# Narrate Your Own Book for Audiobooks - ACX? Feedback?



## John Ellsworth (Jun 1, 2014)

I've been hesitant to ACX my books because of the up-front price narrators want and I haven't wanted to go the split-royalties route. So, a friend of mine suggested getting a condenser mike, an MBox, and doing it myself. His idea is that readers would love to hear the audiobook actually read by the author. Sounded interesting.

Does anyone have experience with DIY audiobooks? Is it a great/good/so-so/indifferent/bad idea? Pros and cons?

TIA

John


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## Mark Philipson (Mar 9, 2013)

You might want to use a studio mike with a pop screen.


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## 555aaa (Jan 28, 2014)

First - can you post a sample? It's be nice to hear your voice and reading style. Don't worry about the technical quality at this point.

I looked at your sales rank on one of your books and frankly I would actually go in a studio and pay an engineer to record you with all their whiz-bang gear. You should be able to get studio time for about $75/hr.  I've paid between $45 and $125 /hr for studio time + an engineer. It's sort of a no-brainer for the studio and you'll never get the quality at home that you can get in studio.  It'll probably take about 3 hrs of studio time per useable hour of material for someone who is just starting out, and then you can go off and edit down the material yourself later, or, if you use "punch" recording, you record over your mistakes in studio and there is less editing (I find that hard to do well). 

You also can just straight-up hire a narrator outside of ACX. You don't have to use narrators in the ACX system. You put up your book as a "DIY deal" and then it doesn't get posted in the list of books looking for narrators.

I have four books in ACX, all DIY and 3 of 4 are studio recorded. Message me if you would like more info. 

-Bruce.


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## John Ellsworth (Jun 1, 2014)

555aaa said:


> First - can you post a sample? It's be nice to hear your voice and reading style. Don't worry about the technical quality at this point.
> 
> I looked at your sales rank on one of your books and frankly I would actually go in a studio and pay an engineer to record you with all their whiz-bang gear. You should be able to get studio time for about $75/hr. I've paid between $45 and $125 /hr for studio time + an engineer. It's sort of a no-brainer for the studio and you'll never get the quality at home that you can get in studio. It'll probably take about 3 hrs of studio time per useable hour of material for someone who is just starting out, and then you can go off and edit down the material yourself later, or, if you use "punch" recording, you record over your mistakes in studio and there is less editing (I find that hard to do well).
> 
> ...


This is a great idea. Plus this way I wouldn't have to buy all the electronics. While I do play around with Garageband and my Godin guitar from time to time, I'm definitely not ready for the MBox expenditure, mike, and 'quiet room' stuff. Thanks so much, Bruce.


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## Mike Dennis (Apr 26, 2010)

Go to Audible.com and listen to the samples of bestsellers in your genre. Hear the high quality of the sound: quiet background (no mouth clicks, no airplanes or cars roaring past, no AC hum, etc), no distortion on the narrator's voice, narrator inflections on certain words and phrases that punch the meaning through  ...  that's what you'll be competing with. You'd be well-advised to spend money on the proper equipment to do it yourself, spend money in a recording studio to do it yourself, or spend money on a narrator who gets a great sound and who fits your genre.

I guess what I'm saying is, unfortunately, there is no free lunch.


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## Carol (was Dara) (Feb 19, 2011)

I've gotta agree with Mike. The expense makes it tempting to DIY, but going with an affordably priced narrator will probably be better for your sales in the long run.


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## LyraParish (Aug 27, 2013)

There are many authors who do this. I write in 2 POV, so plan on narrating the female voice of mine and placed the male voice for audition on AXC. Hubs has a recording studio in the house and went to school for audio engineering. Since I've recorded around 10 chapters, I do have some advice for you. 

Make sure that your setup stays where it is without moving too much. An example is how far the mic is from your mouth and small things like that. You will want to try to produce the same sound between different days. You may also want someone to do post production mixing and mastering of your voice just to make sure it sounds just as good as the others on audible, or maybe read about post production work on voice recordings. 

Record yourself reading a few chapters as practice. Once you've done about 2, you'll know if it's something you can do for the entire novel. 

Make sure there aren't any outside noises interfering. One time I recorded and someone was mowing their grass, and regardless of the sound canceling foam that was in our little booth, it could still be heard.  

When you mess up, pause for a few seconds or snap or something so you can see by your audio waves that there will be a cut. lol. Drink lots of water. I found that when I performed my mouth got dry but when I drank tons of water, I was fine. 

Don't be afraid to record the same sentence several times if you don't feel very confident about it. Sometimes the second take really is better than the first. I've never done an entire chapter without messing up somewhere.

That's all I can think of right now! 
Neil Gaiman records his own, and I think it's pretty cool!

p.s. I did a lot of theatre in high school and took way too many hours in college, so I was pretty confident that I could pull it off successfully.  

Good luck with whatever you decide!

Edit: setup is an MBOX with a condenser mic and a pop filter, not sure the brand of mic, I'm not a huge nerd when it comes to audio equipment. I record it in garage band with my macbook pro and hubs mixes and masters it in Cubase. I cut my vocals and give it to him once I've chosen which version I want to keep.


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## John Ellsworth (Jun 1, 2014)

So here's what I wound up doing.

I found a narrator out of seventy-some auditions on ACX and went back and forth with him, including phone calls and trading ideas, and finally arrived at a figure of $275 PFH and signed a contract. This is someone who is himself a writer and who also teaches drama and writing and I really like his voice. His name is Aaron Miller and he's out of Tennessee.

