Audiobook Inspiration to Master Your Microphone – Episode 76

[MUSIC IN – GHOSTHOOD FEATURING SARA AZRIEL “LET’S GO” BEGINS]

MARY: If you have a podcast and you’re an author, too, or you plan to write your own book eventually, you definitely should have an audiobook on your list of things to do, because audiobooks are the next big thing in the audio industry. Much like podcasting, they have a lot of similarities, and your voice is your thumbprint. That is what will make you stand out from the crowd. Whether it is for podcasting or for your audiobook, your voice is the one that is going to lead your listeners to connect with you.

So, what does having an audiobook do with podcasting? Today, we’re going to dive into how listening to audiobooks can make us better podcasters. And then also on the flip side, if you’re a podcaster, what you can do to make a great audiobook for yourself. Learning from other audio platforms will help make you think twice about what you like and what you don’t like about being behind the mic so you can evaluate how you are presenting yourself. So, let’s dive into today’s episode, episode number 76 on The Podcaster’s Guide to a Visible Voice.

<< WOMAN SINGS: So so so so let’s go >>

Oh, in the past few years, I’ve really dived into audiobooks.

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I think, actually, I know presently, I am actually listening to more audiobooks than I am to podcasts. Oh, and as a podcaster, I kind of am ashamed to admit that. I mean, there are different factors involved. You know, listening habits are changing for podcasters because post pandemic world, people are commuting more, so they have more choice. They are listening to more podcasts. Personally, I got myself a trike in the last year, an adult tricycle. So I don’t walk to all my appointments and stuff as much as I used to. And so, listening to podcasts have gone down for me just because of that one factor alone. 

So when I am home, I’m working on podcasts, and in my downtime, in my home, I don’t want to be listening to more podcasts or interview style podcasts. I wanted more entertainment than education, and so I leaned towards more of the narrative storytelling podcasts, which were great. But then I also felt like I was missing out on books. As you may already know, I had a concussion, an accident, seven years now, I’m doing that math in my head, seven more than seven years ago. 

And so that concussion led me to not be able to read very well. My eyes didn’t track very well. I’ve worked on that. I’ve gone to vision therapy. I can actually now be in front of a screen for quite a bit of time. But reading a book actually has been something that I couldn’t do. Still, it made me fall asleep. Essentially, my eyes just fatigued quickly, and I fell asleep because the page being so much closer to my eyes, I had to dart my eyes back and forth more than I would with a screen, so I fatigued out. Then I realized the only way that I could combat that was actually ride on my stationary bicycle at home to give myself energy and oxygen to my brain while reading. So that was one way for me to read books, but it wasn’t very convenient. I love the accessibility of audio. So podcasting was near and dear to me, of course. And whenever I went out for a walk, I took my podcast with me, but I can’t walk and read a book. And then it dawned on me, wait a minute. There’s a world of audiobooks. I need to get into that. 

And as luck would have it, my library offered the Libby app, which is where I get all my audiobooks from now. And I feel like I’m more connected, especially to the authors, and even more especially when they read the books themselves, when they narrate the books themselves. We’ll get into a bit of narration and, like, voice coaching stuff in a little bit, but let’s just figure out, okay, audiobooks and podcasts, how do they help each other? Or how do audiobooks help you as a podcaster? 

[MUSIC IN]

Like I said in the beginning, audiobooks are going to be a huge thing in the audio industry. Spotify is betting big into this industry, just like what they did with podcasting. They were buying up so many podcasts, and now they’re realizing how much investment they’ve made, and they’re pulling back on some of that. But because they’re pulling back on some of that, they are actually spending in audiobooks. They want to grow audiobook consumption this year for 2024. So when the big players are betting into an industry, the smaller players are always taking a look at how they can incorporate that into their own work. 

So, podcasting is one of those players that are looking to see what audiobooks are doing in the industry. Now, last year in 2023, Edison research did a consumer study with the Audio Publishers Association, and they found that audiobook listening, and again, this was last year’s report with adults in the US. Listening was up, uh, 45% from the previous year in 2022. Now, they have a new 2024 report coming out in the next month or so in May. And so I’m actually expecting that to grow even more. So, just like in podcasting in the past few years, listenership is always going up, and it looks like audiobooks are doing the exact same thing. So there’s a lot of parallels here to draw from the podcasting industry and now into the audiobook industry. 

