This week I thought it may be interesting to talk about one of my semi-writing related projects-Audiobooks.
I don't know about you, but I LOVE audiobooks. You can listen to them when you're doing chores, on a long drive, in the tub, or any other time you feel like it! So why wouldn't I want my books to be available in this format too?
Personally, I've decided to record my own audiobooks, though I may hire voice actors for different books in the future if I can't voice them properly, (IE a book with a male MC or something of the like.) I know a lot of authors would rather hire someone else to record their books, and that absolutely makes sense for most people. If you want to record your own books for purely monetary reasons, I'd like to suggest you look into a royalty share deal, because recording an audiobook properly isn't going to be cheap, easy, or quick. (I know this sounds harsh, but I swear, I'm trying to help you out.) The main reason I'm going this route is because I'm hoping to record audiobooks professionally, otherwise, I probably wouldn't have looked into doing any audiobook versions of my books until I could hire someone.
I haven't exactly gotten too far into actually recording them, (as of when I'm writing this, I haven't actually recorded a single line yet.) But I have done a LOT of prep, in setting up a voice recording station, prepping my book for recording, and prepping myself. I know there are a lot of mistakes I'll undoubtedly curse myself for later, but for anyone else looking to record their own audiobooks-here is what I've done so far.
1. Research.
I know, I say this all the time... but it is still just as crucial. I don't really know what I'm doing yet, but others have gone before me, so I took to blogs, forums, voiceover websites, and yes, as always, YouTube. (VO websites have some good advice for getting started, blogs for tips, tricks, and advice, and YouTube for business-type advice, and actual vocal advice.)
TBH, one of the best tips I found online, is just to read out loud. You will learn a lot about where you are going to have problems, and then you can learn how to fix them. Personally, I always read in a different tone of voice than my normal speaking voice, leading to voice strain. My fix? Read the book like I would read a script, NOT a book. Sounds silly I know, but it helps.
2. The room.
A dedicated recording space for audiobooks is a must, I chose to use a closet, but any enclosed nook could work, I've even heard of people making mid-room recording stations. And I'm going to apologize up front for the lack of photos, I meant to take some nice pictures, but I'm sick right now, and I don't have the energy to drag out my camera.
Inside my micro-recording studio, I have a desk with a microphone, a good set of over-ear headphones, and an audio interface. Pretty simple, but you don't want too much stuff for sounds to bounce off of anyways.
For sound-deadening and echo-catching purposes I have fleece-wrapped canvases. High-density sound foam would be ideal for this purpose, but TBH it's really expensive, and this seems to work very well.
3. Book prep.
I didn't see this one coming, but I'm really glad I did it anyway. I have done a ton of work prepping my book to make recording as easy as physically possible, from making a master copy of character voice qualities I want to convey, to making a character-color-coded copy of my book, with extra-large font, and a high-contrast dark screen, in the hopes of reducing eye strain.
And... that's it for this week!
Have a great day, and keep writing!
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