Narrated by the Author: Five questions to ask yourself before you record your own audiobook

Audiobooks are big business.

According to some they are ‘the new reading’. Whether or not they are going to take over from traditional written books remains to be seen. But the trajectory of growth is undeniable, with the Audio Publishers Association recently revealing double digit growth in audiobook sales for the tenth year running. Some estimates expect the audiobook market to be worth $35 billion US by 2030.

Anyone who writes content is smart to get on board this seemingly unstoppable train! It’s natural to think that since you can both read and speak, you are a good fit to narrate your own audio books. However, there are some important questions to ask yourself before you go down this route.

Do you control your IP?

If you are a traditionally published author, you have assigned your intellectual property rights to your work over to your publisher for a set period of time. This may or may not include audio rights. If it does, then you don’t have permission to record your own audiobook. You should talk to your publisher about your options. They may create an audiobook for you.

If audio rights have been excluded from your contract then you might be able to record your own audio book. (As with all contractual and legal matters, don’t act based on the advice of a blog post. Get professional advice.) This was famously the case for J.K. Rowling, whose initial Harry Potter contracts only included printed books. She was able to build her Pottermore publishing business because she still had ebook and audiobook rights to her books. A lot has changed since the days when those books were first published, and with the growth of audio you can bet publishers are working to secure audio rights for books they publish, so you should check your contract.

If you are an indie author who retains their intellectual property rights, you can do what you wish with them, including record your own audiobooks. If that’s the case, then the next question is for you.

Is your book the best it can be?

If you are traditionally published, the answer to this question is hopefully yes! You should have worked with a variety of editors, proofreaders and others to make sure the final product was the best it could be. However, if you are indie publishing, you may not have gone through all those steps. Particularly if the book you are thinking of narrating is an older one, from the beginning of your writing journey, it may benefit from another, more rigorous round of editing to make sure your prose shines. Any work you can do to eliminate passive sentences, remove rogue dialogue tags or strike out unnecessary words will improve the script of the audio book and make it better to listen to. You can see my copywriting tips for audiobooks here.

Are you the best person to record your own audiobook?

If you write fiction, the answer to this is likely to be ‘no’. Reading fiction aloud is a specialist skill. It’s hard work to keep people listening. Actors train hard for this kind of work and constantly practise and refine their skills. However, it is something you can learn if you have time to invest in practising. If you are committed to recording your own fiction audiobook then it would be wise to invest in voice coaching or speech and drama lessons to help accrue the voice and acting skills required to give a great performance.

However, if you write non-fiction or memoir, then the answer may very well be ‘yes’. If you are telling a personal tale or if your voice is distinctive, then you may be able to read your own words more effectively than anyone else! You may still require some training to help you sound professional.

Do you have the right microphone?

A professional microphone makes all the difference to your sound. A good microphone doesn’t negate the need for proper vocal preparation, but it will amplify all your good work and help you sound better. A bad microphone won’t do you any favours and will likely enhance the qualities in your voice you are already insecure about.

Luckily with the rise of audio, good microphones aren’t as expensive as they once were. I have a Rode Podcaster microphone that is perfect for spoken word recording. Rode is an established, respected brand and, though this microphone is the bottom of the line, it has done everything from audio books to voice narration for corporate videos simply by plugging it into my computer.

Where are you going to record?

Recording high quality audio isn’t as simple as just having a great microphone. You also need to create a good recording environment. If you hire a studio (a great way to get the microphone and recording environment all in one!) you will have that covered, but if you are recording at home, you’ll need to create an environment that dampens the sounds. This means lots of soft furnishings and few hard services. A walk in wardrobe is ideal.

It’s also important to make sure you are recording in a space free from background noise (traffic, children). Your good quality microphone will pick those up. 

Over to you!

Authors, have you considered recording your own audio book? What stops you? Readers, what do you love about books read by the author? What are your pet peeves? We’d love to know!