A friend of mine has not finished a printed book in three years. She would tell you that she does not have the time.. She reads two or three books a month all of them in her earbuds while she drives to work walks the dog or folds laundry on a Sunday night.
She is not the one. A large number of people now 'read' mostly by listening. Many of them rarely buy print at all. If a book only exists on paper or as an e‑book those people will probably never find it. That is the gap that professional audiobook services are designed to close.
Listeners are a crowd
It is tempting to think audiobook fans are just regular readers trying a new format. Some are. Many are not.
There are commuters who spend an hour a day in the car. There are parents who have not had an evening with a book in years. There are people with dyslexia or low vision who find print tiring. There are people who simply take in stories better when they hear them. For all of these listeners audio is not a bonus edition. Audio is the way they will experience a book.
So when an author skips audio the author is missing than a few extra sales. The author is leaving out a group of potential fans who were never going to buy the paperback anyway.
Why 'just record it yourself' usually doesn't work
Many authors have the first thought: grab a decent microphone close the closet door and read the book aloud. A few authors pull it off. Most authors discover quickly that it is much harder than it looks.
A finished audiobook needs sound from chapter one to chapter forty. It needs edits with no mouth clicks page turns or traffic noise. It also has to meet the rules set by the big retailers, which cover things such as loudness levels, file format and how much silence sits at the start and end of each track. Files that miss those rules get. Fixing them can take weeks.
Then there is the performance itself. Reading for ten hours while keeping energy up voicing characters and not stumbling over own sentences is a real skill. Most professional narrators have spent years getting good at it.
What good audiobook services actually handle
When an author hires audiobook services the job covers a lot more than just pressing record. A typical project includes:
• Preparing the script, including a list of names and words so they are pronounced the same way every time
• Casting a narrator whose voice fits the genre, the characters and the audience
• Recording in a studio with professional equipment
• Editing out mistakes, breaths and background noise
• Mastering the audio so it meets platform standards
• Listening through the book for missed lines or mispronunciations
• Preparing the files cover art and details needed for distribution
Each step matters. Listeners spend hours with a title so they notice every flaw. Reading audiobook reviews for a minutes the author will see how often people comment on the narrator and sound quality sometimes more than on the story.
The narrator can. Break it
If there is one decision worth slowing down for it is the narrator. That voice becomes the book, for anyone who listens.
Fiction needs someone who can carry emotion and handle dialogue without it sounding forced. A thriller needs tension. A cozy mystery needs warmth. Nonfiction needs a voice that sounds credible and stays easy to follow through stretches of information.
Experienced audiobook services usually send the author auditions so the author can hear how different narrators handle the opening pages. Some books work better with two narrators, for example when the story switches between two characters’ points of view. Memoir authors sometimes narrate their stories and a good producer can coach them through it so the result sounds natural instead of nervous.
How audio widens your reach
This is where the real payoff comes in. An audiobook opens doors that print cannot.
New storefronts. I notice that audio platforms have their charts, categories and recommendation systems. A title that is hidden in a print category can be seen in audio, where there is usually less competition.
Readers around the world. I know that audio files do not need shipping or printing. Once your book is distributed a person in Australia can buy your book easily as a person down the street.
Subscriptions. I see that library lending apps and subscription services put your book in front of people who might never pay price. Many of those listeners become fans and look for your other books.
Better accessibility. I appreciate that audio makes your book available to people who struggle with printed text. That is good for your audience and for your readers.
A path to your books. I think that a person who enjoys your audiobook may buy your paperback as a gift or pick up your titles. For series writers this can be huge because listeners who like book one tend to move to book two.
More to talk about when you market
An audiobook also gives you something to promote. I find that a short clip of a scene works well on social media. You can share samples in your newsletter on your website or when you appear on a podcast. The audio release is also a reason to get back in touch with readers and reviewers even if the print edition was released months ago.
It can breathe life into older books too. I believe that a title from a years ago can find a second wave of readers when it comes out in audio.
Finding the partner
Doing all of this alone means hiring a narrator, booking studio time managing an editor learning the specs and handling distribution. That is a lot of time from writing your next book.
This is where a team offering audiobook services like M&P House comes in. They handle production from start to finish so you can stay focused on what you do
Final thoughts
Your readers are changing how they spend their time and a big share of them listen more than they read. Meeting them there does not mean giving up on print. It just means giving your book one way into people’s lives. With the right audiobook services, behind you the audio edition can sound as good as the writing deserves and reach people your printed copies never would.
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