And because a lot of these surveys and studies go into audiobook listening, very similar to when they were doing podcast research, it was about podcast listening. So then people start thinking, okay, where do I listen to podcasts? How do I listen to podcasts? Same thing with audiobooks. How do I listen to an audiobook? A lot of people go straight to Audible, which is owned by Amazon. It’s in that whole universe, audible. Amazon is a place where you can purchase audiobooks and listen to them. Libro.FM is another place where they actually support independent bookstores. So if you’re into that, make sure you check out Libro.FM versus the big audible player in the universe. My personal favorite, of course, I mentioned earlier the Libby app, which is for my local library. And so I do get to listen to a lot of audiobooks that way, although the most popular titles, of course, have a big waiting list. So if you’re more into instant satisfaction, then maybe Libro or Audible would be your better choice. And because podcasting and audiobooks are so tied together, and I love audiobooks now, I am really diving deeper into the world of audiobooks this year and just figuring out what are more of the parallels and how do podcasts support audiobooks, or vice versa? Like, how do audiobooks support podcasts? And, you know, little known fact here, organized sound productions, my company, we actually do edit audiobooks. We’ve been editing them for quite a few years now. But, podcasting has always been our main thing in audiobooks. It’s kind of like secondary, only if, like, some of our podcasting clients were also wanting to produce an audiobook that, you know, we’d help support them and stuff. So, little fun fact, we do also edit and support for audiobooks. But the more I listen to audiobooks now, the more I realize how I can support more podcasters and audiobook narrators when they are behind the mic. 

[MUSIC OUT]

Now, as a regular podcast listener or an audiobook listener, most of the time you’re just listening for the entertainment, or the education, or to be connected with something, right? And you’re not really listening for content, how someone is presenting themselves, like all the critique stuff. But that’s what my ears have always been doing. Being trained in radio, I was always directing voices, and that is what I’m always listening for. And so when I’m listening to audiobooks now, I love it when a narrator is so connected to what they’re saying. That connection piece is so key for me, because if something isn’t read with connection, you lose the listener right away. Like, even this morning, I downloaded a book that I had on hold on my Libby app, and I wanted to learn new things. The subject really intrigued me, and so that’s why I put it on hold, but only after listening to 17% of the book, because that’s what the Libby app shows you like, consumption wise, percentage, how much you’ve listened to the book. So 17% of the book. I returned it early. I was done. I didn’t even bother listening to the rest of it, even though the content was something I was interested in. And thinking back to it now, I even think it was 10%, maybe less than 10%. I wanted to give up on the book. And so it got me thinking, like, why? Why did I want to give up on this book so quickly? 

Even though I liked the title, I liked the book cover, I liked the content, and I was interested in this. It was the voice. The voice was a little monotonous. My mind kept slipping away, and the stories that was presented to me just didn’t have that emotional connection to it. There was no connection for me. And so I returned the book early, and that’s where the two things really tie in together, podcasting and audiobooks. When you’re using your voice very much like in podcasting, you need to be real. If you’re reading a line, for example, that a male voice might say, would you, you know, pitch it down and kind of emulate, like, the dude in the room? Or if you’re reading a line with a female voice, like, somebody you’re telling a story about what somebody else had said, would you pitch it up and say, like, oh, yeah, and then they sounded like this, and da da da da da, or if you’re talking about a child or a baby or a dog or something like that, would you sound like a squirrel and be like, oh, really cartoonish because you’re representing or trying to represent what the other person may or may not sound like, and that person doesn’t sound like you, so you’re changing your voice to fit that need. 

But it was in some audiobooks as well, where the narrator is presenting these characters. And I was like, but why does a male voice have to be pitched down? Or why does reading a female line have to be, like, all pitched up like that? There is a fine line between playing a character and playing up stereotypes of a character. And so when you are narrating an audiobook or you are telling a story on your show, you are the only narrator. How are you representing the stereotypes in the voice that you choose to use when you’re narrating, when you’re voicing, when you’re speaking behind the mic? 