After looking around at the costs of doing it myself, including the fact I'm totally inexperienced and like someone on here said I'd be competing with the professional level of a Grisham (*ahem*) I decided that DIY was definitely a bad idea. For me, at least. Last year I put out 6.5 books. This year I'd like to put out another 6. So spending hours in a DIY sound system with sound editing gear and trying to match a professional level--I decided my time is much better spent writing books, not narrating them.

This is pretty exciting for me to even be doing. I'll update this when I know if they're going to sell and how much compared to ebooks.


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## JeffreyKafer (May 22, 2011)

John Ellsworth said:


> His idea is that readers would love to hear the audiobook actually read by the author.


His idea is totally wrong. Unless it's your own biography or memoir, listeners want to hear a well-done narration by someone who knows what they're doing. The gimmick of the author-as-narrator wears off very quickly if the author isn't very good. If you don't believe me, see the reviews for Harlan Coben's Promise Me: http://www.audible.com/pd/Mysteries-Thrillers/Promise-Me-Audiobook/B002V02ZWS/ref=a_search_c4_2_3_srTtl?qid=1420924375&sr=2-3


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## John Ellsworth (Jun 1, 2014)

JeffreyKafer said:


> His idea is totally wrong. Unless it's your own biography or memoir, listeners want to hear a well-done narration by someone who knows what they're doing. The gimmick of the author-as-narrator wears off very quickly if the author isn't very good. If you don't believe me, see the reviews for Harlan Coben's Promise Me: http://www.audible.com/pd/Mysteries-Thrillers/Promise-Me-Audiobook/B002V02ZWS/ref=a_search_c4_2_3_srTtl?qid=1420924375&sr=2-3


Wow, so much for DIY. Which was another part of my thinking: I'm not a trained actor.


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## johnlmonk (Jul 24, 2013)

The folks talking about studio time if you do it yourself make good sense, but also consider that if you are willing to pay for that, why not pay an actor/narrator?  I highly recommend reading Simon Whistler's "Audiobooks for indies" -- in there you'll see lots of great information on turning your book into an audiobook. I'm in the audiobook auditioning process now, and used one of the tips in this book to attract a stipend (money from ACX paid to narrators to attract quality auditions).


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## JeffreyKafer (May 22, 2011)

I can offer another tip for attracting a royalty-share narrator: Tell us in the notes how many SALES you've had per month. Not free downloads. SALES. If the number is good, you'll get more auditions. If the number is not so good, then at least you're being honest with your narrator.


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

I've noticed, in talking with audiobook consumers outside of places like this (i.e. indie hangouts) that there is a wide variety of tastes in audiobooks.  There are definitely people would prefer to hear the author, and don't like multi-cast readings, and all that.  But honestly, I think those preferences have more to do with perception than with reality. It's like people who don't like books with prologues: often if you question them you find that they like lots of books with prologues, but when it's well done, they never noticed it.

Since I do odd, off-genre books that will never earn out large production fees, and I enjoy production (I was a film major, and had an uncle in radio), I'm going the DIY route.  I don't have the skills or equipment or studio set up I need yet, so I'm starting out with a podcast.  Within a year or so, I will likely submit something to ACX.

Podcasting, YouTube freebies, or doing audio for public domain sites like Librivox is a great way to find out how much you like audio. You don't have to have the level of quality you will ultimately need.  And you'll have a chance to slowly acquire all the various things you do need.

The thing I really enjoy about reading my work myself (and reading that of others) is that it's like taking the story to a higher level.  Like _completing_ the story.  My skills are not where I want them for that, but it's fun all the same.

I see that the OP has decided to go with a pro -- but if anyone else wants to talk about DYI, I'm always looking for people to talk with about it.  I sometimes hang out on Reddit too (in the subreddits of r/podcasts, r/podcast and r/voiceacting).

Camille


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## Kirk Hanley (Dec 16, 2014)

I think it can be a great idea for authors to record their own audiobook. It can be an intimidating process at first, but (like anything) once you have one under your belt, it becomes one more tool for your toolchest, opening the way to record future audiobooks, as well as podcasts, book trailers, interviews and more.

I just released _The Stressed-Out Writer's Guide to Recording Your Own Audiobook_ (see link below) that breaks it down to a step-by-step process. I also give specific equipment recommendations for how to set-up a home studio for under $100.

Best of luck!


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## Karen Mead (Jul 2, 2012)

I thought I wouldn't be able to record my own books because I'd feel too embarrassed. But just for the hell of it, I tried reading part of one of my books aloud just to see how it felt, and I found I wasn't embarrassed at all; I just got into character, and it felt right. I have audio experience from editing podcasts on and off for years, so the logistics shouldn't be too big a problem; plus, I used to act when I was a kid, but kind of fell out of it as I got older. I think I didn't realize there was a part of me that missed acting until I started thinking about "acting out" my books.

Question for others who have gone/are going the DIY route: Do you use Garageband, Audacity, or another program? I was just playing with Garageband yesterday, and while it has some cool features, I think Audacity is better strictly for voice editing-- of course, Audacity is what I'm familiar with, so I could just be biased


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

Karen Mead said:


> Question for others who have gone/are going the DIY route: Do you use Garageband, Audacity, or another program? I was just playing with Garageband yesterday, and while it has some cool features, I think Audacity is better strictly for voice editing-- of course, Audacity is what I'm familiar with, so I could just be biased


I use Audacity. I learned to edit audio in film school, and it works like a Moviola. Also, if you want to learn how to do anything on the fly, you can Google a YouTube tutorial - there are thousands of them, and odds are you'll find a little one minute thing that shows you exactly what the command is and how it works. (You can't do that with Garageband - to get to stuff you want to do, you have to first go through reams of material you don't care about.)

