Exact Steps to Making An Audiobook Recording

There came a time when all the younger generation started to lose interest in visiting the old school books. Then it happened. The audiobook brought life to the old gems. The audio formatting of the book revitalised the whole literature industry and made the book popular among the younger generation as well.

The data says that 45% of all Americans have listened to an audiobook in their life. That’s a huge fan following for literature. And it’s great news for any upcoming writer.

The book experience has changed and for you to thrive in this modern techy environment, audiobooks are essential. Let yourself go free to explore the world of audio experiences. But how exactly would you convert your physical book into an audio masterpiece?

This article is all about that. Here we will discuss A2Z about Audio Books and their step-by-step making process.

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What are Audiobooks?

The digitalisation of books has resulted in two forms- Ebooks and audiobooks. Both these are on trend right now. However, the demand for audiobooks is rapidly growing each passing day. The digital audio formatting of experiencing written texts is way more impactful for people and performs as time savers as well.

The audiobooks help you finish a book faster and offer a next level experience when mixed with situational editing. You actually feel the scenes happening around you. Isn’t that exciting?

Audiobooks come in three formats- WAV, MP3, AND M4B.

WAV files were used in the early 90s. The biggest issue it has is its size. These are large files that are not good to carry. MP3 files are still best for audio files where M4B files are uploaded to audio platforms and support bookmark features.

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What Books Perform Well as Audiobooks?

Not all books perform well on audiobooks. Audiobooks increase your experience and any book that is not experience based or has too many numbers or data is not suitable for audio formatting.

These books are great as audiobooks.

Self-help.
Fiction
Business.
Biographies.
Poetries.

Steps to Creating Your Audiobook:

It’s really easy to create an audiobook. There are a few steps to follow and, bingo, you have your audiobook ready to publish. But all these little actions need to be done with passion and true effort. Otherwise, the audio will result in failure.

Remember to focus on the following points.

A Great Story to engage your audience into something of real value.
A Narrator is the hero of your story. So better keep a professional one.
Quality Recording Equipment is essential to keep the shine.
Recording and Editing Software to polish it with effects & music to boost the experience.
Keep a reasonable budget for any extra expenses.

1. Find a Great Story:

The first and most important part of an audiobook is its story. Nothing will work if your story is not good enough to entertain people. But how to do it?

The room of creativity is always open to you. However, if you’re not so good at writing, you can choose another person’s work to create an audiobook. Don’t forget to ask for the author’s permission before doing so. Especially when you have an intention to making money through it. This may lead to sharing a small percentage of your total profits.

2. Plan the Recording Session:

You need to sit and plan your recording schedule. A 1-hour audio piece of about 8500 words. Additionally, the pictures and diagrams important to the stories need to be explained to the audience for their understanding.

Scan the manuscripts thoroughly and understand how long you have to sit & record. Lengthy books can go up to 2-3 hours in length. Setting up a recording plan will allow you to schedule your recording time better.

3. Choose a Narrator or Be the One:

A narrator or voice actor puts life in the texts. They are the unsung heroes of audiobooks who seldom get proper recognition.

You can be the sole narrator of your book, which is a great idea to give yourself a new adventure & save money, but it can backfire as well. A voice actor possesses several skills that you might not.

Mimicking animals and birds.
Speaking in tones & accents.
Doing character voices.
Speaking in the right depth and taking pauses at the right places.

Expert narrators give a lot of time in practice sessions to make the voice perfect. If you don’t have time, go for a professional who can narrate your story for audiobooks.

4. Set Up Your Studio:

Focus on your studio set up for getting quality audio. Many narrators already have their fixed equipment, so ask them about it first.

The most essential equipment are soundproof headphones and a professional microphone. They offer depth and crispness to your audio pieces and reduce the turbulence in between. You can go for additional equipment such as stands, and pop filters.

5. Start Recording:

Your voice changes throughout the day. So, better to fix a time in the day for recording. This helps in keeping the tone the same throughout the audio. If you have hired a narrator, they will record and share it with you. Otherwise you need to record it by yourself.

Use the best quality audio equipment and recording software only. A good recording platform helps you to record in a high-quality format.

Tip- it’s better not to record more than 1-2 hours. You slowly get tired and make more mistakes. Keep a clean voice throughout the audio and record each sentence again whenever you make a mistake.

6. Edit the Record:

Again, you have two ways to edit your records. You can either do it by yourself or get a higher professional to edit it. If you are hiring a professional, there is nothing to worry about about your final product. However, you need to review it for any possible mistakes.

On the other hand, if you are going to edit the records by yourself, you need good software to do that.

Remove the popping sound
Minimise the background noise and coughing sounds.

Remove the misread lines.
Keep your voice clear and commanding.
Use audio effects to enhance the experience.
Keep moderate music.

7. Design Your Cover Art:

One of the most creative and important steps to making a compelling cover art for your audiobook. The cover art must relate to your idea of the book.

You may have an idea about it. If yes, go fully in and create it. You can also hire businesses or freelancers to make this a reality. But before you do so, make sure to review their previous works as well to evaluate whether their style is a good fit for your work.

Another way to do so is licensing your artwork. This means you can’t fully own a copyright over it. Other people may use your design for different products as well. Browse through an artist’s gallery to choose their licensable work.

Tip- Keep the JPG file less than 5 MB only.

8. Publish Your Audiobook:

You need to publish your work to audiobook publishing platforms. Note that they are not where people listen to audiobooks but they work as a bridge between your project and other platforms like iTunes.

There are several of them on the market and you can choose any of them based on their services. Some of them may charge a minimum wage from your profits.

Carefully read what they offer you in the contract. If you are happy with it, go ahead and make the deal. After a review, they will send it to distributors and make it public.

9. Promote Your Audiobook:

Publishing your content and promotions goes hand to hand. You have worked hard on publishing your audiobook; now double that for marketing.

Go to social media and pay them to promote your content. If you already have an audience, great for you. You can also start email marketing or blogging are great ways as well.

Share teasers and snippets for your book or collaborate with social media celebrities to make an impact. Moreover, if you have dealt with a professional distributor, they offer some promotion as well.

Conclusion:

Releasing your audio book is easier than you think. Carefully and Bingo; all is done. But, it takes time to perfect your audiobook with the right amount of emotions, effect, tones, music, voice domination, art, and marketing. But before all these, a solid compelling story is essential.

Above in this article we have discussed how you can create an audiobook in a few steps only. We hope it has helped you. Contact us if you need more guidance for publishing your masterpiece.