Classic Tales Audiobook Contract Terms
Engagement to Produce Audiobook
In this agreement, the narrator and producer BJ Harrison (Producer) agrees to produce an audiobook for the individual holding a corresponding account at www.thebestaudiobooks.com who has purchased this product (Rights Holder).
By purchasing this product at www.thebestaudiobooks.com, you agree the terms and conditions in this document. Your act of purchasing this product through your account at www.thebestaudiobooks.com is an indication that you agree to these terms and conditions.
Rate
The rate of audiobook production is $290 per finished hour of audio. 1 hour of finished audio yields around 89,000 to 91,000 words.
The Rights Holder will provide an initial word count, and this number will be used to calculate the estimated running time of the project.
The equation will be used: Word count/89,000 (estimated words per hour)
This estimation will be used in calculating the monthly installation payments of the project. If you are now purchasing the product, this step was already done, as is indicated in the price of the product.
Deposit
There is a non-refundable $250 deposit due upon the initial purchase. This coincides with an agreement to begin the audiobook project.
It covers the initial production costs of the first 15 minutes of the audiobook.
This goes toward the payment of the overall audiobook project, and is NOT an addition to the overall price of the project.
Term
The Rights Holder will notify the Producer of how many installments they would like to make in order to finance their audiobook.
The terms are in three-month increments: 3,6,9, or 12 months are available for financing the audiobook project.
Financing Product at www.thebestaudiobooks.com
The Producer will then create a custom product for this specific title at www.thebestaudiobooks.com.
The said product will include:
The number of words in the book
The estimated running time of the completed audiobook
The estimated cost of the audiobook, based on a word count/reading rate equation as mentioned above under "Rate"
The amount of months that is to be financed.
The amount that the Rights Holder will pay on a monthly basis until the Initial Phase ends (when the audiobook is completed and approved, and amounts are readjusted).
Manuscript
The Rights Holder will provide the Producer with the manuscript for the audiobook project within 3 days of the acceptance of this offer.
Clarification of Term
"Character Voices" refers to use of vocal inflection, accent, dialect, or other use of the Producer's voice to attain a desired effect.
All Character Voices must remain consistent through the body of the audiobook. This is Producer's responsibility.
Initial Phase
The initial phase begins when the product is purchased at www.thebestaudiobooks.com. This constitutes consensual agreement by both the Producer and the Rights Holder as to amount of the project, and the timeline for project completion.
The Initial Phase ends when the audiobook is completed by the Producer and approved by the Rights Holder.
The Rights Holder continues to make monthly installation payments during the Production Phase.
Production Phase
The Production Phase begins when the Manuscript is initially read through by the Producer.
After the initial read-through, the Producer will send an email to the Author with questions about any unfamiliar names and/or terms
Author/Rights Holder is responsible to respond with the requested information within 72 hours
If more time is needed, accommodations can be made. But the Rights Holder has to have all the requested information delivered to the Producer at then end of 7 days from the Producer's initial request.
Producer will then Produce the first 15 minutes of the title
This will be a fully proofed, edited, and mixed production. The timing, character voice choices, and audio quality will reflect that of the final audiobook product.
The Rights Holder will then listen to the first 15 minutes, and send feedback to the Producer.
This process will continue until both parties are in agreement, and the Rights Holder approves the first 15 minutes of the production.
If there is any specific direction that needs to be communicated to the Producer that may not be evident in the first 15 minutes of the novel, the Rights Holder MUST communicate it to the Producer at this point.
This includes approval of any character voices that may turn up later in the book, that the Rights Holder feels that it is critical to direct.
Character voice demos and other samples will be produced by the Producer at this point, and will continue until the Rights Holder is satisfied that the critical issues, narration, voices, etc. are approved.
Once full-scale production of the title begins, (after the initial 15 minutes is approved) Character Voices cannot be changed.
If the two parties cannot come to an agreement at this point, the contract will be cancelled. The Producer will retain the $250 deposit, and both parties will be released from any and all further contractual obligations.