I think Garageband probably has the tools to do professional work - but the user experience makes it come of as a toy. (I do use it when I need some simple music, for instance on my Christmas show, I had a noir pastiche, so I played just a line of a Silent Night on bells going in, and then did a jazz bass of We Three Kings going out.)

Also I record on a Sony PCM-M10 digital recorder. It's portable and means I can put the computer to sleep, or record in some other location. It's expensive (about $200) and you really do need an external mic for it. (It's got great built in mics, but they are omnidirectional and pick up ambient noise. Which can be great if you're looking to record sound effects, but not so much for recording voice.)

Camille


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## Karen Mead (Jul 2, 2012)

daringnovelist said:


> I use Audacity. I learned to edit audio in film school, and it works like a Moviola. Also, if you want to learn how to do anything on the fly, you can Google a YouTube tutorial - there are thousands of them, and odds are you'll find a little one minute thing that shows you exactly what the command is and how it works. (You can't do that with Garageband - to get to stuff you want to do, you have to first go through reams of material you don't care about.)


Oh good, my own opinion validated, lol. No seriously, it's good to hear that my gut feeling is right from someone with experience.



> I think Garageband probably has the tools to do professional work - but the user experience makes it come of as a toy.


I'm impressed with the capabilities of Garageband, but I don't feel like I need them to make the kind of audio I want. As I was going through it I was thinking, "this is a wonderfully robust program filled with features I will never use." I have been working on a video game on and off for a while (nothing elaborate, very simple), and if I want to make my own music for it, I think I'm going to have to get more comfortable with Garageband. But for audiobooks, unless you want a whole book of monster-voices talking to robot-voices, the features are stuff I don't really need.



> Also I record on a Sony PCM-M10 digital recorder. It's portable and means I can put the computer to sleep, or record in some other location. It's expensive (about $200) and you really do need an external mic for it. (It's got great built in mics, but they are omnidirectional and pick up ambient noise. Which can be great if you're looking to record sound effects, but not so much for recording voice.)


I've always just made do with your basic headset mic; not sure if I'm ready to invest in something expensive like a Sony PCM-M10, but well, I haven't started the recording process yet; if I can't get the quality I want, I'll have some decisions to make. The quality has always been good enough for podcasts, but obviously, podcasts are not the same as audiobooks >__<.


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

Karen Mead said:


> I've always just made do with your basic headset mic; not sure if I'm ready to invest in something expensive like a Sony PCM-M10, but well, I haven't started the recording process yet; if I can't get the quality I want, I'll have some decisions to make. The quality has always been good enough for podcasts, but obviously, podcasts are not the same as audiobooks >__<.


The Sony is great if you need to get away from your computer to record -- but certainly not necessary. Your headset mic would probably work for it fine if you ever decided to go with that. (It's got regular "line-in" type mini-phone jacks for the mic. So with more advanced mics you'd need an adapter cord.)

If you DO work at your computer, and want to upgrade your mic ever, I understand a lot of people are really happy with the Blue Snowball (which I think is about $50) as the best price/quality ratio. Since I don't want to record at my computer, I can't use it because it's USB only.

Camille


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## 555aaa (Jan 28, 2014)

I edit in Sony SoundForge. It does everything I need and I also have been using it for a long time. It also does the RMS signal calculation you need to get your volume levels and noise floor. More importantly, even the consumer version which is about $80 has a good compressor and some decent eq filters. The compressor is really important in my opinion, probably the most important aspect of any editing tool, because the editing for audiobooks is really simple. It's hard to both have a low noise floor and also a high enough RMS level without clipping, without using compression. And since most listeners listen in a noisy environment, you really need to manage compression properly to create a pleasant listening experience. But compression is also distortion, and a super-compressed recording sounds distorted and very radio-announcer like.

I use the Presonus AudioBox USB interface box ($100) as the replacement for my older Tascam USB interface box. I have a couple AKG-220 mics and a Rode NT-1 which is now my main vocal mic. I also have a dbx-266 compressor, but I find that it adds noise unless you use a preamp. The NT-1, by the way, is the lowest noise microphone on the market but is very affordable. Try to pick one up used. They don't really wear out.

Also you really need a good set of headphones. Closed-ear phones, and not earbuds, although there are some great "in-ear" phones available.

The audio quality on Audible really isn't very good. You don't need pro quality audio. You do need to meet their noise floor, which is pretty low (good), and mostly when I listen to "amateur" productions I hear either background noise or it sounds like the person is in a broom closet.

I have some 'how to' audio editing videos on my Youtube channel (mondello publishing) here:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCR5utFlSK-xql5RuUlXRifw

You'll see stuff there on using Steinberg Cubase, but that is a multi-track tool (like Protools) which you don't need. There are lots of good videos on youtube on editing for audiobooks.


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

555aaa said:


> I use the Presonus AudioBox USB interface box ($100) as the replacement for my older Tascam USB interface box. I have a couple AKG-220 mics and a Rode NT-1 which is now my main vocal mic. I also have a dbx-266 compressor, but I find that it adds noise unless you use a preamp. The NT-1, by the way, is the lowest noise microphone on the market but is very affordable. Try to pick one up used. They don't really wear out.
> 
> Also you really need a good set of headphones. Closed-ear phones, and not earbuds, although there are some great "in-ear" phones available.


Thanks for the reccos -- the Rode sounds nice. I've got a very old (35 year old) electret condenser mic from college, which serves me well enough for the podcast. But I need to look at moving up -- once I get my recording space worked out.

On the Voice Acting Reddit, I have head a lot of recommendations for the Audio-Technica AT2020 (which comes in both a USB version and a "studio" version. The USB one is more expensive). It's cheaper than the Rode. (The AT2020 studio is about $99, the Rode N1 seems to retail at $230-280 depending on the package.)

