How to record an audiobook

Why recording audiobooks is a good idea

First, audiobooks are very popular. Modern man tries to save his time and especially appreciates mobility. Listening to books can be combined with household chores, sports, driving. Perhaps that is why in Sweden audiobooks have long caught up with the Book market: the challenges of the new decade in sales are with paper ones, and in Russia they account for them. Books have grown to about 2.5% of the total book market.

Secondly, the recording of a work you like is an opportunity to feel yourself as its co-author. So you can get closer to your favorite writer and give his work your voice.

And thirdly, the audiobooks you recorded can become a real source of income. This is especially true for those who have a certain amount of free time: students, freelancers, those who are on maternity leave or retirement. For example, if you are studying at the Faculty of Philology, you can combine home reading with the creation of an audiobook.

How to prepare to record your first audiobook

1. Train your diction and correct breathing

Evaluate your speech before recording: turn on the recorder and read an excerpt from the book as if you have already started voice acting. You may find a number of flaws: swallowed endings, lisp, stammering, mispronounced stresses. If you do not have serious problems with diction, then simple techniques will help to cope with all this: tongue twisters (choose those where you have to repeat sounds that are problematic for you), articulation exercises, small chants. It is important to devote 10 minutes to these exercises as a warm-up before each start of recording an audiobook.

Pay attention also to the correct distribution of breathing: it directly affects the volume of the voice and the pronunciation of sound. It is very important that they are the same throughout the entire recording. The problem with this is especially noticeable when dubbing long sentences: due to lack of air, the reader lowers intonation towards the end of the phrase. And here, too, simple exercises will help, especially those used when practicing vocals. Try, for example, this complex from teachers from the British National Theater.

2. Conduct preliminary work with the text

Familiarize yourself with the piece you will be recording in advance, at least briefly. This will help you avoid wasting time on frequent splices if you stumble.

Often, novice readers abuse acting, believing that this gives expressiveness to their voice acting. If you are not a professional actor, it is best to stick to a calm and even reading at a medium pace. This is a skill that develops over time, but if you can't figure out the right speed yet, just listen to audiobooks from the top sellers.

3. Estimate your strength

Be prepared for a slow process. For example, professional readers spend 10 days to write a book of 15 author's sheets (about 600,000 characters, or 15 hours in writing), of which one or two days are spent on processing. Increase the volume and complexity of the works gradually, otherwise you can "burn out" on the first book.

How to prepare a recording room

The main requirement is silence. It is best to choose a time for work when neighbors and your family will not disturb you with extraneous noise. Before you start dubbing, it is worth recording the silence for a minute, so that you can then carefully listen to what sounds your microphone picks up. If you have a ticking clock, a buzzing computer fan, a loud refrigerator, or other sources of constant noise, you will hear them on the audio track.

To achieve high quality sound, the recording room should ideally be equipped with acoustic panels that regulate the natural reverberation of the room. Perhaps you have heavy blackout curtains and carpet on the wall or floor: for recording, that's just a plus.

What technical base do you need

Experienced readers can convert entire rooms into home studios, but it's much easier initially. The minimum requirements for recording are a computer and an inexpensive USB microphone with headphones.

A computer

There are no special requirements for readers' stationary PCs or laptops, because recording an audiobook does not require serious computing power, but the better the built-in sound card, the better.

The computer should "pull" programs for processing audio recordings and not be too noisy. After all, just the sound of a working cooler is enough - and the recording will be ruined. However, there are many professional applications that will allow you not only to remove noise from the recording, but also to add sound effects and music. It is very much appreciated in quality audiobooks. But at first, free programs will suit you, for example, the classic Wavosaur or Audacity, which require very little hard disk space and are compatible with processors with a clock speed of 800 MHz or more.

Microphone

Until you are sure that you want to record on an ongoing basis, do not rush to spend money on a professional microphone for several tens of thousands of rubles and accessories like cool stands. But it is important to understand that a microphone with sound quality acceptable for recording a book will cost from 4,000 rubles. It makes no sense to take equipment for less money, it will be comparable to using a speaker in a smartphone.

