How to Record Audiobooks for Money?

You may just write a book and hope the readers only read but also listen to it, or you just hope to find some audio recording jobs and earn money from it. This guide is the all-in-one solution for you to record audiobooks for money, and it’s also helpful if you hope to record other audio works. There are a lot of people having the habit to listen to audiobooks or podcasts while they are driving. So if you just wrote a nice book and hope to get more readers, it’s a nice idea to record an audiobook. You can record it all by yourself, or you can pay someone else to record it for you on Fiverr.com. No matter you are a writer who hopes to record audiobooks for more audiences or you are a freelancer on Fiverr and hope to record audiobooks for money, this guide will help you from scratch.

How to Record Audiobooks for Money?

To record audiobooks for money, you need all the following. 1. Things to prepare for recording an audiobook 2. Quick start to record audiobook 3. Edit and export the audiobooks 4. Upload the audiobooks for money FAQ about recording an audiobook – Tips to record outstanding audiobooks – Where you can find narration jobs? – The salary of an audio book narrator – How to listen to yourself while recording?

1. Things to prepare for recording an audiobook

1. A room where you can place your computer and microphone.
2. Equipment required:

• – A computer installed with recording software and audio editing software. The computer can be either a Mac or a PC, And the recording software is RecMaster. It has both Windows and Mac versions.

• – A microphone: for example, AKG C3000 which is a studio microphone for about $200. For indie authors that you don’t do this all the time, you can have a lot of other options. It’s highly recommended to choose the ones with nice noise reduction features.
• – A pop filter that helps to filter the unwanted sound of /p/ and /b/.
• – A headphone. You probably hope to get to monitor yourself at the point you are recording and listen back. They could be any headphones you could have. But please note that if you hope to hear yourself while recording, please set the system sound off in RecMaster while recording.
• – The most important thing is the space. It should be relatively quiet, and not too big so that there won’t be any noises and echoes. If your room is quite large and producing echos, you can use some foams to reduce them.

2. Quick start to record audiobook

2.1. Download and install RecMaster, the audiobook recorder.

2.2. Go to Other Modes>> Audio Only. 2.3. Choose the right device to record. Note: If you only hope to record your voice, it’s highly recommended to turn off System Sound in RecMaster, or there might be echoes or noises in the recording. 2.4. Set the audio parameters in Settings. (Optional) Note: If you hope your voice to be clearer with less noises, you can check the Enable Microphone Noise Reduction option. 2.5. Press on the REC button to record. And after the recording, you can find the recorded files in the recording list. Note: Currently you can’t edit audios in RecMaster, but you can edit it in the freeware, Audacity.

3. Edit and export the audiobooks

1. Download and install Audacity.
2. Import the recorded audiobook file.
3. Listen to the audiobook, drag to choose the parts you hope to delete.
4. Press the scissors button to cut off the unwanted parts.
5. You can also drag to import background music and set the volume.
6. After the settings, you can press on File>>Export, and export as MP3.

4. Upload the audiobooks for money

There are a bunch of websites where you can upload your audiobooks and earn money, while the most popular one is acx.com. You can record your own introduction, and record the book in chapters. About a week after you upload your narration work for reviewing, ACX will package your files (chapters) and distribute your audiobooks through Amazon, Apple iBooks, and Audible. And when listeners choose to listen to your audiobook, you will get paid.

ACX is a marketplace where authors, literary agents, publishers, and other Rights Holders can connect with narrators, engineers, recording studios, and other Producers capable of producing a finished audiobook. The result: More audiobooks will be made. ACX is owned and operated by Audible Inc., an Amazon company. All titles produced through ACX are made available for sale on Audible.com, Amazon.com and iTunes. On ACX, the customer signs in as either a producer of an audiobook or as someone who owns the rights to create an audiobook.

Other than ACX, you can also record a sample audiobook and create an account on Fiverr.com. And then you can get hired to record audiobooks or narrations.

FAQ about recording an audiobook

Tips to record outstanding audiobooks

1. Keep the mic about 6 to 8 inches from your face. You can play around with this accordingly. If you need to whisper, you can come a little bit closer. If you need to yell, you can come back or turn your head to the side and yell.
2. Make sure you speak clearly and make as few mistakes as possible, or you will have to spend a lot of time editing it.
3. Makes sure your speed is not too fast and not too slow and don’t smack the lips or swallow too loud. If you need to do that, you can pause the recording and resume it after that.
4.  Read your book out loud at least once before
5. Find a voice coach and let him correct your speed, pronunciation, bad habits, breath.
6. On the day of recording, eat the right foods. Do avoid any food or drinks that will give you phlegm or anything fizzy that causes burping.

Where you can find narration jobs?

There are several websites where you can signup and earn money from audiobook narration. The best and most popular ones are listed as follows.

• www.acx.com
• www.fiverr.com
• www.upwork.com
• www.voices.com

The salary of an audio book narrator

According to the investigation of sapling.com. For beginners, you will likely be hired by hours. The salary ranges from zero to $50 per hour for small publishers, $100 to 350 for medium-sized and large-sized publishers. For standard rates on voice.com, the salary is about $125 per hour for recording time and $500 per finished hour, or $125 and 1 to 5 cents per word.

If you are a new narrator and a member of AFTRA (American Federation of Television and Radio Artists), the union for audiobook narrators, you will be paid $139.25 per hour. Thus, for a finished audio book of eight hours, you would earn $1,114. Veteran or experienced narrators can expect to earn $168.25 per hour or $1,346 for a finished audio book of eight hours. Conversely, non-union narrators with experience may earn between $90 and $250 per finished hour. However, it is more typical for the ceiling to be $150 per hour for a non-union narrator.

Averagely, you can earn an average of $43,000 and $39,000 respectively in cities like New York and LA (the two most prominent cities for audio book work), and $35,000 and $37,000 respectively in smaller cities like Hartford, Connecticut, and Phoenix, Arizona.

How to listen to yourself while recording?

1. Right-click on the speaker icon on the bottom-right of your taskbar, and choose Sounds.
2. Go to the Recording tab, double-click on the default microphone, go to Listen tab, and tick Listen to this device.
3. And then you can listen to yourself while you are speaking. But please not to turn off the System Sound in RecMaster while you are recording.