And I second you on the headphones. I also recommend listening to your final files in a different environment from which you recorded it once in a while -- because even with good headphones, the background noise of your recording area can mask what's on the recording. (Or in my case, mask what ISN'T on the recording -- I had over done the noise reduction and "breath noise" editing, and it sounded great in my office, but when I listened in another room, I could hear the background dropping in and out as I spoke, like a bad speaker phone.)

Even though Audible's standards are pretty low, I still think that offering a product for sale should be held to a higher standard than a free podcast. (Just as blogs tend to be more informal and sloppier than a book.) So I'm doing the podcast as a development experience: I'm learning to be a better performer, while working on my recording environment. (Still struggling with choices -- the places with the best acousitcs have the worst level of interruption and overt noise, like traffic, etc.) Once I get the right studio space sorted out, then I'll be ready to do some audiobook work.

Camille


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## 75814 (Mar 12, 2014)

I've considered recording my own books, but not for Audible. I'm not confident enough in the quality of my readings to put them up for sale. Instead, I was thinking of doing it on Podiobooks and see if it might generate some interest in my catalogue. Have never actually gotten around to it, though.


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## 10105 (Feb 16, 2010)

I got everything set up to record and then came down with larygitis a couple months ago. My voice is still shot, and extended speech puts me into spasms of coughing. My gear is adapted from my music studio recording setup, so there wasn't much expense. Mainly some cables to  distance my monitor, headphones,and mic from the computer fan. I use Cool Edit Pro, now known as Adobe Edition. I have an ADT  condenser mic and a pro 8 channel mixer built into the old XP box. I built an acoustic chamber to absorb ambient noise and will record at night when the outside is quietest. I hope. If my voice comes back.

I've tried to stir up interest in DIY narrating here on KB, but was met with silence. I'm glad this discussion has shown some interest.


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## Kirk Hanley (Dec 16, 2014)

Like most here, I use and recommend Audacity software. It's free, does everything you need to meet ACX requirements, and is well-supported by an active online community.

The mic I use is the Audio-Technica ATR2100-USB Cardioid Dynamic USB/XLR Microphone. When I bought it on Amazon a couple years ago, it was only $39. Now it runs about $60, but is well worth the price. Even comes with a little tripod stand (kind of a cheap one, but still.)

Kirk


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## Karen Mead (Jul 2, 2012)

Al Stevens said:


> I got everything set up to record and then came down with larygitis a couple months ago. My voice is still shot, and extended speech puts me into spasms of coughing. My gear is adapted from my music studio recording setup, so there wasn't much expense. Mainly some cables to distance my monitor, headphones,and mic from the computer fan. I use Cool Edit Pro, now known as Adobe Edition. I have an ADT condenser mic and a pro 8 channel mixer built into the old XP box. I built an acoustic chamber to absorb ambient noise and will record at night when the outside is quietest. I hope. If my voice comes back.
> 
> I've tried to stir up interest in DIY narrating here on KB, but was met with silence. I'm glad this discussion has shown some interest.


Aww man, what frustrating timing to come down with laryngitis. A while back, I was getting really serious about drawing comics and then got a bad case of tendonitis in my right hand that kept me from the drawing board for a year, so I can relate. I hope you get your voice back very soon.

Also glad to see we've got some audiophiles around here as well. I was a bit afraid any discussion of DIY audio would be met with "Shut up and hire a pro," lol. And to be fair, I really do understand why people say that, but it's still nice to see some enthusiasm for these kinds of projects.


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## anotherpage (Apr 4, 2012)

LyraParish said:


> There are many authors who do this. I write in 2 POV, so plan on narrating the female voice of mine and placed the male voice for audition on AXC. Hubs has a recording studio in the house and went to school for audio engineering. Since I've recorded around 10 chapters, I do have some advice for you.
> 
> Make sure that your setup stays where it is without moving too much. An example is how far the mic is from your mouth and small things like that. You will want to try to produce the same sound between different days. You may also want someone to do post production mixing and mastering of your voice just to make sure it sounds just as good as the others on audible, or maybe read about post production work on voice recordings.
> 
> ...


If you do it yourself. Where do you upload the file on amazon? and what format must the final file be in ( i.e MP3? ) any length limitations or file size limitations?


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

kalel said:


> If you do it yourself. Where do you upload the file on amazon? and what format must the final file be in ( i.e MP3? ) any length limitations or file size limitations?


Most people do it through ACX, which puts it on Audible, which puts it on Amazon and in the iTunes store. And, technically, if you don't go through ACX, you can't get it on Amazon. However some people manage it through CD Baby by listing it as a "spoken word" rather than an "audiobook." I understand that Amazon is cracking down on those, but I've only heard this second hand.

Of course, ACX's low royalties are more palatable if you're doing your own recording, because then you don't have to split the slim royalty with others.

Camille


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## Mike McIntyre (Jan 19, 2011)

I considered DIY for The Kindness of Strangers because it's a memoir and I believed listeners might prefer hearing an author tell his own true tale. I'd received positive feedback on my voice from TV appearances and public readings. Even assuming I could replicate that for 10 hours rather than 10 minutes, I was still overwhelmed by thinking about the technical side of the process. The narrator I hired had the idea of interviewing me and adding that to the end of the audiobook, and listeners have said they've appreciated that bonus feature.


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## 555aaa (Jan 28, 2014)

kalel said:


> If you do it yourself. Where do you upload the file on amazon? and what format must the final file be in ( i.e MP3? ) any length limitations or file size limitations?


ACX uses mp3 uploads, generally one file per chapter. There is a length limitation which is pretty long but frankly long files can be annoying to listeners because it is hard to navigate an audiobook with long chapters. Yet another reason to keep your chapters short.

