Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware®

Two issues involving Audible's ACX have come across my desk recently.

Rights Fraud

I've heard from several self- and small press-pubbed authors who report that they've found their books listed on ACX as open to narrator auditions...except that they, or their publishers, didn't put them there. This appears to be an attempt to steal authors' audio rights.

Below is one listing. Here's another and another and another. (All of these listings have been invalidated by ACX.)


See "Comments from the Rights Holder" at the bottom. The purported company, Publishing D LLC, does not show up on any searches.

The fraud seems pretty elaborate. Here's what one of the authors who contacted me told me:


These comments from a freelance audiobook narrator illustrate that "Publishing D" is not an isolated incidence.

Promotional Code Shenanigans

Multiple authors have contacted me to report that they've received an email from ACX withdrawing their promotional codes. The cited reason: "unusual activity," with no explanation of what that means.

The authors say that they have not used the codes improperly or violated ACX guidelines; in some cases, they've used the codes only a handful of times or not at all. See, for instance, blog posts by authors G. Michael Vasey and Adam Piggott. Per discussions on the KBoards and Reddit, a lot of authors seem to be affected.

Is this one of Amazon's (Audible's parent company) periodic crackdowns on misuse or fraud that has inadvertently ensnared innocent authors? According to author and self-publishing expert David Gaughran, ACX promo code scamming is a major problem, and Amazon's anti-abuse sweeps often involve a lot of collateral damage. Or could it be an error--a glitch or rogue algorithm?

So far, authors' efforts to get a fuller explanation have run up against the black box that is Amazon:


If I hear anything further, I'll update this post.

UPDATE 11/27/19: One of the authors who alerted me to the promo code withdrawal has received a notice saying that their codes are reinstated--however, they say that the promo code tab has yet to appear in their dashboard.


UPDATE 2/25/29: More about ACX scams, from a comment left by a narrator:

About the ACX thing...I was contacted by ACX to narrate three books, however, the person who offered the contracts kept emailing and frantically telling me to send them my book codes. I got leary and called ACX. They said unfortunately there are many scams taking place where if a book is "unclaimed" in their system, someone may grab it and offer it as an audiobook contract. Then they keep the codes and blackmarket sell them. They do not pay the narrators. Many other authors are experiencing it, they said, but they have no way to regulate it.

I declined the offers and got a nasty note from the contract holder. I was also told that since I corresponded with them, they had my email that is associated with Amazon..the same one. So, ACX said I had to go change my email on Amazon or they would have access there too. Geez.

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Are you experiencing depression, mood instability, and loneliness? Blame the disruption in your body's internal clock, researchers say.

Our 24-hour biological body clock governs the fundamental physiological and behavioural functions including from body temperature to eating habits in almost all organisms. Disruptions in that biological clock may arise from increased activity during rest periods and/or inactivity during the day. Disturbances to the body's internal clock or the circadian rhythms are also associated with lower happiness and health satisfaction, and worse cognitive function, according to a study published in The Lancet Psychiatry.

"Our findings indicate an association between altered daily circadian rhythms and mood disorders and well-being," said study author Laura Lyall, from the University of Glasgow.

"The study reinforces the idea that mood disorders are associated with disturbed circadian rhythms, and we provide evidence that altered rest-activity rhythms are also linked to worse subjective well-being and cognitive ability," Lyall added.

The study included data from 91,105 participants aged between 37-73. The researchers objectively measured the rest and activity rhythm patterns which is known as relative amplitude.

The results showed that lower relative amplitude was linked with greater odds of reporting lifetime history of major depression or bipolar disorder.

It was also associated with greater mood instability, higher neuroticism scores, more subjective loneliness, lower happiness and health satisfaction, and slower reaction time.

However, the researcher said that the findings showed observational associations rather than cause and effect, and "cannot tell us whether mood disorders and reduced well-being cause disturbed rest-activity patterns, or whether disturbed circadian rhythmicity makes people vulnerable to mood disorders and poorer well-being," Lyall said.

She also noted that rest-activity rhythms differ between younger and older adults which may cause difference in the daily clock and mental health link based on their age.

(Edited by mid-day online desk, with inputs from IANS)

Catch up on all the latest Mumbai news, crime news, current affairs, and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates

As data security concerns on Facebook and WhatsApp loom large, Twitter is reportedly working on a 'Secret' encrypted messages feature which could make the microblogging platform safer for sensitive communications.

With this feature, Twitter is expected to roll out options about encrypted messaging like starting a secret conversation and viewing both sides of the conversation for encryption keys to verify a secure connection, TechCrunch reported on Monday.

The encrypted Direct Message (DM) option was first spotted inside Twitter for APK that contains codes for unreleased features that companies are testing.

Instant messaging app WhatsApp uses "end-to-end encryption" in all conversations. This can be opted into Messenger.

End-to-end encrypted messages are secured with a lock and only the sender and recipient have the special key needed to unlock and read them.

For added protection, every message sent has its own unique lock and key. No one can intercept the communications.

Last week, WhatsApp co-founder and CEO Jan Koum quit reportedly "after clashing with its parent, Facebook, over the popular messaging service's strategy and Facebook's attempts to use its personal data and weaken its encryption".

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Washington: Twitter is reportedly testing a new feature on its Android app that makes messaging secure with end-to-end encryption.

Called 'Secret Conversation', the feature is expected to be available in the conversation info section in direct messaging of the Twitter app on Android, Mashable reports.

As users seek more security, end-to-end encryption has become a new mandate for messaging apps. The technology makes it difficult for snoopers to access or intercept messages which are exchanged between two parties.

NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden had asked Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey for such a feature on the platform a year ago. It remains to be seen when the end-to-end encryption is officially rolled out.

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This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever