How to Record + Publish an Audiobook
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What You’ll Need
A Complete and Edited Copy of Your Book
Your book should be written from start to finish, without any details missing. One way to ensure this is proofreading your work before you move on to recording. Typos and grammatical mistakes can cause issues for the narrator, so make sure your book is free of any errors. A better suggestion is to have an editor look over your work to clean up details or questions that might be clear to you (the author), but not the reader. All of this pre-recording preparation will help smoothen your recording process. If your narrator is recording the book and either they or you stumble on a mistake, unfinished storyline, detail, or dialogue, it would disrupt the recording progress and waste time fixing and re-recording the script.
Script
Some writers may choose to alter certain aspects of their book into a script. This may be for various reasons:
● Some parts of the book may read well but not be as entertaining when listened to.
● A script can fit some suggestions to the narrator. Say, an author wants one particular part of the dialogue to be read with more emotions, they could put an indicator before the speech that says “crying” or “laughing”.
However, if you feel that your book can be translated into audio the way it is, feel free to proceed without a script and just a copy of the text.
Narrator(s)
Depending on what kind of listening experience you would like for your readers, you should choose your narrator accordingly. Some writers prefer to narrate their own audiobooks because they feel they know the characters and storyline best, while others ask a friend or a performer who they believe can change their voice accordingly to each character or pronounce and emphasize the text into a better audio experience than they can themselves. For example, JK Rowling hired actor Jim Dale to perform the audiobook adaptation of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.
Another option could be a dual narration. If there are two main characters in your book, both telling the story from a first-person point-of-view (telling the story from the protagonist's perspective, by using “I”, “We”, “Us”), two narrators may be a good choice. For example, Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl Is narrated by two actors, each reading the perspective of the two main characters.
Another idea to consider could be a cast of more than two narrators if the writer feels that one narrator cannot capture all their characters alone. One option is to have different narrators act out entire chapters, such as in Frank Herbert’s Dune. Another option is to have a cast only read out their dialogue while one consistent narrator tells the story, like in Neil Gaiman’s audiobook adaptation of The Sandman. Gaiman narrates the book and is joined by a group of actors, each voicing a different character’s dialogue. In an audiobook with a copious amount of characters and voices, this might be a good approach.
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Recording Equipment
A microphone or a recording app on a phone to speak into when narrating could both be used to record your audiobook work. You might want to consider using a pop filter to reduce the noise around the narrator’s voice and to improve the sound quality of the recording. Buying one is not always necessary; you can make a pop filter by putting a sock around your microphone. Do a sound check with and without, and listen to the results to determine your preference.
Water, or any other drink, is a must-have at all times near the narrator to avoid hoarse and dry speech.
Computer
Save all the files onto a safe storage space. I recommend using a computer as you can easily move the recordings into audio editing sites and applications, and upload the complete audiobook to a website for people to listen to it.
Once you have recorded each chapter, label the file with the appropriate name and chapter number. Ex: Chapter 1 - The Bus mp3. I would also recommend saving all of the chapters onto a separate folder on your computer so that when it is time to upload them onto a platform online, you have it all organized into a designated file that is easy to find.
Recording space
If a recording room is not at your disposal, closets are also a good option. Clothes tend to absorb echoes. Make yourself comfortable and set your computer and microphone in a good position so that your narrator can comfortably record the chapters.
Audio Editing Software
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To edit the quality of your final audiobook, you can use tools like GarageBand for Apple products, Audition for Adobe, Audacity for Apple and Windows, or TwistedWave online. After finishing recording a section or chapter, do a listening test on your computer to see if you need to change your room for less echo or noise. If it is alright, then continue recording. Once you have fully finished recording your chapters, open each chapter file on an audio-editing software (examples above) and edit it to your preference.
Some ideas include slowing down or speeding up the chapters to match the tone of the story. To make the listener more immersed, add background sounds, such as the sound of waves if a scene is set on a beach..
When you have edited your book, listen to it yourself. Determine whether the product matches the goal you’ve given yourself with the audiobook and if you like how it sounds. Just in case, I also recommend you play a chapter to a few people as a sort of “focus group”. Listen to their reactions to the audio. Is it too quick? Too noisy? Take notes and act accordingly.
Cover Art
Design your book cover. For this, you can use whichever platform you would like. Canva has a great selection of templates if you would like to find some inspiration. Or you can design the cover from scratch, either by drawing it yourself, making it on Canva, or digitally designing it on Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, or InDesign.
Despite the famous saying, “Don’t judge a book by its cover”, you should still pay careful attention to the cover art. Look at different book designs and see which ones you like more than others. You can also look at artistic trends in the Shutterstock Annual Survey For Design Trends to get ideas for what creative visuals may grasp people’s attention today.
This part is a chance to have fun and be creative with your book, but if it is stressful or if art isn’t particularly your strong suit, you can commission an artist to help you with cover art. A great place to start is to find an artist’s social media account and send them a message, or if you know an artist, you can reach out to them directly.
Publishing on Audible
You can self-publish a book with Audible.com’s online audiobook rights marketplace and production platform, Audiobook Creation Exchange (ACX). Authors can also record their own book on this platform.
On the ACX website, there is a “login” option, as well as a “Sign Up Now” option. If you previously have had an account, you can log in. If you haven’t previously had an account, you can sign up. The sign-up process will ask you for tax information and bank information.
Once logged in, click “Add your title” and search for your book by author and title on the search bar, when you find it, you can claim it. There are two options after this if you already have recorded your audiobook and have an audio file, click “Continue” next to the option that reads: “I already have audio files to this book, and I want to sell it”. The other option is “I'm looking for someone to narrate and produce my book”, and if you do not have an audio file for your book, that would be the option for you.
Once you have completed this step, you can choose your territory rights, clicking “World” means you will control world territory rights for your audiobook. In the next question: “How would you like to distribute your audiobook?”, you can choose between “exclusive” which means your audiobook will be sold through Amazon, Audible, and iTunes, or “non-exclusive” which means your audiobook will be sold through Amazon, Audible, and iTunes, as well as any other platform you may choose. After this step, you will select the language in which your audiobook is told. Following this step, you will read the Audiobook License and Distribution Agreement, then “Agree and continue”.
The next step shows you your book description for your retail page. This includes a summary, print copyright owner, and audio copyright owner (you), as well as print copyright year and audio copyright year (the year the book was published in print and in audio). After which you can select the genre/category for your book, the narrator, and the publisher (you) after which you can click “Continue”.
The step following this is chapter names. You can type in the names into the box provided. Once you're done, look over it, then click “Save and Continue”. The next option you are given is to upload your cover art. In the box, you can click “browse” and search for your cover file, once you have found it, click “Open”. Once you have saved your cover, scroll down and fill in your chapters by clicking “Browse”, finding the right audio file and clicking “Open”.
Since ACX is strict about their audio quality, they will notify you if there is something off with the file by saying, “Issues found with the uploaded audio. Please refer to the Audio Analysis Tab”. In the Audio Analysis Tab, read over the issue and resolution so that you can edit the audio and fix it. If you have to replace the file, click the “Action” menu to the right of your file and click “Replace”, then “Browse” and select a new audio file, then click “Open”.
Repeat this process until all of your chapters are uploaded. Then scroll to the top and click “I’m Done”, fill in who the title is published by (you), read the final information, then click “I understand and confirm” and “Yes I Approve”. Once you have finished, you will receive an email reading ACX receiving your information, and they will notify you once your audiobook is available to the public.
If Audible isn’t to your taste, many others platforms allow you to upload and publish an audiobook. Here is a list of a few:
