Creating My Audiobook: 13 Tips I Wish I Had Known

When I created my audiobook, "The Call of the Last Frontier," I watched several videos on YouTube and went for it. The first book took me three months to record and we only tried editing it after I finished it. The result–I had to rerecord the whole book! Ugh. Boy, I wish I could go back in time and give myself?THIS?advice:

FIRST TIP

Buy the best equipment you can afford.?How much is your time worth? I purchased okay equipment for my first reading. The second round cost me $600, but the quality was far better. I wanted a professional book, and that cost a little more. I will make the money back in sales over time and am proud of what I released. Use a Blue Yeti and the Declicker app (found below) to save money.

SECOND TIP

Complete a basic edit of each chapter before moving on to the next.?Edit the raw recording by deleting mistakes and extra takes so the file has all the words read the way you want. You might do this a few times while reading the chapter or listen to the whole thing while editing before going on. Your vocal chords will enjoy the break. Also, your voice should sound the same if you need to record a word, sentence, or paragraph again. Our voice changes by the day, hour, or minute depending on what you eat, how much you've read, how you feel, etc. I had to rerecord several chapters after the death of my niece, who was more like a half-sister after being raised by my mother. The despair and sadness came through in chapters that should have been uplifting.

THIRD TIP

Polish edit sections of the book to ensure you have the right equipment, settings and pace.?Editing a section of the book before it is complete allows you to catch inconsistencies and significant issues.

FOURTH TIP

Release the audiobook with the paperback, hardback, eBook and large print simultaneously.?I say this because many people wanted to listen to my audiobook and struggled through the print because they couldn't wait for the audiobook. Some readers bought the paperback AND the audiobook, but I'm not out to soak my readers–one purchase of my book is enough. If they love it, they will tell others. Now, this is easier said than done. Marketing a book, especially my first one, was a learning curve, and I spent thousands to bring it to market in editor and business start-up costs. I needed to pay off my credit card. So, some things just aren't possible. But if it is for you, release all your versions at once.

FIFTH TIP

Watch videos on YouTube about creating audiobooks.?They have great tips.

SIXTH TIP

Record in the morning and figure out what you can eat that will not create mouth noises.?I couldn't record before breakfast because my stomach growled, though the better equipment did not pick up the sound. I found that I could only eat toast before recording due to food allergies that slightly changed my voice. Testing food is the only way to know. You should quit a recording session when you have too many issues. Sometimes, our mouths are just sticky.

SEVENTH TIP

Learn to breathe when recording.?You want to avoid breathy recordings. Decide if you will remove mouth and breathing sounds. This editing is time-consuming, but it creates a professional product.

EIGHTH TIP

Take a picture of the settings on your microphone and equalizer.?If they change when your grandchild grabs the dial, you will have a record of the original settings. Did I admit my age with the grandchild example? Haha??

NINTH TIP

Know how to read.?I say this because I didn't know how to read well on my first take. I have two master's degrees, but I missed the formative years of my early education, which seriously affected my ability to read out loud. I learned to read punctuation and how to correctly pronounce words between the first and second recordings of my audiobook. My husband was an elementary teacher who taught me to read aloud at 55 years old! If I can admit this and do it, you can too. There are plenty of people out there who will help you learn to read aloud. You've got this! Well, with a bit of extra work. My book was a memoir, and I wanted to read it myself. You can always hire an audiobook company, but you will pay for it.

TENTH TIP

Drink LOTS of water.?I took a drink every few minutes. Just a few sips, but it helped keep the sounds down. I also sucked the spit out of my mouth and swallowed. Too much detail? LOL, you are still reading, so you earned it! I also held my mouth open really wide before I began recording again. I don't know why this helped, but it did. It could be stretching the muscles.

ELEVENTH TIP

Read with purpose and emotion. Match the feeling with the story, but don't overdo the emotion; read as if you are sharing the story with friends. I always told my stories better with friends than when I read them.

TWELFTH TIP

Don't be afraid to be different.?I cut out my laughing in the funny parts of my book. I cried in the sad parts and had to read them repeatedly until I could read the words without too much emotion. Now I wish I hadn't deleted all those recordings. I found one raw recording where I laughed and we put it back in. I wish I had more. I wouldn't fill the book with laughter or sadness, but having a few spots with a giggle or a bit of sadness in your voice shows your humanity. Well, at least I think so.

THIRTEENTH TIP

Consider sound clips.?Readers are not fans of books filled with sound clips, but you can still use a few. If the readers drive on the highway while listening to the book, they won't hear many of them anyway. Sound clips can be doors shutting or music. I added ten short musical clips to my book's emotional or high-drama parts. There is music in my sample on Amazon, which gives the readers a heads-up on the musical clips in the book. My book is a memoir of an adventurous life; there were times when music enhanced the book's most exciting or dramatic events. Knowing readers aren't big fans of sound clips, I made them short in most places, but the longest is in the sample. Readers may not know when the music ends because it fades slowly, and the story should be captivating.

BONUS TIP

Record in a small space like a closet.?I transformed my walk-in closet into a recording studio. I hung heavy blankets over the clothes and laundry basket. The microphone was on a shelf, and I had to lean up to it from my chair. My computer, mixer, microphone and chair all fit into the closet, but finding clothes was challenging. Make sure you are comfortable before you begin because you must be in the same position and distance from the microphone for every recording. I hurt after recording the first time, so I ensured I was comfortable when recording it again.

Equipment List - Links in the Chat?

CHEAPEST OPTION

Yeti and required cords

HIGH QUALITY WITHOUT BREAKING THE BANK OPTION

I used the following equipment for my book.

Yamaha MG10XU 10-Input Stereo Mixer with Effects?(watch the YouTube video on how to figure out your settings)

Cloud Microphone Cloudlifter CL-1 Mic Activator?(helps with gain, which is controlling sounds in the environment)

Shure MV7 USB Microphone for Podcasting?(buy a stand or mount)

MOUTH DECLICKER FREE APP

Declicker?will take out some of the mouth noises.

EDITING SOFTWARE?

Garageband?- I have a friend who recorded in Final Cut Pro.

I hope these tips and my stories help you decide whether to record your book or have someone else do it. I wish you the best of luck! - Fellow Author Melissa Cook, "The Call of the Last Frontier"?

Thank you to fellow author and friend Aaron Linsdau for helping me self-publish my book and audiobook. I appreciate the phone calls, text messages, returned emails, the time you spent listening to my first recording, and the courage it took to tell me to trash it and start over. Thank you to fellow author Ann Parker for answering many marketing questions. Thank you to Craig Martelle for the 808 Five-Minute Focus episodes and 20BooksVegas that saved Aaron from many more calls for help. You all rock!

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