There is a nice uploader tool in acx. Just go and read thru all the acx faq. The uploading part is pretty straightforward.

When you create the mp3 file, make sure you have turned off joint stereo & mid/side stereo. They want a mono mp3 or simple stereo (some codecs won't produce a high bit rate mono mp3 file). Don't add ID3 tags because we have been told not to. Also don't enable variable bit rate coding. I upload 256Kbit mp3 files.

The files actually presented to the player device will be significantly compressed from what you upload and there are actually several different quality settings that consumers can get, including an older, non-mp3 speech codec. If you go the "spoken word" route, then the audio quality is much higher, but your customer has a bigger download file and it will get priced higher. If you go the cdbaby route, your customers can download flac files, which are a lossless compression. mp3 wasn't designed for speech coding and needs pretty high bit rates to do a good job.


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## Kirk Hanley (Dec 16, 2014)

Mike McIntyre said:


> I considered DIY for The Kindness of Strangers because it's a memoir and I believed listeners might prefer hearing an author tell his own true tale. I'd received positive feedback on my voice from TV appearances and public readings. Even assuming I could replicate that for 10 hours rather than 10 minutes, I was still overwhelmed by thinking about the technical side of the process. The narrator I hired had the idea of interviewing me and adding that to the end of the audiobook, and listeners have said they've appreciated that bonus feature.


Mike,

The interview is a nice way to add the personal touch to a job for hire.

As far as the technical requirements, everyone is wigged out a bit by them the first time they see them. It actually isn't that bad, but I think this is one area ACX could improve on - the intimidation factor. It took me a while to get my own recording, editing, and mastering process down . That's one reason I wrote my book - to document my process for myself so I wouldn't forget what I did!

Kirk


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## Deborahsmith author (Jul 23, 2013)

John Ellsworth said:


> I've been hesitant to ACX my books because of the up-front price narrators want and I haven't wanted to go the split-royalties route. So, a friend of mine suggested getting a condenser mike, an MBox, and doing it myself. His idea is that readers would love to hear the audiobook actually read by the author. Sounded interesting.
> /quote]
> 
> My small press has more than 100 ACX titles now, with a few of them narrated by the authors. In our experience, a great narrator (professional) is THE biggest difference between poor sales and good sales. Unless the author is a trained actor, has professional recording equipment, and access to quality audio editing gear, forget it.


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## Mark E. Cooper (May 29, 2011)

Deborahsmith author said:


> My small press has more than 100 ACX titles now, with a few of them narrated by the authors. In our experience, a great narrator (professional) is THE biggest difference between poor sales and good sales. Unless the author is a trained actor, has professional recording equipment, and access to quality audio editing gear, forget it.


1000% agree with this. I am a heavy buyer of audio books. Good narration at the right speed, pleasant voices for characters, and good story, cover, blurb... make me buy, and I buy A LOT. If I hear even a slightly dodgy narration, REFUND TIME. I can forgive a lot, but not listening to a bad acting job. Life is too short.

This isn't to say an author can't read their own non fiction. I think that's a great idea. It doesn't mean an author can't TRY to read their fiction, but for the love of God, please give it to some people for critical feedback before selling it. Do some sample chapters and ask for fan feedback (don't tell them you are reading it) and see if they like the narrator.


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## Karen Mead (Jul 2, 2012)

Mark E. Cooper said:


> It doesn't mean an author can't TRY to read their fiction, but for the love of God, please give it to some people for critical feedback before selling it. Do some sample chapters and ask for fan feedback (don't tell them you are reading it) and see if they like the narrator.


That's fair. I don't believe every author who tries to read their fiction will be good at it (or even most), but I think those that are passionate about it should have the opportunity to try without being harangued just for trying.


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## 10105 (Feb 16, 2010)

You'll never know until you try. Many people are paralyzed with mic fright. You have to get past that. The biggest deterrent to success in many endeavors is lack of confidence.

Some people sound like they're reading something. Listen to (record) yourself reading a letter out loud. (You remember letters, I hope.) Then record yourself telling someone the essence of the letter. Most of you will hear two different styles of speech. Dynamics, pauses, pitch, will be different. You want to read the words as if you were telling them not as if you were reciting them. Try to sound natural and enunciate at the same time. We are not born with that ability. Like most things worth doing, it takes practice.

Anyone who wishes to improve their confidence and speaking skills can learn a lot by joining a local Toastmasters group. http://www.toastmasters.org/

And above all listen to the pros narrating books in your genre. Try to imitate their style, pacing, delivery. Out of that can evolve your own voice.

And ignore those who say you can't do it because you have no formal training in acting.

This book might help: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0963104802

I took Alice's one-day class a number of years ago and learned a lot from her.


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## 555aaa (Jan 28, 2014)

Post a sample on SoundCloud and then post a link back here. It's free and the quality is very good.  All my audiobooks have SoundCloud samples / promo tracks.


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## J.B. (Aug 15, 2014)

JeffreyKafer said:


> His idea is totally wrong. Unless it's your own biography or memoir, listeners want to hear a well-done narration by someone who knows what they're doing. The gimmick of the author-as-narrator wears off very quickly if the author isn't very good. If you don't believe me, see the reviews for Harlan Coben's Promise Me: http://www.audible.com/pd/Mysteries-Thrillers/Promise-Me-Audiobook/B002V02ZWS/ref=a_search_c4_2_3_srTtl?qid=1420924375&sr=2-3


I concur... I listen to a ton of audio books, and sometimes I give up because the narrators are just so hard to listen to. Now I look at the listing and if it says, "read by the author," I give it a pass.

