Developing an Audiobook: An Indie Author’s Perspective

By Ray Flynt

Part of The Indie Author Series

JH: Audiobooks are hugely popular, but not every author knows how to create one for their novels. Ray Flynt is back in the lecture hall today to walk us through the process of creating an audiobook. 

In its purest form, writing a novel is storytelling. The world’s first books undoubtedly had their genesis in timeless stories once told around campfires. We also know that children learn to read and develop their own love of books by being read to, whether from those first Golden Books or hearing about the adventures of Harry Potter.

Thanks to ACX.com (an Amazon company) Indie Authors can see their stories come to life as an audiobook. It makes sense to have your books available in as many formats as possible to appeal to a broad audience. I’m always puzzled when I see Indie Authors say, “I only have my novel available as an eBook, since a print version would be too expensive.” It’s my contention that if you’re willing to spend time and a modest amount of money, you can easily develop a trade paperback. In this article, I’ll provide my perspective on adding an audiobook format to your available mix.

Producing Your Books in Audio Part Seven: Marketing

By Angela Quarles, @AngelaQuarles

Part of the Indie Author Series 

For the final post in this series, I'll briefly tackle marketing. You can catch up on the other posts in this series here.

Visibility is always a challenge and with the audiobook market it can be tougher and easier. Tougher because there aren't as many marketing channels, and easier because there's less competition and the Audible lists aren't clogged with scam books.

Tip # 1 - Get promo codes

Audible used to automatically email these to you a couple of days after your story released but they don't seem to do that any more. With my latest release I had some left over from a previous release, so I didn't try emailing them but have heard this works. Their email is support@acx.com

Producing Your Books in Audio Part Six: Approving and Paying for Your Book

By Angela Quarles, @AngelaQuarles

Part of the Indie Author Series

I'm continuing my series on producing books in audio with ACX. Last month, I covered Producing Your Books in Audio Part Five: Proofing Your Book. 

This month I'll give tips on approving the final version and marketing your audio book. It's kind of funny how these posts are now lining up with the exact stage I'm in right now. Last month I was in the middle of proofing, and now I just had the payment received on Monday, so I'm waiting for ACX to approve.

Producing Your Books in Audio Part Five: Proofing Your Book

By Angela Quarles, @AngelaQuarles

Part of the Indie Author Series

This month, I'm continuing my series on producing books in audio with ACX. Last month, I covered Producing Your Books in Audio Part Four: Prepping Your Book. This month I'll give tips on what to do when your narrator is done recording.

Tip #1 -- Evaluating the first 15 minutes

This is the 'speak now or forever hold your peace' kind of moment. Your narrator will send you the first 15 minutes, and you need to listen to it (preferably with headphones) and let them know any big pic issues you have at this point. Hopefully you've done your homework and picked a narrator who fits your story, but this is another checkpoint. Things to listen for and mention:

• Pacing -- are they reading at a comfortable pace? You don't want them reading it soooo sloooowly that it drags. But you also don't want them rushing the story.
• Characterization -- are they properly embodying the characters and their personalities? Especially your main characters?
• Tone -- are they reading your story with the right tone? Playful when it should be playful? Suspenseful when it should be suspenseful?
• Accents and pronunciation -- are there any accents that are off? Are words pronounced properly?

Don't worry about sound quality, as these aren't mastered, but if you do notice excessive mouth noises and pops, just touch base with your narrator to make sure those aren't going to be an issue when all's said and done.

Producing Your Books in Audio Part Four: Prepping Your Book

By Angela Quarles, @AngelaQuarles

Part of the Indie Author Series

Previous posts in this series covered whether you should produce an audio book, holding auditions, and picking a narrator. So for this post, I'm going to step you through some advice for what to do with your book before you turn it in to your narrator!

Tip # 1 - Make sure you have it in your final form

This sounds obvious, but I have heard of authors making changes to their book after they've had their book recorded. So unless you want to pay for your narrator to redo those parts, your audio version will not match if you make changes to your ebook. I've found that little errors pop up right after my ebook releases, so I wait until I know I've got all the nitpicky stuff out of the way.

Producing Your Books in Audio Part Three: Picking Your Narrator

By Angela Quarles, @AngelaQuarles

Part of the Indie Author Series

In the previous post in this series, Producing Your Books in Audio Part Two: Auditions, I gave tips on getting the best auditions for your book on ACX. So for this post, I'm going to step you through some advice for what to do with all those lovely snippets!

Tip #1 - Things to Listen For

Some of your audition samples are going to be easy No's. Especially if they botch an accent. Side note: Can actors please learn to do some various Southern accents other than the Hollywood one? OMG. Seriously, some of my auditions I only listened to about 4 seconds of them the accents were that bad. So, good news is, if you know what you want, you don't have to listen to the whole audition. But what do you want to listen for?

Producing Your Books in Audio Part Two: Auditions

By Angela Quarles, @AngelaQuarles

Part of the Indie Author Series

Last month, in Producing Your Books in Audio Part One: Should You? I covered some advice for determining whether getting into audio would be a smart move for you.

In today's topic, I'm going to cover some tips for getting the best auditions.

Producing Your Books in Audio Part One: Should You?

By Angela Quarles, @AngelaQuarles

Part of the Indie Author Series

ACX.com, a subsidiary of Amazon, makes it possible for indie authors to produce their books in audio. Back in 2014, Heather Smith did a step-by-step guide for using ACX to produce audio books and it's a great overview for getting started in audio books, so if you're thinking about doing this, definitely read her article first. I will tackle the subject in more detail in a series of posts, and today's topic is: Should you get your book(s) done?

Chances are you've thought about having your books produced in audio but have wondered whether it was worth it It's definitely still a growing market and smart to do if your books are selling well already (though you'd be surprised at my definition of well, so don't be discouraged yet). For me, it's been worth it and I'm no big name.

How to Create an Audio Book

By Heather Smith, @floridaHeather

Part of the Indie Authors Series

JH: Although audio book sales are growing fast, it's not always something we think to do when we self publish our novels. It can seem overwhelming and off-putting, but it's actually easier than you'd think. Please help me welcome Heather Smith to the site today to share some tips on how to create an audio book.

HD Smith has been writing as a hobby for over ten years. DARK HOPE is her first traditionally published full length novel. She has previously self-published two middle grade novellas in ebook format. She is a software developer by day, working for an awesome cruise line in Celebration, FL.

HD grew up in South Carolina, but has called the Sunshine State home since 1997. She has Computer Science degrees from Clemson University (CS) and Florida Institute of Technology (MS). Her other hobbies include painting and screen printing. She enjoys creating t- shirts inspired by the places in her books.

Take it away Heather...