A simple USB microphone is the best place to start: it connects directly to your computer and does not require the additional expense of a sound card. Take a closer look at these models: Ritmix RDM ‑ 175, Recording Tools MCU ‑ 01C. And if the budget allows, I can recommend Recording Tools MCU ‑ 02 or Audio ‑ Technica AT2020. You also need to be ready to buy a pop-filter: this device protects against explosive unpleasant consonants on the recording, suppresses the loud sounds "p" and "b", which are in the speech of every reader, even with good diction and correct pronunciation.

Some readers even manage to record their audiobooks on a smartphone, and then process and "clean" the recording on a computer.

Headphones

Only closed-type headphones are suitable for you: with them, the sound will not penetrate into the microphone. With these models, you will be able to hear yourself on the recording and mark all the noises. The assortment of the headphone market is very wide, you can choose an option for any budget. Many of our readers work with the Sennheiser HD 280 Pro. For a simpler option, check out the Superlux HD ‑ 662.

Recorder

It is a versatile portable voice recorder that has a built-in high-level microphone. It will be needed for those who want to record audiobooks by their craft and would like to improve its quality without serious expenses. A good option is the Zoom H1n. With it, you will have the opportunity to record a book anywhere, not only in your room. True, you have to spend money on accessories like a rack.

What can be voiced

If you want your audiobooks to find their listener, first decide the issue of copyright for a literary work. Even if you write a book “for friends” and post it for free, say, on your page in social networks, it will be considered piracy. If you are an amateur reader, that is, you do not speak for someone else's order, you have two solutions:

Select books that have fallen into the public domain or Public Domain. These are works for which, as of January 1 of this year, the copyright protection period has already expired. This means that they are now distributed completely free of charge and are no longer protected by copyright. In Russia, this is any book, from the day of the death of the author of which the Civil Code of the Russian Federation has passed, article 1281. The term of the exclusive right to the work is more than 70 years. Lists of such works can be found on the Internet.
Negotiate with the authors personally. This is an option for those who want to sell audiobooks through their own website for the purpose of making money. You will have to work hard: you will need to independently go out to the writers, acquiring the rights to voice acting from them and carefully taking into account all the legal nuances with copyright.

Where and how to find orders for recording audiobooks

If you want to monetize your hobby, look for a job as a reader. There are at least three options.

Project "Liters: Reader"

The mechanics here are simple: if you successfully pass the test task (record three short passages on your equipment, send them to the administrators and get approval), then you are invited to the project. You will be given access to a catalog of books, where there are popular novelties and bestsellers. The service receives permission to voice acting directly from the authors and copyright holders, so no one will violate anyone's interests.

When your recorded audiobook goes on sale, you will receive a royalty of 10% or more on each book you sell. There are reader ratings based on the cumulative popularity of a reader's books and their performance - these have an impact on royalties.

Platforms for professionals

This is, for example, the KnigaStudio forum or the community of professionals on the VKontakte social network. There you can find discussion threads, where not only share experiences, but also offer voice-over jobs for audiobooks or podcasts at fixed hourly rates.

There are also special platforms where you can meet authors who are looking for a reader to voice their work. The largest ones are “Audiobooks Club” and the BOOKlis application. There it is quite possible to make money by dubbing books.

Often advertisements for the search for readers appear on freelance exchanges.

Audio publishing and recording companies

Perhaps they need readers for the staff. There are a lot of popular and large studios in Russia, for example Vimbo, KupiGolos and others. In such studios, it is possible to earn not only by audiobooks, but also by recording audio advertisements for radio and shopping centers.

What mistakes should be avoided

One of the main problems for aspiring readers is high expectations. Scoring a book with your own voice is an art that you need to love. Many people start doing this not for fun and after recording the first audiobook they hope that they will immediately receive feedback and good monetization.

The more you write, the higher your professional level and the higher your income.

Another obstacle to success can be inattention to the quality of the audiobook recording. Before buying, the listener will usually rate the reader on a free trial sample. Your voice and intonation should be interesting from the first second. This means that the listener should not be distracted by extraneous sounds and other shortcomings of the recording.

Making audiobooks seems technically and physically challenging, but it's important to just make up your mind, and mastery always comes with experience. If it's scary to start right away with large and serious works, you can start scoring stories or light non-fiction. Good luck in your endeavors!