Audio book production--- Tips and tricks; experiences, successes, and laments

[Catrin Lewis]

I see we don't have a thread going on producing audio versions of our work. Shame on us. It's a very big thing these days.

Me, I've spent a long time in the Thinking About It stage. Two years ago I bought a microphone to maybe do it myself, should I work up the nerve. Last November I bought a subcription to Revoicer, thinking I might just let their AI voices take care of it. Beginning of this year, I wavered and bought a sound-dampening guard and headphones in case I do it myself, after all.

But I've got so much going on, I've tested Revoicer on only a few pages. Getting what I want with it is going to be more complicated than I'd hoped. And a lot of readers are staunchly anti-AI, so much so, it's a moral issue to them.

Last night and again this morning, I was listening to this episode of The Novel Marketing Podcast, "How to Publish Your Audiobook Through ACX." What they say tells me it might be possible to go that route, if I save my money . . . But isn't there some ongoing scandal about ACX/Audible, where they're not paying writers properly? And even without that, would having an audiobook through them be a good investment, considering the low sales I have in print and ebook?

Especially considering that if I hire the same narrators (male and female) for my whole The Architects series, in addition to being competent voice actors, they'd have to speak/pronounce decent French and German and also be able to carry a tune. These challenges have put the whole idea on the back burner for me, and the podcast has brought it forward only for a while.

But still. Audiobook is very big these days. A lot of people will buy a book in audio, who won't if they have to read with their eyes. We should all strive to publish our work as audiobooks.

So tell us: What has your experience been? Have there been issues you've run up against? What has gone very well?

This thread can be a catch-all for the topic, until it gets so specific we can break new threads off.

 

[Madman Starryteller]

Xoic, back on the old forum gave me some tips. Such as singing to myself or just generally talking a lot to practice your voice. And to get used to your own voice if you decide to do it on your own.

One's voice is different when we listen to it as a recording than it is when we speak.

A good mic is important, but so is your location. You need to be in a somewhat silent environment.
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I've been working on doing something like this myself. Though, like you, I'm gathering the courage. Been thinking about it for a few years. In my case, I will publish free short stories on something like Youtube, just to gather attention and interest. I also plan on releasing one or two books there as well. And keep my main series as something to be marketed.

 

[Catrin Lewis]

Xoic, back on the old forum gave me some tips. Such as singing to myself or just generally talking a lot to practice your voice. And to get used to your own voice if you decide to do it on your own.

One's voice is different when we listen to it as a recording than it is when we speak.

I'm on record saying I hate the way my voice sounds on recordings. But I speak in public all the time (I do pulpit supply preaching) and no one cringes, and when I read stories to the high school kids, they enjoy it and want me to do more. Lately, I've been telling myself I sound like my sister, and I don't have any problem with her voice, so why should I feel embarrassed about mine?

One thing that could help was hearing in the Novel Marketing episode that professional narrators put in four to six hours of work for every one hour of finished audio. That means they don't get it all perfect the first time, either. Maybe when I trip over my mouth, I should immediately reread the messed-up sentence, without comment or apology, and go on. That'd be better than coming back to do it later. Too much danger that the ambient sound, dynamic levels, etc., might be slightly different then.

 

[balgay]

Amazon have virtual voice in beta. From the comments from those who have signed up for the beta perhaps it is a bit early to give it a try. There is some good advice on the net re microphone and studio set-up but as already mentioned eliminating background noise is a must. Rules out that path for me. I have also been told that Amazon apply high audio standards to audiobooks which means that the DIY mic/studio route is unlikely to be of acceptable quality but I have no experience myself so I don't know if that is true. It would be interesting if someone here went down that route and posted their experience.

 

[THUNDAIR]

I had one of my novels made into audio. It worked out well as the woman was from Ireland and she fit the voice of my 1850s Normandy character. Another thing that worked well was that the story was in first person, so her growth from a young girl to a strong woman felt real and personable. I had another 'adventure warrior' book made audio with AI, but that was only for a few friends. I haven't tried to promote it yet. I tried to do my memoir, but it was a lot of work, and I gave up. I signed up for an AI voice duplicater which would put my memoir in my voice, but it seems so unimportant now that I've lost interest.

 

[balgay]

Thundair - Was the Irish woman who did your audiobook a voice actor or an amateur? I did a bit of research into producing audiobooks last year but gave up as I felt a DIY job was just not possible.