The ability to 'act' in the story, change voices to sound like different characters, all these capabilities are not things that the ordinary author can pull out of their tool box. Think twice about taking that route, and if you do - make an effort to emulate a good narrator, not just someone reading a book out loud.


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

Okay, a little follow up on equipment....

I bought a Rode NT1a and was not happy. It's really a "studio" mic. While it has very low noise itself, it picks up noise that other mics don't, AND because it requires power, you either have to spend a lot more money, or you have to put up with the noise added by the phantom power.

The folks at the Home Recording Forums hate it with a passion (but of course, they hate everything). I don't necessarily recommend hanging out on HRF for audiobook people (because they are mostly music folks) but they will tell you in no uncertain terms what is wrong with your choices, and why. (Also, if you go over there -- they don't mind you asking questions, but if you do, they want every detail of your set up, and what kind of recording you are doing, and they'll be snarky if you don't give it to them. I suspect there is a high BS and ego factor, so double-check everything you learn.)

The HRF folks convinced me that if I'm doing voice over work (such as audiobooks), and I'm doing it in a less than full professional environment, I don't want a condenser mic, but a dynamic one.

Anyway, after reading some things there, and also reading up more on my other equipment (especially the PCM-M10 recorder I have) I decided that I need to go with a stage mic, not a studio mic. And the Shure SM58 fits my budget better, and all it takes is a little widget to use with my recorder.

BTW: when you go researching sound equipment, one of the big things to look into are the little widgets one item needs to work with the others. Because they almost always do need some little thing. And those little things may add noise to the system. (or other problems).

One of the reasons I'm going with the Shure is because I can go to my local Guitar Center and try it out, and then if it works great there but not at home, I can easily return for a refund and try something else out.

Camille


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## Brevoort (Jan 27, 2014)

daringnovelist said:


> Okay, a little follow up on equipment ( . . . ) Anyway, after reading some things there, and also reading up more on my other equipment (especially the PCM-M10 recorder I have) I decided that I need to go with a stage mic, not a studio mic. And the Shure SM58 fits my budget better, and all it takes is a little widget to use with my recorder.


That Sony - Shure combination is a good choice. The microphone you chose has been around for decades, perhaps half a century. I doubt that you could walk into a professional recording studio, or a broadcast studio, and fail to find one. It is probably one of the greatest voice microphones ever invented.

I presume by widget you mean an XLR to Mini adapter? That works just fine but be careful to not move the recorder/adapter/microphone assemblage when you are recording. Mini plugs sometimes don't fit as tightly as they should and movement can introduce noise on the recording. I often lash them down on the recording unit with gaffer tape when I use them just to prevent any stray movement.

And, I agree with your opinion of the Home Recording Forum


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

Brevoort said:


> That Sony - Shure combination is a good choice. The microphone you chose has been around for decades, perhaps half a century. I doubt that you could walk into a professional recording studio, or a broadcast studio, and fail to find one. It is probably one of the greatest voice microphones ever invented.
> 
> I presume by widget you mean an XLR to Mini adapter? That works just fine but be careful to not move the recorder/adapter/microphone assemblage when you are recording. Mini plugs sometimes don't fit as tightly as they should and movement can introduce noise on the recording. I often lash them down on the recording unit with gaffer tape when I use them just to prevent any stray movement.
> 
> And, I agree with your opinion of the Home Recording Forum


My favorite bit about the Shure is the quote I found on the Guitar Center sales page: "The Shure SM58 has not only helped to define the sound of rock vocals on stage, _it's also been used as a hammer_ to build stages and gone on to perform flawlessly later at the gig. " (emphasis mine)

As for the widget: I mean this guy  Shure A85F Impedance Matching Transformer. And yeah, I have a little phone charging stand for the Sony, and use the remote to operate it when recording.

(And, oh crap, I just realized that's a quarter inch plug, not a mini plug. Must continue the research trail.... I suspect I'll end up with this puppy.)

Camille


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## Brevoort (Jan 27, 2014)

daringnovelist said:


> My favorite bit about the Shure is the quote I found on the Guitar Center sales page: "The Shure SM58 has not only helped to define the sound of rock vocals on stage, _it's also been used as a hammer_ to build stages and gone on to perform flawlessly later at the gig. " (emphasis mine)
> 
> As for the widget: I mean this guy  Shure A85F Impedance Matching Transformer. And yeah, I have a little phone charging stand for the Sony, and use the remote to operate it when recording.
> 
> (And, oh crap, I just realized that's a quarter inch plug, not a mini plug.


You could also use a 1/4 to 1/8 step down adapter but going to a straight XLR to Mini 1/8 adapter does remove one potential noise causing connection.

As for the Shure being used as a hammer. Yes, I can vouch for that. Also the same for the Electro-Voice 635 which is probably the world's most widely used field news microphone. I have seen both used as hammers without ill effect. Including, one tipsy night in a far off land when a bunch of foreign correspondents decided to see which mike was in fact the toughest. It was a tie despite some well fueled hammer blows.


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## 10105 (Feb 16, 2010)

You'd do well to look into the USB microphones on the market now. The mic input jack on home computer sound cards does not always capture best-quality sound. Plus, with USB you don't need impedance-matching or plug-adaptor widgets in there producing noise. The SM-58 is a great stage mic. I have several. But it's low-impedance XLR. The typical sound card is high-impedence minijack. That's two adapters plus a cable that you must buy in addition to the mic itself.

The Blue Yeti USB microphone should be acceptable. http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Microphones-Yeti-USB-Microphone/dp/B002VA464S/

Here are my recommendations.

1. Buy or build a pop screen. A fragment of nylon stocking wrapped around a circular wire frame (coat hanger) works fine. If you don't have a pop screen, you'll wish you did.

2. Build a portable vocal booth. Here's the one I built. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTeUeRxAS7M. Works well in my environment.

