Submitting to ACX - navigation problem

If this has already been raised and answered my apologies, but a search didn’t turn up anything relevant.

I’ve been working with a friend to edit and master her audiobook - and once again, huge thanks for the help we received here. The finished book is now ready for her to submit it to ACX, but she’s run into a problem and it’s one I can’t replicate and so can’t help her with.

When I go through the process myself, I can navigate to How it Works and then click on Audio Publishers. This generates a top-of-the-page menu which includes (on the right hand side) Add your title.

Clicking on this brings up a list of works apparently culled from Amazon.com, with several marked This is my book. Clicking on one of them starts the submission process: it’s fiddly and not terribly well signposted but essentially quite straightforward.

My friend’s problem is this: she doesn’t get the Add your title option. What she sees is Add your sample - this appears to lead to an invitation to upload a recording of her voice in order to be eligible for narration jobs.

Neither she nor I can work out how to generate “Add your title”. Clicking on Contact Us on the ACX site takes you straight to Audible, where none of the options available for raising questions is applicable to submitting to ACX. Can anyone help, please?

Many thanks.

The first obvious question: Does she have her book for sale on Amazon (in any form)?

I wonder if y’all made a typo somewhere. Is the audiobook the same title as the paper or eBook title?

What she sees is Add your sample

You used to be able to do that. That was the process I experienced when I submitted. They would run the sample past an actual human who would critique your work. My technical submission was practically perfect in every way, but my voice sucked. They don’t do that any more.

As you noted, they do offer sample submissions so other people can hire you. Unfortunately, I have zero experience with that one. That happened after the pandemic changeover.

Are you two in the same room? Can you see the actual keystrokes leading up to this failure? Can you submit for her? I don’t know that there’s any restriction of which or how many computers can be involved.

I do have one wild guess. Since this “error” used to be a thing, how old is her computer and is it fully updated?

It’s also possible their submission process failed. ACX is not heavily into the technical world. When we contacted them, we wanted to discuss microphones and recording techniques. They wanted to talk about theatrical business representation, promotion, and billing. We lost each other at “Hello.”

Google ACX Submission Failures.

There is one semi-passive thing you can do. If the failure happened before Sunday (yesterday), try it again now (Monday). Or wait until next Monday and try it again. Traditionally, large computer systems are updated and patched Sunday Night. If it’s still broken, then go on to other options.

I sprinkled questions all over. Please try to answer them all. Thanx,

Koz

Koz, many thanks for the speedy reply.

Yes, she does. When my Amazon list comes up so too does a search option. I can search for her name and her print book is listed immediately.

I wonder if y’all made a typo somewhere. Is the audiobook the same title as the paper or eBook title?

Yes, though since she can’t progress to the point of even trying to submit her audiobook, is the title of it relevant at this stage?

Are you two in the same room? Can you see the actual keystrokes leading up to this failure?

No, though I am able to walk her through the stages for submission, with checks as we go - at least until the non-appearance of “Add your title”.

Can you submit for her?

I don’t believe so, at least not without actually logging in as her - and if I were to do that, I imagine that exactly the same problem would arise.

I do have one wild guess. Since this “error” used to be a thing, how old is her computer and is it fully updated?

That I don’t know; I’ll enquire. But to be honest, I don’t see that as being a factor: I can login on my ageing desktop PC running Windows 7 and don’t encounter the same glitch (if that’s what it is).

Google ACX Submission Failures.

I shall, thanks for the thought.

There is one semi-passive thing you can do. If the failure happened before Sunday (yesterday), try it again now (Monday). Or wait until next Monday and try it again. Traditionally, large computer systems are updated and patched Sunday Night. If it’s still broken, then go on to other options.

Interesting. It was first noticed two days ago, and was still happening today: Monday evening, UK time.

Please try to answer them all.

I’ve done my best.

Bert

Let’s get down to links.

This is the link I live on because it takes me through all the technical details of submission.

https://www.acx.com/help/acx-audio-submission-requirements/201456300

Then How It Works takes me to here.

https://www.acx.com/help/how-it-works/200484210

I assume Author who Narrates.

https://www.acx.com/help/authors-as-narrators/200626860?utm_medium=authorasnarrator&utm_campaign=hiwtable

Step 2 tells us to log onto your account.

I know I didn’t follow the same pathway you did, but my pathway tells me to log into my account. You didn’t say anything about an account.

Koz

Koz, thanks for that, and for the screenshots.

Sorry, I should have mentioned that step: yes, my author-who-narrates colleague does have an ACX account and logged into it at the start of the attempt.

