Resources for Creating an Audiobook
I'm really just putting these here so I can find them again! Ha!
Happy New Year! 🥳
As a former teacher, the beginning of the new school year has always felt like the real start of the calendar. Anyone else relate? Even though I no longer teach in a classroom - I took early retirement in 2018 to pursue my creative to-do list - this year is no exception. There is so much going on around here, not the least of which is that my wife and I are on baby watch. My daughter-in-law and son are scheduled to bring a new human into the world on September 9th, and we can’t wait to meet him. While we wait, we’ve been tackling various home renovations in anticipation of a likely move next spring, and I have been trying to make sure this new season starts with a clean slate. Yes, friends, in the minor miracle department, I successfully hit inbox zero in ALL of my e-mail accounts last week. I am also working behind the scenes to finish three different comic projects (more on those in the future) and attempting to build out some fun new features for this blog and community.
My current project is to turn all of the read-a-loud episodes of the site podcast into a single audiobook. The goal is to be able to repurpose the Tech4Comics podcast as a topical discussion podcast, but before I can erase the audio from “Comic NFTs - An Ethical Approach,” I want to make sure there is an alternate way to listen to that content.
So, to be honest, this blog post is related less to comics and more to me having the memory of a goldfish. Having these resources listed in one place will be useful to me in the future. Hopefully, someone else on the subscriber list will find this curated list of links useful as well.
Tools I used
Hardware
An older Yeti Microphone
An older Macbook, then a 2023 Mac Mini
post the coffee spill apocalypse of 2024
Software
Descript - This feature-rich content editing/prep tool was super helpful. Automatic filler word removal and the “studio sound” feature made recording the Tech4Comics podcast SO much easier. Highly recommended, even if it can be a tad buggy at times.
Audacity - This free, open-source audio editing tool is the go-to software for virtually all of the YouTube videos about ACX and Audible. I also added two important plug-ins:
ACX Check - “This analyzer was developed as an aid for audiobook producers. It displays a number of useful statistics about the selected audio, and compares them to the specifications published by ACX (an Amazon.com subsidiary).” Frankly, the reason to use Audacity for creating audiobooks for Audible.
FFmpeg - “FFmpeg allows you import/export additional audio file formats into/from Audacity.” This makes importing audio, and in my case, the audio associated with a video, into Audacity.
Canva - This might seem like an odd choice for an audio-only project, but I used Canva to help create my eBook cover, and it also is the source of the royalty-free “Room Tone #8” I used to increase the floor of the audio of some of the recordings. Audible’s thesis is that dead silence does not work for audiobooks, and my original recordings included word and phrase gaps that were that quiet thanks to “Studio Sound” and my mic.
Useful Resources
What are the ACX Audio Submission Requirements? - Includes the audio specs you must achieve to have your audiobook approved.
AudibleACX Video Tutorials - “Learn audiobook production techniques from the masters at Audible Studios”
This video needs a minor refresh to match the current Audacity dialogue boxes, but it covers most of what you need to get started.
This video goes over how to install this tool for Audacity. It is PC specific, but it gave context important to me as a Mac user.
This file will give you ideas about how to fix a “low noise floor.” Ultimately, I chose a different approach (I mixed in quiet room noise), but I wouldn’t have thought of this approach without viewing this video first.
This video provides information that helped me understand RMS levels. A suitable RMS (root mean squared?) level is one of the criteria ACX uses to ensure that your audiobook is an acceptable and predictable volume.
This video goes over the Audible/ACX audio submission process.
This video shows how to add your audiobook to Findaway Voices by Spotify, which is important if you want your book to be available outside of Audible. I discovered Findaway Voices because of their partnership with Kickstarter. See “Making Audiobook Rewards Easier with Findaway Voices by Spotify.” The unexpected bonus of using this platform was the ability to automatically submit my book to Hoopla! It was very cool seeing “Comic NFTs - An Ethical Approach” available to borrow from my library!
Last but not least, I used Subly to take my Audible audio and create subtitled videos for a free-to-access YouTube playlist of the book. I probably could have used Descript for this purpose, but I wanted to experiment with Subly’s close captioning features. I used the following style for the text on the video.
Fit & Crop
Size 80
offset 762 x 70
Effect .4
Ubuntu 64
Three lines
I used Canva to create background images for each section.
I’ll be sure to add other useful tools and resources to this page as I find them. Now it is just a matter of getting the work done. I’ll be sure to let everyone know when the audiobook is available.
Best wishes to everyone starting new adventures this week! And Happy New Year! 🥳
I've really enjoyed working with Descript. It helped speed up my audio editing by tenfold. Really great recommendation.
This is helpful info for podcasts, too. Thanks for sharing!