Audiobooks: The Definitive How To Guide

By Drew Allen Brown

A lot of people claim they can provide audio production, Drew delivers! - Micheal Maxwell

If you’re an author you know how hard it is to write, edit, format, and publish your book. There are so many people in the world that would love or even need your book. Unfortunately, with today’s busy lifestyle more and more people are too busy to sit down and read a book. Not to mention those with disabilities that simply cannot read your book. This is why you need an audiobook version of your book!

Drew gives you step-by-step instructions for the three ways you can turn your fantastic writing into a professional audiobook.

Have the Pros handle it
Record Your Voice in a Professional Studio
Do it Yourself

Get the information you’re actually looking for from an audio engineer with over 15 years in audio production. This real world and practical book gives you everything you need to know about making your book into a truly professional audiobook.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Drew Allen Brown
• Release date: May 2, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370541614

Book preview

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AUDIOBOOKS:

The Definitive

How To Guide

What every author needs to know

Drew Allen Brown

Contents

Introduction

What is an Audiobook?

Let the Professionals Handle It

What does this look like?

Going into a Professional Studio

What does this look like?

What to do to prepare for the studio.

Try it Yourself

Equipment

Interface

Microphone

Mixer

Miscellaneous

Room

How to Record

Setup

Recording

Editing

EQ

Compression

De-Essing

Gating

Main Track

Limiter

Maximizer

Metering

Fixing the Audio

Mastering

Now What?

Introduction

My name is Drew Allen Brown, and I am an audio engineer with a passion for helping people be heard. I work in Christian Rock, Alt Rock, Voiceover, Background Music, Audio Cleanup, and Audiobooks. I’ve been involved with audio for about 15 years in one form or another. A lot of my work comes from jobs that other engineers don’t want to do. Why do I do it? The answer is simple - just because it’s not the most fun job, doesn’t mean that there’s no need for it to be done.

The first time I was approached by an author to record her audiobook, I started researching the requirements. I run a professional studio, so I knew I had the ability to do it; the question for me was what did I need to do to make it happen. I spent days researching the requirements and how-to tutorials trying to figure out how other engineers were making audiobooks work. Not only how to make them physically, but how to make it viable for both the client and the studio.

None of my other engineer friends had ever done an audiobook. And frankly, none of them wanted to. They weren’t any help and sadly, the Internet wasn’t full of helpful tips either, so I started with the requirements and went from there. I tested things on my own, with my own voice, until I was able to get things to work like they should. This took quite a bit of experimentation…and failures. I don’t like to admit that part, but it is a part of the story.

After a while, I had things figured out and I got the author into the studio. We recorded her audiobook, and I realized that I hadn’t tested everything enough. I was able to get that audiobook released, but the amount of editing was more than I ever anticipated. I had used techniques that I learned in recording audio for film, music, and voiceover, and it still wasn’t enough. Audiobooks are a beast all of their own.

That one audiobook enabled me to work out the vast majority of the kinks in the process. After that, the process clicked and everything worked much more smoothly. I had the only studio in my entire valley, of over 660,000 people, that would do audiobooks! After hearing from several authors that they had the equipment and could do it themselves, I realized that they were really going to struggle with the process as this is the most tedious audio work I have ever done.

I haven’t heard back from those authors, but I’ve looked for their audiobooks, and they’re not out there. I have a feeling it was too much for them to figure out, and they were too prideful to ask for help. That’s why I wrote this book.

This book is for every type of author, from the do it for me to the extreme do-it-yourselfers and everything in between. Taking on an audiobook project is no small feat, and much more work than most people realize. In this book we’ll go over the different options you have to get your book made into a professional audiobook. We’ll even go through the equipment you need to make the recording, edit, and master your recording yourself. It’s a lot of hard work, but if you are dead set on doing it yourself; this book will give you the knowledge you need to get your dream of making your book into an audiobook a reality.

If you find that you want your audiobook done professionally, your voice recorded at a professional studio, or you need to have your recording worked on, feel free to contact me. I’m here to help.

—   Drew Allen Brown

www.DrewAllenBrown.com

What is an Audiobook?

You’ve worked painstakingly to write, edit, re-write, re-edit, format, and print your masterpiece. Afterwards, you went through the heartache of realizing that you need to reformat your book for the e-book format. Now everything is finished, all is well in the world. You’ve done everything you can to make your book a success. Or have you?

Today’s world is full of busy people. When asked, these busy people often say they don’t have time to read a book. So what do book lovers do when they’re that busy? They make the most of their time and listen to books on their commutes, while they workout, and even while they work around the house. That’s right, more and more people are listening to books rather than reading them. And what about people with disabilities that make it impossible for them to read your book?

Did you know that you can sell your book as an audiobook on Amazon, Audible, and even iTunes? It’s true! You can buy the audiobook version of your favorite book on Amazon. How many people do you talk to about your book that say something like - I would love to read that, if I only had the time? Why try to convince them to make time, when you could simply say why not listen to the audiobook while you’re in the car instead?

An audiobook is the spoken word of your book. That’s really what it is. This allows people to have your book read to them instead of having them hold the book and take the time to sit and read. The interesting thing with audiobooks is that many people who listen to the audiobook end up buying the physical book. Why? Because they liked it. And readers like to keep books they enjoy on their book shelves to read again later. I have 2 bookcases in my living room stuffed