3. Minimize ambient noise. Turn off the air conditioner, fridge, florescent lights, etc.. Get as far away from the computer as possible. Put the cat out. Anything that hums, buzzes, rattles, or meows is not your friend.

4. Learn how to use your audio application to clean up floor noise. The free application Audacity works well.

5. Record at night to minimize interfering traffic sounds. Nothing like a helicopter to require a re-take.

Have fun.


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## Shei Darksbane (Jan 31, 2015)

LyraParish said:


> Neil Gaiman records his own, and I think it's pretty cool!


Neil Gaiman's voice is incredible. I could fall asleep to him talking about anything. He's just so gentle and melodic. 
If my voice were as great as his, I'd record my own books for sure.

I actually think it would be possible for me to narrate my book because I'm pretty good at doing voices. I had already considered I might do that eventually, because to me, voices are very important. I can't imagine finding someone who would do my MC's voice the way I do it.


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

Al Stevens said:


> You'd do well to look into the USB microphones on the market now. The mic input jack on home computer sound cards does not always capture best-quality sound. Plus, with USB you don't need impedance-matching or plug-adaptor widgets in there producing noise. The SM-58 is a great stage mic. I have several. But it's low-impedance XLR. The typical sound card is high-impedence minijack. That's two adapters plus a cable that you must buy in addition to the mic itself.
> 
> The Blue Yeti USB microphone should be acceptable. http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Microphones-Yeti-USB-Microphone/dp/B002VA464S/
> 
> ...


That's a great guide to get people started. Thanks for posting it.

It happens that I already know all of that. I was a film major, and did an awful lot of recording in my youth. I do not want a USB mic. My computer is, of necessity, in the noisiest part of the house, and it makes a lot of noise itself. And my old, crappy electret condenser mic is doing a better job off-computer than a good USB does on it. (Although I do have a dampened corner of the room, which I can use at certain times if I put the computer to sleep.)

A portable soundbooth is one way to deal with reverberance, especially if you can't redo your entire sound room. (Don't forget to deaden the area behind you, though.) It does not deaden ambient sound however. It dampens echoes to make your voice sound richer. (It can deaden sound if it surrounds and isolates the source of the sound -- which is why you can put insulating material inside a computer case, or inside a car's engine area -- but to keep sound _out_ of an area requires work on a construction level.

(However, imho, you CAN do more to deaden ambient sound than the experts would have you believe -- just not as much as the salesmen of sound proofing products will tell you.)

And for that reason, your #3 is the key item. It's a matter of learning to listen, and of testing your recordings. Everybody's recording environment is different, so there is no advice that is true for everyone. Furthermore, every thing you do will have an upside and a downside, and which solution works for you will depend on what you can tolerate.

I dislike what post-processing does to sound, so my goal is to minimize the need for it. However, I find that I can tolerate "white noise" background which is made up of multiple frequencies -- because it is psychologically less noticeable -- than I can any form of hum (such as an electrical buzz, or many computer fans). Other people, though, don't care what kind of noise, as long as it's below their overall noise floor. But to me, hum needs to be even lower, and you can't use noise reduction on it because that just makes it more noticeable. (NR works on the silences, but the noise is still there underneath your speech.)

So my solution is going to be different from someone else's solution.

Camille


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

Arshness said:


> Neil Gaiman's voice is incredible. I could fall asleep to him talking about anything. He's just so gentle and melodic.
> If my voice were as great as his, I'd record my own books for sure.
> 
> I actually think it would be possible for me to narrate my book because I'm pretty good at doing voices. I had already considered I might do that eventually, because to me, voices are very important. I can't imagine finding someone who would do my MC's voice the way I do it.


Yes. One of the reasons I started back into audio is because I find that many audio book narrators have grating "voice over" voices, and not good storyteller voices. Authors who do a lot of readings are often the best tellers of their own stories, but as with everything else, people only have so much time and money and energy.

I don't know that you actually have to do "voices" -- not the way impressionists and cartoon voice over artists do it -- so much as you have to be able to delineate character. And with audio, sometimes it's actually more important to just make one character sound different from another than it is for both characters to be "accurate."

Of course, it's best if you can do both -- and that takes practice. I think many authors who read so well simply do a LOT of readings. And many have had some sort of acting experience, or at least performance experience. (Even experience as a teacher, keeping the attention of 30 kids, and controlling them with your voice....)

It also takes a tremendous amount of energy. I lose weight when I'm recording, even though I tend to eat a whole lot more high calorie foods.

Camille


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## 10105 (Feb 16, 2010)

I don't use "noise reduction" to eliminate background noise. You're right. That can also reduce voice frequencies. Record a few seconds of silence with the mic open. Use that sample to remove the matching noise from the full dry recording. The results are quite satisfactory with voice. After that you can add effects to warm the dry sound. Not all audio processing software has the neccesary filter, though. The version of Sonar I use lacks it.

About doing voices: I'm a ventriloquist, so voices are easy. Just have to be careful that my detective doesn't sound like Charlie McCarthy.


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## 555aaa (Jan 28, 2014)

Glad to hear things are coming along, Camille. If your gear is working for you, go for it.

