How to Create an Audio Book for Podcasting

I've started working on a major podcasting project and I've been amazed at how difficult it is to work on. Late last year I had put together The Jovian Gate Chronicles audio book for Podiobooks.com. Although that audio book was only four short stories that was 142 minutes in length, the amount of work to put the audio book together was daunting. But I am now working on a second (and much larger) podcast project. I wanted to write about this because I've found that it's a heck of a lot of work in putting together an audio book. So where to start in answering: "How do you put together an audio book or podcast a book?" Well, I'm glad you asked. Here's what I have been working on:

• First off, write down the steps you need to take. Think about the project, estimate the amount of time, money and resources you'll need to complete the project and then realize that you'll need more time than what you estimated.
• After you've put together your schedule, start the work.
• Purchase a web domain through a registrar. I've used Godaddy.com in the past and have lots of success.
• Make certain that you have a blog setup. You can build one on blogger.com (free) or buy space through Word Press or Typepad. Then build your site.
• Purchase or obtain (podsafe) music for your audio book.
• Make certain you have a good place to host your audio files (Libsyn.com) or work with Podiobooks.com.
• Get your equipment (microphone, mixer, software, etc.) and start recording. This is the hardest part. Here's a list of the gear I use: Microphone (MXL 2003), mixer (Alesis Multimix x8 USB) [I have an older model than the one pictured], a screen to protect against "popping" sounds and a stand.
• Software: Castblaster, Audacity and iTunes.

A word to the wise: be sure that when recording your audio book that you save the file as a .wav so that you can use this as your master file when you're doing editing and such. The final version should be a mp3. I save the file at 160 Kbps and keep the episode to around 30-40 mins. For Podiobooks, you'll need to save the mp3 as a joint stereo file.

Once you finish saving the recording as a .wav, you can use Audacity to do post editing work and when you're fully finished on editing then you use iTunes to convert the .wav file to a mp3 (joint stereo). iTunes is actually really good on converting the .wav files to a mp3.

Don't be surprised if your first episode takes several hours. It's a lot of hard work, there's a learning curve in the beginning and be patient. You'll make lots of mistakes in the beginning (in reading your work). I think having patience is probably the biggest bit of advice that I could pass on. And feel free to network with individuals in the podcast community for help.

Updated May 26, 2008:

Evo Terra left some great feedback and I wanted to address his comments in an extended post. Unfortunately, I had hopes of writing a much longer post last time, but I needed to put my daughter down for bed and I didn't get a chance to get back to the post. I had wanted to write down some of my resources and the steps I had put together to create an audio book podcast. For me, it's nice having a list of links to remind me of what steps I took to create the audio book. I wish I had an online version of the "How to Create a Podcast" article I wrote for the SFWA's The Bulletin a few years ago. I might not have an online version of that article, but I do have the article that MTGSalvation.com ran back in May of 2005. That article was: "Revitalize Magic Content: Create a Podcast!" It's rather interesting to look back three years ago to see that article and to compare it with what's available today. There are more resources available now than ever before. With a little work, some research, you can put together an audio book for your listeners. But there's some major points that I did not mention in the points above.

For example:

1. Research. One of the important tricks of the trade for authors is to read. Reading is important because not only do you learn what is being published (and why), but you're able to get a good feel for character development, plot, thematic placement and the full scope of why a novel works well. Similarly, for audio books it's necessary to listen to various audio books to learn what the format is, how one is put together and why one is successful over another. Two suggestions to start out with are: Scott Sigler's "Earthcore" and Mur Lafferty's "Playing for Keeps." Remember, there are many, many audio books available. When listening to the audio books, listen to the introductions, the recaps, when music is used and study the book's pacing (how fast or slow it's read).
2. Marketing. So now that you've done all the hard work, you're finished, right? Well, no. Not by a long shot. You may have put together your audio book, but you will still need to do work on marketing your audio book. I would highly recommend that you start networking with fellow authors as you'll can learn a lot from others who are headed down the same path as you. Another few tips: Focus on cultivating relationships with like minded bloggers. If you can put together an electronic press kit, then you'll be able to easily send out an audio promo, a picture of yourself, a short bio and a synopsis of your novel at a moment's notice. Heck, I'd recommend keeping the press kit on the home page of your website so that people can download them easily without having to take the extra step to contact you. You see, I wear two hats: Not only am I starting to walk down the path of creating an audio book, but I also put out a weekly podcast (The Magic Sock). When I'm putting together The Magic Sock, I often run promos of science fiction and fantasy audio books to help spread the word to my listeners. You never know who might stumble on your website and be looking for a promo to play on their podcast. Having the materials easily available is the way to go. Another suggestion is to work on conducting interviews with podcasts that talk about science fiction and fantasy. Get yourself out there and make friends. But remember, don't think you're entitled to an interview. I could go on and on with Marketing. You can attend conventions and network with fans or fellow podcasters. Start a Twitter.com feed and start putting out announcements about your audio book on a regular basis. Provide supplemental material to augment your audio book (Mur Lafferty did an excellent job of this with "Playing for Keeps"-- she podcast supplemental stories that other authors wrote, incorporating those stories into her RSS feed, allowed for the download of each episode's PDF [that had a unique comic book cover] in the RSS feed and had street teams to talk up her audio book online and in "real life."). I could go on, but you get the idea. Marketing is crucial and key to success. Think about your marketing plan. And then think some more.
3. Produce a hard copy version of your book through a print on demand company. I've used Lulu.com in the past, but with Amazon.com changing what print on demands books they'll list (as of this writing, they'll list a book from Lulu.com but as the creator you'll need to send Amazon.com 5 copies for them to store. If you use Amazon.com's POD company, you'll not need to do that. Putting together the book, is a huge project in itself. You have to think about the cover, the look and feel of the book, set the price point, etc. Do not overlook this part, but don't be surprised when you don't sell a ton of copies. Again, marketing is key.

To sum all this up, creating an audio book is a lot of work and takes careful planning. Do not expect to sit down at a computer, hit record and you're suddenly an internet sensation. There are hundreds (if not thousands) of free audio books out there in the ether. What makes yours better than someone else's? As Evo Terra wrote in his comment, gone are the wild, wild West days in which anything goes. Listeners expect an audio book to sound a certain way, to contain certain parts (recaps at the beginning of each episode) and the audio's quality is important. I've been podcasting for over two years now and I still feel like a novice. And I'm not justing saying that. It's not easy to learn new skills, to be creative and to put the work all together. If you think I'm trying to scare you away, that's not the case. But I want you to understand, that there's a lot of work involved and that this article of mine just scratches the surface.

Good luck!

Comments

[Evo Terra]

Solid information, Ron. I'd only add one thing before all of that: explore and understand the space.

All too many authors are "discovering" podcasting and jumping in with both feet before actually figuring out what has been done before. That was fine in 2005 when anyone who sat down in front of a microphone with book in hand was a pioneer, but the trail has been more than blazed and listeners have expectations.

But don't take that to assume every new author should follow blindly in the steps of those who have come before. Far from it! I'm all for breaking rules and doing things a different way -- but you have to know what the "normal" way is before you decide to give an alternate a go, you know?

Thanks for adding your experience. Things like this help create better works in the future!

E.