So you've written your own book and are now looking into releasing it as an audiobook. As someone with 20 years of experience in this field, you've come to the right place! I wanted to use my expertise to create a blog that authors would find useful when navigating the process of audiobook production.
Creating an audiobook involves recording the book (either yourself or with a paid narrator) and having it edited and mastered to meet ACX (Audible) specifications for release. Let's dive in!
Choosing a Narrator
The first step is deciding whether you want to narrate the book yourself or hire a professional. Both options have their pros and cons.
Pros of Narrating Your Own Book:
You can deliver it with the exact tone and inflection you intended. This is especially important for personal works, but even fiction sometimes benefits from an author's voice.
No one knows your story better than you!
It can save on costs, as hiring a narrator isn’t cheap, making self-narration a necessity for lower-budget projects.
Cons of Narrating Your Own Book:
Your voice may not be something listeners will enjoy for 6-9 hours compared to a pro.
Writing a book and reading engagingly are two different skills.
If you’re not a strong speaker, you may make more mistakes than a professional, leading to additional editing costs.
For the record, I usually record authors narrating their own books. It’s rare for me to bring in a paid narrator. While most authors do fine, I always warn them in advance that they probably won’t like the sound of their own voice—most people don’t! That’s something you’ll have to get past.
Booking the Studio
Once the narrator is decided, the next step is securing a recording studio. I have locations in Toronto and Hamilton, Ontario. Audiobook recording requires excellent soundproofing—since it’s mostly just someone reading, you can't have traffic noise or footsteps overhead disrupting the session. I work with studios that are well-suited for this purpose.
Recording Day
On recording day, I recommend wearing comfortable, quiet clothing—crisp dress shirts that make a "swish" sound can be problematic. Bring snacks to stay comfortable and avoid stomach grumbles, as they’ll get picked up by the microphone.
I use a Neumann U87 microphone, a $4,000 industry-standard mic that captures everything, including every movement and stomach rumble, so we take precautions to minimize noise.
The narrator will be set up with an iPad (either provided or brought in) with the manuscript, and once levels are set, we begin recording. If this is your first time, know that making mistakes is normal! The key is ensuring that by the end of the session we have clean, well-read audio.
When mistakes happen, I erase up to the last logical break, play back some pre-roll for reference, and have the narrator continue from there. This method ensures smooth editing later and keeps punch-ins sounding natural.
How Long Does It Take?
Recording time varies based on the author’s pace and number of mistakes. I book sessions in 6-hour increments, with breaks throughout. On average, recording takes 3-6 sessions (18-36 hours total).
Many authors think they can read their entire book much faster, but there’s a big difference between skimming a book in your head and reading every line perfectly aloud.
Editing & Mastering
Once the recording is complete, I take the audio to my home studio for editing. This process includes:
Inserting room tone (natural silence rather than digital silence).
Adjusting spacing for proper pacing.
Running a quality control (QC) check to catch errors.
Larger American companies I work with require word-accurate reads, but independent authors have more flexibility. Many prefer to maintain meaning rather than strict word accuracy.
When I find errors that need fixing, I highlight them in both the manuscript and audio, then send them to the client. If necessary, we schedule another session to correct those lines.
Mastering the Audiobook
Once edits are complete, the audiobook needs to be mastered to meet ACX specifications. This includes adjusting levels and other parameters to ensure compliance. You can find ACX's full requirements here: ACX Audio Submission Requirements
I’ve also worked on projects where I was only responsible for editing/mastering, whether recorded by someone else or self-recorded by the author. If you’re unfamiliar with audio terminology, ACX requirements can be daunting, and I’m happy to assist with that process.
Editing and mastering times vary, but in general, expect it to take 1-2 times the recording duration. Meaning if your book took 12 hours to record it could be anywhere from 12 to 24 hours to edit. Since budget considerations are important, I always discuss how in-depth the edit should be based on financial constraints.
Final Delivery
Once the audiobook is fully mastered and meets ACX's requirements, I send the final files to the author for distribution.
While audiobook production isn’t cheap, one of its biggest advantages over printed books is that once production costs are covered, you can sell unlimited copies without additional printing or distribution expenses. Additionally, audiobooks allow you to reach a growing market—while print book sales have declined, audiobooks continue to rise in popularity.
I hope this (admittedly detailed) breakdown of the audiobook production process was helpful! If you're in the GTA and need help with your audiobook, feel free to reach out. If you’re outside the area and need post-production services (editing/mastering), I’d be happy to assist as well.
For questions or bookings, contact me at [email protected].
