Empowering Independent Creators at Audible’s ACX Author Summit

“A lot of what we do is like a magic moment. It's a dream job," said Amy Daws, a romance author who is finding success on Audible’s Audiobook Creation Exchange (ACX). She was one of many best-selling authors who gathered at our first-ever ACX Author Summit in Audible’s headquarters city, Newark, NJ, for a day dedicated to helping indie authors create more of those magic moments by building their brands, marketing their titles, growing engaged fan bases and creating premium audio content.

“You are entrepreneurs who have built amazing followings and carved your own paths. That's why we've brought you all together today,” said Rachel Ghiazza, Audible’s Chief Content Officer, in her opening remarks to the audience.

About 40 percent of the Summit’s attendees had been producing audio content via ACX for more than a decade, reported Lee Jarit, Audible’s Global Head of Publisher and Partner Relations, who reflected on how far ACX has come since its 2011 launch. Head of Creator and Global Expansion Product Sadaf Kazmi added that the creators in the room drove more than 61 million listening hours in 2024 alone.

Jarit and Kazmi, as well as Ashvini Naidu and Molly Young, both associate directors of product marketing at Audible, walked the audience through new analytics features including an enhanced sales overview page with data visualizations for sales and listening trends, as well as tools currently only available to a limited number of creators, including a more flexible royalty model and promotional opportunities that connect their content to new listeners. Naidu and Young also discussed Audible’s voice replication beta for the ACX community, which enables narrators to create and monetize replicas of their own voices using AI-generated speech technology, so they can record more projects while maintaining control over where and how their voice is used.

Best-selling thriller writer L.T. Ryan said these tools would allow for flexible content creation and marketing, which he called “the most important thing in this business.” For example, seeing how many hours people are listening to a single audiobook in Germany “tells me, hey, I need to invest in German narration cause there’s something going on there.” Ryan also cited the opportunity to reach new audiences by opting his titles into Audible’s all-you-can-listen offering, which allows Audible members to listen to unlimited titles in that catalog, so that they can try out one of his books before spending their credits on further titles in the series.

Ryan appeared on a panel of ACX authors, moderated by Jess Guro, senior director, ACX creator and community relations, discussing their perspectives on marketing that resonates. The panel included Daws who revealed that when her book Wait With Me was adapted as a movie, she shared on TikTok some behind-the-scenes videos from the set, and as a result, the book shot up to Amazon’s top 10 list even though it had been released several years prior. Romance author Mariana Zapata said that video content is newer to her, but that she’s getting more comfortable with it. “I try to be as organic as I can…people can relate to me and get to know me,” she shared. She also designs her own merchandise that “kind of makes you feel like you're part of a club.”

Narrators and sound designers lent their expertise as well, on a panel inspiring authors with ways to make a dramatic, high-quality, immersive production. Audible sound designer Tim Kim suggested thinking about “what the world of your story sounds like,” and working with a sound designer early in the process, if possible. Performers offered tips, like going minimal with dialogue tags so listeners don’t hear too much “he said” and “she said.” Erin Mallon shared her approach to performing an author’s work. “When I get a book, I like to treat it like a piece of music,” she said, adding that intentionally chosen punctuation creates cues for the way she reads it.

Across panels, Audible leaders and experts shared marketing strategies and tools for maximizing listener reach. Playwright and screenwriter Banna Desta, whose Audible Original The Abyssinians was produced through Audible’s Emerging Playwrights Fund, moderated a panel about the exciting potential of adaptation and audio expansion with Audible’s Head of Film and TV Jackie Levine, Head of Global Book Acquisitions Kristin Lang, and Executive Editor of Audible Originals Rose Hilliard. Lang lauded ACX creators as “great at developing core audiences and fandoms” and said Audible “helps expand that audience to millions of listeners, and with merchandising, promotional, editorial and marketing support.”

They cited Mel Robbins as an example of an ACX author who always hustles and adapts to what’s working, and as a result now has developed several Audible Originals and exclusives, including recent bestseller, The Let Them Theory.

Throughout the day, authors were encouraged to create work that reflects their authentic selves, while also making informed business decisions derived from data and trends. For example, attendees reported that one of the main takeaways from the summit was how huge duet narration is with romance listeners right now.

Many of them expressed gratitude for the opportunity to connect with their fellow creators and the ACX teams who support them. “I feel like the experience of being an author can feel kind of lonely,” observed the summit’s keynote speaker, internationally acclaimed writer and performance artist ALOK. “You're making your work in a silo, so it's great to be around other authors, other creatives, to just discuss what it's like to be involved in this creative journey.”

ACX author Jeff Carson agreed: “My biggest takeaway from today is meeting the people behind the scenes and getting to know them, the employees at ACX and at Audible, and putting faces to names.”