All funds received over $250 will be returned to the Rights Holder within 30 days of the Cancellation of the Agreement.
AFTER the Rights Holder has approved the first 15 minutes, the Producer will then proceed to produce the entire audiobook.
NOTE: The Producer will produce the audiobook in full accordance with ACX/Audible's standard production guidelines. Final mixing includes the application of 4 separate compressors, noise gating, EQ and all other production methods detailed in ACX's Standard Rules for Audiobook Production.
Once the audiobook is completed, it will be delivered to the Rights Holder. The Producer will send the Rights Holder an email containing a secure link where the audiobook may be downloaded. These will be mp3 files compressed to 128kbps.
The Rights Holder will then listen to the audiobooks, and have ONE ROUND OF CHANGES that they may request of the Producer, in relation to the entire body of the audiobook.
The Rights Holder will mark the file name, time stamp, and type of change for each requested change. This facilities the Producer in locating the areas to change in the audio file, and provides the needed direction.
The Producer will provide template documents and examples of how this is to be done.
The Producer will make the requested changes in a timely manner. (In most cases no more than 7-10 days. This depends on the amount of the changes, the size of the audiobook, and other time sensitive areas)
The Producer will submit the changed files to the Rights Holder for final approval. The Producer will send the Rights Holder an email containing a secure link where the files may be downloaded.
This is to ensure that the changes made meet with the Rights Holder's approval, and were executed in accordance with the Rights Holder's directions.
Once the Rights Holder issues their final approval of the audiobook, The Production Phase is ended.
Installment Phase
The Installment Phase is the period when the remaining balance of the audiobook is paid in regular installments.
At this point, the amount of installments and the amount of each installment is to be adjusted.
This is done on a case-by-case basis. Now that the final running time of the audiobook is known, the overall cost of the project is also known.
The Rights Holder and the Producer must coordinate the payment of the remaining balance.
They will take into consideration the amount already paid toward the project, and the amount of time needed to complete full payment of the project.
The number of remaining payments and the amount of each payment will be adjusted after the Producer and the Rights Holder have come to full agreement.
The Rights Holder will make monthly payments to the Producer until full payment has been remitted to the Producer.
Delivery
Once full payment has been made to the Producer, the Producer will send the Rights Holder their completed, approved audiobook in three formats:
mp3 files
mp3 files compressed to192kbps. This is the compression rate that is considered CD quality, and is the industry standard when submitting your audiobook to other retailers such as Audible, iTunes, etc..
WAV files
WAV files are uncompressed master files. They will be split into identical chapters, as the mp3 files. They are uncompressed, and of a much larger size. These are full studio quality.
AAC/m4b bookmarkable audiobook file
AAC or m4b files are the industry standard of delivery of audiobooks to consumers. The entire audiobook is placed on one single audiobook file that is bookmarkable and playable on most smartphones, and portable digital audio devices including iPods, iPads, and other tablets.
Audiobooks purchased from the iTunes Store and Audible.com are typically AAC/m4b files compressed to 64kbps.
The Producer will deliver your audiobook as an AAC/m4b file at 64kbps, and as an HD version of the audiobook as an AAC/m4b file at 192kbps.
The Producer will deliver the audiobook by sending an email to the Rights Holder that contains a password-protected link to the completed audiobook files.
This link will remain active for 60 days. It is the responsibility of the Rights Holder to download their product within 60 days from the time that the Producer sends the email and accompanying access link to the Rights Holder.
NOTES:
The Producer, B.J. Harrison, retains no rights to the completed audiobook, and no royalties or other future compensation are due to the Producer unless specifically stated in another agreement.
The Producer, B.J. Harrison, is not to be held liable for any responsibility concerning the future marketing or marketability of the completed audiobook.
The Rights Holder retains all rights for the audiobook. This agreement represents contracted work for a project, and is not indicative of an ongoing employee/employer relationship between the Producer and the Rights Holder.
