
There are a couple of other things you'll give up.  You'll give up having to worry about trying to juggle studio time and scheduling narrators.  You'll give up having to spend countless hours sitting through mind-numbing editing sessions.  And you'll give up a whole lot of worry, since Open Book Audio's products are always top-notch.  Recording with Open Book Audio means that when the final product arrives, you’ll have an audiobook as well-produced and well-performed as you would wish.

You will maintain the complete audio rights to your title.  When we send you the final masters, what you do with the title is your decision, and your responsibility.  If you would like to have Open Book Audio distribute your book for you, we are able to do so with our distribution network, but even then, you still own the rights.  It’s your book, and with Open Book Audio, it always will be.

Open Book Audio bases its production fees on the number of words in your title.  We charge a flat rate for every 10,000 words, and that price includes the voice talent, studio time, and a final master in the format of your choice.  For an additional fee, we can also provide additional final masters, add sound effects, and even write music for your audio title.  Our prices change often, and we offer first-time customer discounts, to receive a no-obligation quote, please fill out our Production Quote Form and someone will be in touch with you shortly.

Open Book Audio requires a deposit of 50% before we will begin production of your audio title.  Once production is finished, we will send you a review copy with auditory watermarks.  If you approve of the product, you can send the remaining 50% of the agreed-upon price to Open Book Audio, and we will send out the clean master files.

Music and sound effects are not included in the cost of our standard audiobook production.  We can add them for an additional fee which is determined by the complexity and size of the effect/music requirements.  If you have music to which you can document the rights for inclusion in the audiobook, our fee is greatly reduced.  We have also partnered with Silly Looking Little Man Music to provide original music for audiobooks where needed.

This depends pretty heavily on a few things—not least of which is how long your book actually is, and more importantly, how complicated the production will be.  It will also depend on how quickly we are able to find an appropriate narrator, how quickly you are able to review the title and provide notes, and the number of changes or updates that you require.  Assuming that everything goes very smoothly,  a standard 50,000 word novel may be very roughly estimated to take approximately 4 weeks to complete.  We can provide an estimated timeline at the same time we provide you with a price quote.

To get started, fill out our quote form.  Someone will be in contact with you shortly.