I’m a big fan of having books available in all major formats: ebook, print, and audio. However, I’ve only produced audiobooks for three of my titles. Why? The production takes a lot more time and precision than it does for ebooks and print.
We often work with clients to help them produce their own audiobooks, and lots of questions come up. That’s why we’ve written this blog post to help with the basics.
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Recording Equipment and Software
You’ll need a decent microphone and popfilter. For both podcasting and audiobooks, we use the Blue Yeti with a simple windscreen and pop filter, which reduces the plosives (those popping P sounds that can sound harsh and annoying).
For recording, we use Audacity, which is free. You can also use GarageBand. Record your audio tracks in stereo (two tracks) rather than mono (one track). This should be the default in whatever software you use, but it’s good to check this.
Recording Techniques
Proper microphone technique
If you get the Blue Yeti, use it in a vertical position, NOT tilted toward you (see the above photo). This is a common mistake that people make with this microphone.
Set it to the Cardioid setting, which is the one that looks kind of like a heart. I set the gain to the middle.
Place the microphone at a comfortable distance from you. Don’t get your mouth right in front of it; stay a few inches away. You might need to lower your desk chair so that you are closer to the microphone (or get a microphone boom arm that you can adjust at the height of your mouth).
As you record, maintain a consistent distance from the microphone. Don’t look away from it mid-sentence. Stay as still as you can. If you kick the desk by accident, you’ll have to edit that out. It will show up on the recording. Also, avoid resting your elbows on the desk. Find a comfortable way of resting your hands on your lap and keep them still.
Preparing Your Space
Choosing the right room
You don’t need a home recording studio, but you will need to select the right room to record your audiobook. The best space is one that’s soft (with curtains covering the windows and carpeting on the floor). There’s a reason many podcasters record from their closet: that’s a very soft space! However, unless you have a large walk-in closet, it’s probably not very comfortable.
You’ll also want to have good lighting so you can read the book comfortably.
Setting up a DIY recording studio
If the room isn’t soft enough, you’ll want to adjust it for optimal acoustics. Our audio editor often recommends setting up a clothes horse with a fluffy duvet on it. Another thing we’ve done at home is to set up a backdrop stand with a fleece blanket hanging from it.
If you want to invest the time and money in more of a permanent home studio, check out Joanna Penn’s advice on how to do so. You can also buy a pre-made studio at VocalBooth.
Set up
I usually open up the PDF of my book on my computer and set up my microphone in front of it. That way, I can easily read the book while recording. I always set my microphone on top of a book or notebook to prevent any sounds from being transmitted to the mic.
If you don’t do this, you’ll probably notice a subtle whirr in the background of your audio files. If the mic is a simple one, standing on the same desk that the computer’s on, the whirring sound from the computer will be transmitted through the material of the desk itself.
I have a microphone isolation shield that I set up between the microphone and my computer, though if you have a stand for the microphone, you can add the shield to that. You can also get an all-in-one kit with a microphone stand, isolation shield, and pop filter.
Getting ready to record
Choosing the right book for recording
If you have already published several titles, select the one that sells the best. That way, you’ll see faster results and get more excited about recording your next audiobook.
Practice reading the book
I’m an experienced podcaster, with 500 episodes under my belt and almost 80 appearances on other podcasts. And yet, I found my first audiobooks to be stressful and exhausting. It’s not the same to be interviewed or to deliver your own show as it is to clearly read from a book.
Try to sound natural and interesting, not monotonous and boring. This may take some practice, so take your time and listen back to your practice sessions to see how it sounds.
Mistakes will be made. That’s why you’ll want to get some practice in before you start recording the audiobook files.
Send a sample to your editor
You’ll also want to send a sample file to your audio editor. Why? So they can critique your sound quality. When you send them the audio file, also include a photograph of your setup so they can provide feedback on that.
Whenever we work with a new client, I always have them prepare their space and send over a sample so our editor can provide feedback. Rarely does anyone get it right on the first go. Be prepared to make adjustments to your recording space.
Photo by ANTONI SHKRABA production
Recording your audiobook
You’ll need to find a quiet time to record: one when you won’t have interruptions, phone calls, and parcels arriving at your home. If the doorbell rings, you’re going to have to stop your recording, edit your last sentence where the interruption occurred, and start that full sentence from scratch. If you live on a busy street with lots of traffic, you may want to record at night. Passing cars may show up on your recording.
Be sure that any pets are made comfortable outside of your office, in a place where they won’t be agitated and make noise. It’s also probably best to find a time when the children are asleep or at school.
Split by chapters
Assuming yours is a normal book with normal chapters, record a separate audio file for each chapter. If the chapters are unusually short and you have many of them, you might want to group multiple chapters into each audio file. If it’s a book of poetry, split the book up into 15 or so sections and record each segment as a separate audio file.