For anyone else stumbling onto this thread, here is a mic comparo I recorded at home, not in a studio, so there is the sort of natural background noise that's common in a semi-quiet room. It has the Sure SM58 vocal mike, the Rode NT-1, the AKG Perception 200, and a GAD u37 USB mic that I mailed to someone to audition. The SM58 is $100, the Perception 200 I got used for $70, the NT-1 kit is $220, and the USB audiobox by Presonus is $100 and it has the phantom power source. The CAD u37 is about $45. I'm sure that there are better USB mics out there.

https://soundcloud.com/mondello-publishing/mike-comparison

I think the gizmo Al's talking about is a transformer that converts from balanced XLR to unbalanced RCA outputs. It also changes the impedance, but it doesn't actually amplify the signal (in terms of power). The three wire XLR plug is a balanced system which is much lower noise than the two wire phono plug or RCA plug design. The reason is that the two wire unbalanced design shares a ground path with the signal path (the signal current return must flow through the ground path). In the three wire design, the signal is symmetric about the ground wire, and since most noise is common mode between the three wires, a differential input stage will eliminate all the common mode noise. That's why that SM58 mic has a three wire plug and the cheapo gaming mic has a little phono plug which is a two wire connection.


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## Kirk Hanley (Dec 16, 2014)

I use the Audio-Technica ATR2100-USB Cardioid Dynamic USB/XLR Microphone for recording audiobooks. It's $59.99 on Amazon right now. I've seen it recommended by real techie types for podcasting as a great low cost option.

Kirk


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

555aaa said:


> Glad to hear things are coming along, Camille. If your gear is working for you, go for it.
> 
> For anyone else stumbling onto this thread, here is a mic comparo I recorded at home, not in a studio, so there is the sort of natural background noise that's common in a semi-quiet room. It has the Sure SM58 vocal mike, the Rode NT-1, the AKG Perception 200, and a GAD u37 USB mic that I mailed to someone to audition. The SM58 is $100, the Perception 200 I got used for $70, the NT-1 kit is $220, and the USB audiobox by Presonus is $100 and it has the phantom power source. The CAD u37 is about $45. I'm sure that there are better USB mics out there.
> 
> https://soundcloud.com/mondello-publishing/mike-comparison


Unfortunately, I've got a lot of noise going on in my house right now, so I couldn't compare the background noise. But it does sound like you get a little more mouth noise on the last three. (Although when I went back and listened the second time, there was some mouth noise on the Shure as well.) This could be, though, because your mouth got drier as you recorded.

I think the one thing that Al is talking about - and he's right - is that I'm looking to lower the noise floor, not just the cats yelling or the furnace coming on. (Because you can pause and redo a line when that happens.) And part of that steady noise floor comes from within the system.

Although I do also have to contend with cats, and furnaces, and the midnight train to Georgia. (Which is why I'm working on the closet studio. It's a bit small, so the amount of dampening I can do is limited. But it is an interior closet, and it has irregular surfaces -- several different ceiling angles, and an l-shaped floor space--which is nice for helping deal with all sorts of issues.)



> I think the gizmo Al's talking about is a transformer that converts from balanced XLR to unbalanced RCA outputs. It also changes the impedance, but it doesn't actually amplify the signal (in terms of power). The three wire XLR plug is a balanced system which is much lower noise than the two wire phono plug or RCA plug design. The reason is that the two wire unbalanced design shares a ground path with the signal path (the signal current return must flow through the ground path). In the three wire design, the signal is symmetric about the ground wire, and since most noise is common mode between the three wires, a differential input stage will eliminate all the common mode noise. That's why that SM58 mic has a three wire plug and the cheapo gaming mic has a little phono plug which is a two wire connection.


Yes, that's the one that you need to use a Shure SM58 on a Sony PCM-M10 -- although there are quite a few people who apparently don't.

And another part of the issue is when you go from mono to stereo. A good cable can minimize the grounding issues. (I don't have which wire goes where memorized, but a lot of noise can be introduced into the system by the way some cheap cable companies wire the ground. I've heard good things about Hosa brand from people who like to pull cables apart and see how they're put together, and they are reasonably priced, so I'm starting there.)

Another thing is pretty simple: a trained voice. While I have a good set of lungs (I played bassoon when I was a child) I think I could improve my own stage voice -- which would then be louder in comparison to the noise floor.

Camille


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## 10105 (Feb 16, 2010)

Voice: If you don't already know about it, learn to use what is called "diaphragmatic breathing." (A misnomer implying that there's another kind; you can't breathe at all without using your diaphragm.) The idea is to breath in by lowering your diaphragm  rather than expanding your chest. Your belly swells when you do it right. That puts a larger foundation of air under your voice. Even your quieter passages have a stronger projection. They teach it to singers, ventriloquists, and wind instrument players, and I learned it because I do all that. It really makes a difference. It also gives you longer passages before you have to take the next breath. My problem is I forget to do it. No discipline.


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

Al Stevens said:


> Voice: If you don't already know about it, learn to use what is called "diaphragmatic breathing." (A misnomer implying that there's another kind; you can't breathe at all without using your diaphragm.) The idea is to breath in by lowering your diaphragm rather than expanding your chest. Your belly swells when you do it right. That puts a larger foundation of air under your voice. Even your quieter passages have a stronger projection. They teach it to singers, ventriloquists, and wind instrument players, and I learned it because I do all that. It really makes a difference. It also gives you longer passages before you have to take the next breath. My problem is I forget to do it. No discipline.


Yep. Actually before I played bassoon, I played flute, and my flute instructor used to wrap a rope around my waist, and hold on to the ends. I had to pull her hands together by expanding my belly with my breath. When I was in seventh grade, although I was a tiny little kid and a non-athlete, I had the largest lung capacity in my class. (And this may be why I was recruited to play bassoon by the band instructor.)

But, just as with any other fitness matter, just knowing how to do it right doesn't help if you let yourself get out of shape.

The other matter is something I had no training in (because you don't use your vocal chords when playing the bassoon) is learning to handle them well, without straining them. If you listened Pete Seeger in the years before he died, you see the results of over-stretching your vocal chords. (Of course, singing is generally harder on your voice than talking.)

Camille


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