How to Create Your Audio Book: A Beginner’s Guide
Interested in bringing your book to audio?
If you are an independent author, with the legal rights to create your audiobook, I will act as your audiobook producer and guide you through the entire project.
The first thing to do is to find yourself a professional (and HUMAN!) narrator. Your narrator will likely be your producer too, which means they will coordinate the final proofing, editing and mastering, as well as the recording of the files. When completed, these files will be delivered to you in MP3 format through one of the platforms for distribution.
The next step is to choose your distribution company. The most popular platforms are www.acx.com (owned by Amazon), www.audiobooksunleashed.com, and www.spokenrealms.com. There are many other small companies that can help you “go wide” with distribution (ie. beyond Audible and iTunes).
Once you have selected your distributor, they will provide a contract for both parties to (digitally) sign. On this you will designate, among other details, the timeline for production and the payment rate. This will need to be negotiated before the contract is signed.
The first step of the production phase begins with what is often called the “first 15 minutes” or the “extended sample”. You will load a PDF of your book onto the production website for the narrator to access and read. This is also a good time for you to pass any directorial details to the narrator regarding character descriptions, tone, word pronunciations, etc. The narrator will choose any 15-minute section(s) that she feels is a good sampling of how the book will sound. If relevant, you ideally want to hear as many character voices and vital scenes as possible in this sample. You may request another recording with alterations in voicing.
Once you have approved the first 15 minutes, your narrator fully takes over as director and performer, without your further input on performance. Style/voicing/pacing/etc. cannot be altered by you after the first 15 are approved. So make your input count at the start. It is valuable.
There are several ways to go about payment. Different companies take different percentages off the top of the royalties, and different distributors have varying methods and unique names for these methods, but the basic three are:
- Per Finished Hour (PFH): the rights holder (you) pays the producer (me) an agreed rate (eg. $250 union minimum) per hour of completed recording. An estimated total can be given according to the word count, but the final bill will depend on how long the book actually ends up being. The payment plan is negotiated at the start—often half the payment is given before the book is recorded and the other half after the rights holder approves the final production. The rights holder then keeps 100% (after the distributor’s cut) of their earned royalties.
- Royalty Split/Share (RS): The rights holder (you) does not pay the producer (me) up front. Instead royalties are split (after the distributor’s cut) between the parties, according to sales. The rights holder, as the one responsible for marketing, may need to assure the narrator of their ability to provide adequate sales for the audiobook by describing their marketing strategy and track record.
- Royalty Share Plus/Hybrid: This is a combination of Per Finished Hour (PFH) and Royalty Share/Split (RS). The rights holder (you) pays the producer (me) a lower PFH amount up front (eg. $100 union minimum) to cover the immediate costs of production (ie. to pay for the proofer and sound editor), and also splits (after the distributor’s cut) the royalties from audiobook sales.
Once the audiobook is completed by the narrator and loaded onto the distributor’s website, it is time for you to listen to and approve the production. If you find any issues with word accuracy or background noise, you are within your rights to require corrections. I am confident that any professional audiobook narrator—including myself—can produce a high-quality product that will attract good sales. Once you have approved the book and made any final payments, the audiobook is ready to publish and sell.
It’s time for you to go out and tell the world about your wonderful new audiobook!
I would LOVE to be your narrator and producer. It can feel scary and overwhelming for the first time, but the product at the end is well worth it. Please contact me through this website to chat about this exciting opportunity.