The Making of an Audiobook ~ by Pam Crooks

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Even with my long career as a published writer, I’ve never had an audio made of my books.

In my own defense, though, audiobooks were never much of a thing until the last few years.  Amazon and their Audible program is much to credit for that, and writers are constantly looking for ways to market their books.  With electronics such a major part of our lives, it was inevitable that readers would grab their ear buds to ‘read’ a book instead of holding one in their hand.

So after being inspired by Linda Broday, who just launched her own audiobooks for the first time, I took the plunge with ARMED & MARVELOUS.

I had no clue what to do, but Linda was always there to answer my questions.  Once I opened an account in ACX, the Audible website for authors, I fumbled my way around to learn the site and get the ball rolling.

Step number one. Submit a few pages to be read by a narrator.  In my case, I split the pages with points of view of both the hero and the heroine since I wanted to hear how the narrator read both the male and female voice.

Second, decide how much to offer a narrator.  There were three tiers, and I chose the lowest because I had no idea what to expect.  (Trust me, it’s hard to shell out money when you’re standing on the edge of a black hole with no idea how your investment is going to pay off.)

Immediately, I got 4 narrators, all female, who were interested.  The first one did a great job, but she had a strong southern accent, which I didn’t think was a good fit for my Kansas heroine.  The second one spoke clearly and slowly.  The third only read half of my submission – the female part and none of the male.  When she mispronounced a common word, that was a definite ‘no’ for me.  And finally, the fourth one just offered to read for me if I didn’t have a narrator chosen yet, which was also a quick ‘no’ because she wasn’t even willing to put in the work for an audition.

So that left Narrator #2 whose name was Virginia Nelson.  After a brief communication where I told her I’d like the narration done before a Facebook party I had coming up, she was willing to try.  I offered her the top of the tier, and she accepted the offer.  I sent her a test chapter, she narrated it, I approved it, and the rest of the book followed.  We were off and running.

Once all the chapters were narrated, she uploaded the files for me to approve.  With Linda’s great advice, I followed along in my book to make sure nothing was missed.  It was the perfect way to relive my book through my narrator’s voice.  It took about four hours or so, but it was great fun.  I especially loved Virginia’s baying howl when she read my heroine’s dog in the story.

As I followed along, when I found an error – maybe words were transposed or the inflection wasn’t quite right – I noted it as well as the exact time on the file.  It wasn’t logical to expect no mistakes.  There was a lot of reading and a lot of hours of talking.  Heck, sometimes I can’t even speak a sentence without getting something mixed up!

Once through the book, I sent my notations as a message in ACX.  Virginia was a dream to communicate with, and she started on the edits right away, then resent the corrected files to me.  Once again, I went through the entire book, and the edits she made were absolutely seamless.  I was blown away.  No one would know the parts that were a re-do.

While we didn’t make my tight deadline, Virginia had done her best and worked loyally for me.  By the end of our project, I felt completely comfortable asking her to do a brief interview for this blog.  She was a quick ‘yes.’

1. Where is your studio located?  Do you rent space or have your studio in your home?

I’ve made a makeshift, tiny sound booth in my basement laundry area, using insulation as a soundproofing material. It isn’t fancy by any means, but it works quite well. With a small desk in there, it’s more comfortable than trying to find a space in a closet, which I know many people have to do.

2. Are your hours your own?

Absolutely! I only audition and accept projects when I know I have time to do them. Since I share my house with my 2 kids and husband, and it’s impossible to record with noisy kids in the house, I have to plan around when they are in school. My husband and I also run a lodging business, so recording is very part-time for me.

3. Are you considered self-employed, or are you employed by ACX?

Yes, self-employed. I’m in charge of reporting all income on my taxes.

4. How many hours did it take you to narrate ARMED & MARVELOUS?

I didn’t calculate exactly how many hours A&M took, but I have kept track on a few other projects, so I know it takes me approximately 3 hours of recording and editing per finished hour. So I think A&M came out to a little over 4 hours, therefore likely in the 12+ hour range.

5. How many books do you record in a week?

Because of my other job, I only would ever accept one project a week. That usually leaves a little time to audition for other projects, while working on the current one, so that I hopefully have something lined up for the future. 

6. Can you give a quick description of how you do edits?

Because I have limited time without other people making noise in the house, I tend to record as much as I can, then use a dog clicker when I make a mistake so it makes a mark on the audio map, then repeat the sentence. After recording, I go back and delete all the messed up parts. Some narrators fix mistakes as they go so when they finish recording a chapter, say, they have a fully edited file already.

It’s a bit harder for the mistakes that the author sends and wants fixed after the file is finished. For that process, I’d go back to the raw file, re-record the full sentence that the mistake is in, then cut and paste it where it goes. It typically requires more tweaking with volume since the mic might be in a different place, or recording the mistake again and again until I get my tone, pacing, etc. to match the audio around it. I have pre-set effects that help with noise reduction, mouth clicks, etc., and I’m able to apply those to the new segments, which really helps keep a consistent sound since they are the same every time.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

There you have it.  My first experience with a narrator and an audiobook!

AUDIO BOOK ON AMAZON

One last thing I learned.  ACX offers codes for the author to distribute free copies of the audiobook to readers to help build reviews.  I’m giving away some of those codes today.  It’s taking a bit for ACX to show the codes have been redeemed, so I will update throughout the day.  I have more, as well as separate codes for UK readers. Redeem the one-time use code below at https://www.audible.com/acx-promo

All the codes have been redeemed!  If you’d like one, please message me!

If you take a code and listen to ARMED & MARVELOUS, I’d greatly appreciate a ranking or review on Amazon afterward.  Thank you, friends.