Drink water
If your mouth is dry, you’ll hear a lot of clicking as your mouth opens and closes. This comes from dryness in the mouth, so drinking water (a glass 10 minutes before recording is a good starting point) is a must. Keep a big glass of water on your desk so you can take sips from it (stop your recording as you do this) throughout the session.
Don’t fast
This is a pretty niche comment, but I’m including this tip to give you an idea of just how much a microphone can pick up. When I recorded my audiobook for If Trees Could Talk, I was doing alternate-day fasting, which meant I was going for long hours without food on some days. I had to plan my recording sessions around my fasting, as my audio editor mentioned “strange gurgling sounds” on one of the files.
Marking pauses and breaths
Relax. Slow down. Don’t talk too fast. Not only will you trip over the words, but you’ll also make it harder for listeners to understand what you’re saying.
Also, you might have to re-learn how to breathe. I tend to take a big breath before starting a sentence. If you breathe as you’re speaking, it will be impossible to edit out, as the breath will overlap with the words.
Quick editing as you go
There are two ways of handling this: when there are slips, it is imperative to stop, click your fingers, and then start the sentence again. This allows the editor to pick up where the mistakes are, and also to have a clean take of the sentence to replace the mistake with.
Ideally, you’ll want to delete these mistakes yourself. When I make a mistake, I stop myself, delete the last sentence, and start again.
Saving your files
Save the file as a WAV file, not MP3. Why? MP3 files are much smaller files and have been compressed, meaning they lose some quality. WAV files are usually lossless and have not been compressed, so the sound quality is better for your audio editor to work with.
Extra files
You’ll also need to record the Opening Titles and Closing Credits, and create a Retail Audio Sample that’s no more than 5 minutes in length (your editor should be able to create this for you if you indicate which segment you want to use).
Here is a sample script.
Opening Titles
[PUBLISHING HOUSE] presents [BOOK TITLE] by [AUTHOR]. Published in [YEAR]. This audiobook is narrated by [YOUR NAME].
Closing Titles
This was [BOOK TITLE] by [AUTHOR]. Published in [YEAR] by [PUBLISHING HOUSE]. This work is copyright [YOUR NAME]. All rights reserved. This audiobook is narrated by [YOUR NAME]. The end.
Editing and Post-Production
This is where we work with a professional audio editor for our audiobooks and for our clients’ books. And unless you have solid experience in audio post-production, we’d recommend you do the same. Be sure that your editor complies with the technical requirements for ACX audiobooks.
Quality Control
Record every single chapter of the audiobook in the same location, with the same setup. You don’t want to have each chapter sounding differently.
Troubleshooting Common Issues
Sound bouncing off a window
If you record directly in front of the window with no material to dampen the sound, you’ll get a harsh echo. You’ll need to ensure that behind the mic is a soft environment, either an isolation shield or a lot of fabric, such as a clothes horse with a duvet.
Better yet, create a kind of blanket fort all around you for the best sound quality.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I read footnotes and endnotes?
Our audio editor recommends finishing the sentence the footnote is contained within, then saying “Note.” Read the footnote or endnote, pause, and head back into the flow. He suggests making your voice slightly more sotto voce to indicate it’s not part of the main text.
What if my book is written with a co-author and we each want to record our own parts? What about an anthology that has multiple authors?
This is complicated, due to differences in volume levels and locations that will result in a very different tone for the recording. Ideally, if there are two authors, you’d want to both be in the same recording studio or room. If that’s not possible, it’s important to do a test recording in your best space and send it to the editor for approval.
For an anthology, while it sounds like a good idea to record in each author’s unique voice, that also creates issues with different recording tones and volumes. You can send in a sample recording from each author, but ultimately it will be difficult to create a good sound quality unless they each go to a professional studio. You might want to consider having the anthology editor record the audiobook.
What about a book of poetry that has two co-authors?
For books that have no definite chapters, and are made up of short reflections or poetry, you’ll want to match your tone so it sounds almost like a natural conversation. Consider recording together on Zoom or Skype and providing the book as one file (or perhaps broken up into sections of X amount of poems or one hour of recording). Because you’ll be recording in two spaces, it’s essential to make sure your recording spaces are both optimal by providing a test recording of 1-2 minutes in your best recording space.
Does this all sound too complicated?
While I hope I’ve given you a clear overview of how to record your own audiobook, you may decide that it’s all too much and you want someone else to do it. If so, you’ll be able to find voice actors online to record your book for you.
Resources
Check out Joanna Penn’s book Audio for Authors.
Need more help?
Do you need help with your audiobook? Sign up for a Pick My Brain call. We’d love to help!