Your route, as you say, was not entirely the same as hers or mine, but clearly we arrive at the same place - with the crucial difference that you are presented with Add Your Title and she sees Add Your Sample.

I’m still baffled as to why the ACX Contact Us link takes you to Audible.

Bert

Because both ACX and Audible are part of Amazon.
“Audible” is the retail outlet for Amazon audiobooks.
“ACX” is the audiobook creators portal for Audible.

Oh yes, I appreciate that. But Audible is hardly placed to answer technical queries relating to ACX, and the link doesn’t make that clear.

Bert

Audacity has no association with Amazon, so we only know as much as is in the public domain.

I know what’s wrong. I found a (well-buried) direct-to-ACX helpline number and got through almost immediately to a very helpful American lady who explained things.

My friend registered with ACX as a narrator and so the options available to her are limited to ones relevant to offering her services as a reader for other people’s books - hence Add Your Sample.

To upload and sell a finished audiobook of her own, she has to have an author account. Her existing account can’t be changed or added to, so the author account must be a new and separate one, registered to a completely different email address. I asked, “What if she only has one email address?” and the reply was, “Then she’ll have to get a new one”. Apparently, even if the old account is closed, she still can’t reuse the first address.

I’m pleased to have found the solution - and thanks to everyone here who offered thoughts and suggestions.

Bert

I found a (well-buried) direct-to-ACX helpline number

And what is that number or where is it?

This is a forum, users helping each other, not a help desk.

Koz

My apologies. The relevant page is https://www.acx.com/help/contact-us/200485390 and the details are:

United States - support@acx.com
Email Support: 9:00AM-9:00PM ET (Mon-Fri)
Tel. 1-888-396-6347
Phone Support: 9:00AM-9:00PM ET (Mon-Thurs)

United Kingdom - support-uk@acx.com
Email support: 1:00PM-10:00PM BST (Mon-Fri)
Tel. 0800-031-4086
Phone Support: 1:00PM-10:00PM BST (Mon-Thurs)

Bert

As an aside, I tried to post a screengrab of the helpline details and couldn’t make it work: the preview simply displayed the word Image; I’ll have to investigate what I did wrong.

Bert

See here: https://forum.audacityteam.org/t/how-to-attach-files-to-forum-posts/24026/1

(I’ll update your previous post for you. Update: No I won’t because you’ve removed the link)

Thanks, Steve.

Bert

Apparently, even if the old account is closed, she still can’t reuse the first address.

They’re not technology whiz-kids. It’s pretty clear the farthest they can stay away from recording, production, programming, and software development the better.

I predict one of two things happened. Either someone on staff is programming everything and once someone finds out you can do that, it’s all over. “Say, Bert, can you make the splash page blue instead of gray?” The email/account thing is right at the bottom of the list-besides being ticklish and scary.

The other more likely possibility is an outside contract for programming services. “You want us to spend how much so Mrs. McGillicuddy doesn’t need a second email address?”

Koz

It’s very easy to set up a free gmail address.

Also, there’s an interesting quirk with gmail addresses: Gmail ignores dots in the first part of the name, so if your address is: abcd@gmail.com, then you can also use: a.bcd@gmail.com or abc.d@gmail.com or a.b.c.d@gmail.com and all will be received in the same gmail mail box.

It’s also possible that you encountered a split between two divisions of the company with separate databases. Hard to tell.

It did get harder to do all these jobs because ACX and audiobook reading suddenly became the lifeboat for people who lost their jobs and needing something to do to avoid be in on the street. That and ACX had a reduction in staff on top of everything else. It doesn’t take very many virus hits in a small company to cause problems.

Koz

there’s an interesting quirk with gmail addresses:

That could also be a time bomb.

“Good news! We fixed that ‘dot at the beginning’ bug.”

Koz

Just to add what I said above: before I found that page with the full contact details, I’d seen a throwaway mention of ACX’s UK email support address on another site, so I sent a message outlining the problem. I wasn’t sure if the address was still current, which is why, when I discovered the phone numbers, I also telephoned.

A short while ago I received a very full and courteous email response explaining what was wrong and outlining the way to fix it: duplicating what I was told on the phone, in fact.

I have occasionally seen some rather disparaging comments on ACX’s customer service but on this evidence I’d say it was excellent.

Bert

I’m pretty sure it’s a well-established feature: Dots don’t matter in Gmail addresses and Official Gmail Blog: 2 hidden ways to get more from your Gmail address.