How do you feel about audiobooks?  Do you listen to them?  What do you think are pros and cons of an audiobook?

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Pam has written 30 romances, most of them historical westerns, but she's proud of her contemporary sweet romances featuring the Blackstone Ranch series published by Tule Publishing, too! Stay up on the latest at www.pamcrooks.com

37 thoughts on “The Making of an Audiobook ~ by Pam Crooks”

  1. This was so interesting! I am fascinated by audiobook narrators and love learning their different processes. I grabbed a code – thank you, Pam! I can’t wait to listen.

    • So glad you enjoyed the blog, Stacey! Thank you for grabbing a code, and please leave a review or a ranking once you’ve had a chance to listen to ARMED & MARVELOUS. And by all means, let me know if you have issues with the code. I’ll make sure to give you another.

  2. Good luck with your audio publishing endeavors, Pam! My family and I really enjoyed the audiobook of Gail Carson Levine’s “Ella Enchanted” (this was years ago). An audio publishing company called Full Cast Audio produced it and it was a treat!

    • Good morning, Mary! You’re proof that audiobooks have been around for awhile, right? 🙂 Ella Enchanted is a great book to “read” with your family – a true award winner for children. Good for you!

  4. I love audiobooks. I always have one going as well as my visual books (one fiction and one nonfiction). I listen to the audiobook when exercising daily, on long road trips, and sometimes when I’m doing mundane household chores.

    • Good morning, Janice! Exercising and traveling are the ideal times to listen, aren’t they? When I listen to podcasts, I have to have complete concentration, so something mundane is good. But wow – you have a lot of “reading” going on! It must be easy for you to pick up where you left off.

  6. This was very interesting! So much, I was willing to try it! However, I’m too slow to get here for the first three free codes. I loved hearing how it was made by your interview Pam! Maybe one day I’ll try one!

    Merry Christmas to you and your family Pam!

    • Tracy, the codes aren’t showing up as being redeemed yet, but I’ve added more codes if you’d like to try again.

      Hope they work for you – and Merry Christmas to you, too!!

  7. Hello Pam, I’m a huge audiobook junkie. I listen only to audiobooks in my vehicle. I use the actual CD audiobooks from libraries or purchase my fav authors for my husband and me to listen too on trips. A narrator who can change their voices, or who makes you feel like it’s a movie playing in your head, and has the ability to have the reader entertained with enthusiasm in their voice, definitely does it for me. I have found out In My 100+ audiobooks I’ve listened too that a narrator can make a great book bad or a bad book great. I’ve read many books that I loved and then listen to it on audio and the narrator made it boring and horrible, also I’ve read books I did not really care for but on audio the narrator totally changed it with their voice and I ended up loving it. So I say make sure the narrator is able to change voices for each character and is NOT MONOTONED. Good luck with your audiobooks.

  8. Oh and I forgot to say that now I sometime I look for particular narrators when I’m searching for audiobooks to listen too. Even if the book is not in a genre I normally read, I do know that the narrator, because they are tried and true, will entertain me totally. Some of the best narrators could read the phone book and make you love it. lol

    • I didn’t know you were such an avid audio book junkie, Tonya!! You are always so good about giving us reviews without audio. But then, I know you drive alot for your job, so audio is perfect for you!

      Great point about recognizing narrators and how they can make or break a book. It’s like with anything – some are good at what they do, and others not so much. In fact, I learned you can actually search for a narrator and request an audition in ACX. These narrators narrate anything and everything under the sun. It’s overwhelming, honestly!

      And what works for one author doesn’t work for another. For example, one author always uses a male voice for her romances – for me, I prefer a female. Different strokes . . .

  10. You make it sound so easy, Pam! I found this post so informative and encouraging. And I loved getting a peek into the narrator’s life. Thank you for sharing your experience with us!

  11. I do NOT do audiobooks! I’ve learned that I’ll either pay attention to the book or I’ll pay attention to whatever else it is I’m trying to do at the same time. So, I would never try to listen to an audiobook while driving!!

    • I hear you, Trudy. Like I was telling Janice Cole Hopkins, I need a quiet place to concentrate, too, just like I would if I was reading a book.

      But some people manage audiobooks just fine. It’s just the way our brains are, I guess. 🙂

    • I’ve had readers tell me that, too. They prefer the more traditional way to read. I remember when Kindles came out – no one wanted to use them. Now they are hugely popular. It’s what you get used to, I guess!

  14. I do not listen to audio books, as I like the book in my hands, and the ability to lay it down at any moment. Having ear plugs in to listen to a book isn’t the same as the book on my iPad. When my husband calls for me or I have a phone call, I just bookmark my place and take care of the other item. I would fumble around with a recording, I’m afraid, before being able to be available for the other task.

  17. Pam, I’m so happy you were pleased with the narrated book. I’ve done three and have loved the narrator on each. It was truly a lot easier than I thought it would be. I’m glad I pushed you into trying it. 🙂

  18. Thank you so much for the audio code. I do listen to them and if there (is a) are good narrators it can be most enjoyable. I have listened to some excellent narrators and have books ruined by poor ones. They are perfect for commuting and going on long trips. They are also especially handy, if well done, for very long books that I don’t have time to just sit and read. I have done two such books. One was The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett which was something like 32 CD’s and his World Without End which was similarly long. The narrator was excellent. It also let my husband and I to “read it” together and discuss the book.
    I hope you have a wonderful Christmas and great 2024.

    • 32 CDs, Pat????!!!! Oh, my goodness. I can’t imagine how the narrator’s throat and voice handled all that talking. Wow.

      And the most peaceful of Christmas and New Year wishes for you, too, my friend.

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