So when my podcast and clients who also have audiobooks need to present in a way that is still themselves, they want to lift their words off the page. They want to be as authentic, not monotonous. They don’t want to put people to sleep, but at the same time, they’re still reading their book out loud, right? Like they’re saying, okay, I’m just going to read my book now. I’ll be quick. Like, I wrote this. I know the words. I can do it. But it’s not as easy as just reading words off a page. So after thinking about some of the audiobooks that I’ve listened to in the past and having my own history of directing voices behind radio and podcasting, I thought I’d just give you some quick tips if you’re planning to record your own audiobook. But it is also some great tips when you are behind the mic, interviewing, recording your intro, outros, however you record your show. 

[MUSIC IN]

So tip number one, know your tone. Not just the overall broad sound of your book or what your show is going to be like, but also with each section or story that comes within your book, you may be sharing a personal story which have a softer, deeper tone. Right? Like you want to get really intimate or emotional or it was a really sad moment in your life. You’re not going to be reading that with, like, enthusiasm and energy, which could be the main theme of your book. You need to know the tone of that story or that passage. It’s going to be very different than if you are reading a section on tips or a, how to, think about the emotional ties your listener will have with your tone. 

[MUSIC ENDS]

Bring your own style. This can be easier because these are your own words. If you’re recording your audiobook, I mean, you wrote it, right? So you’re like, oh, yeah, that’s no problem. These are just my words. I’ll just read it. But again, you’re not just reading your words. It is the way you say it. So how would you normally say it if you were saying it out loud to someone? You aren’t just reading it out loud. You are saying this out loud to someone. Do you laugh a little, do you have like a little giggle or something at the end? Would you say it with like a really sarcastic, cheeky tone? How can you make it more you? So side tip, if you can highlight a document or if you actually have the printed page with you, I want you to highlight, underline, circle these little tidbits. These are the things that you want to highlight when you are reading it out loud because they’re you, they’re parts of your personality. You want to bring your own style to your reading so that people can really connect with you and your audiobook.’

[MUSIC IN]

Don’t feel like you need to keep things word or word with an audiobook. You have leeway to adjust the wording to fit the audio platform. Again, you’re not just reading your book, you’re telling stories through audio. So change the words. That is reflective of their experience. For example, one of the pet peeves of mine is when I’m listening to an audiobook and the narrator still says, when you’re reading this book or as you read along in this book, I’m not reading this book, I’m listening to it. So change the words. Say, for example, when you listen to this audiobook, that can really connect with someone. Other things that you might want to do is describe the charts and the graphs or any pictures that you might have included in your book. Because again, an audiobook is an audio only platform, so the listener is still involved in the whole ecoscape of your book. You want them to be able to visualize those graphs, those charts, and those pictures. So you don’t have to like read word for word like what the graph is. But we can give them a good sense of how this graph looks and then read the words that are within it. 

Another component to the graphs and charts of pictures, you can make a PDF for any of the visual components. It’s like a supplementary resource guide for your listeners and they can visit your website for this. So, some good SEO traction there to get some analytics of who’s visiting your website through your audiobook. Because yes, sometimes an audio description just isn’t enough with an audiobook. So, always refer to this PDF in the audiobook when it is needed. 

[MUSIC ENDS]

Take frequent breaks, especially if you have a looong book, you have to rest your voice. I totally recommend to record in multiple days. I mean, sometimes people take a week or more. Because an audiobook narration is a marathon, it’s going to take a long haul. It’s not a sprint in comparison to a podcast. Like a podcast interview can be quick, right? They can be 30 minutes. They can be less than that. But imagine doing multiple podcast interviews all day long, back to back. That is going to get tiring. Your voice is a muscle, and like any other muscle in your body, it needs a break. It also needs hydration. So side note, make sure you’re well hydrated, well before you ever do any recordings. So like the day before, start drinking a lot of water. 

[MUSIC IN]

Here’s the ultimate tip. Like if you were quickly writing down notes and you’re like, oh, okay, okay, I got this, I got this, I got this. If nothing else, know that you are not reading. I touched upon this earlier. Remember, you are connecting to a listener. So use those very same skills that you have when you are podcasting. As a podcaster, you’ve got lots of skills that you may not know about. And a lot of these skills translate automatically to an audiobook. Remember that you’re talking to one person and you can change the wording so that you’re speaking to your one listener. You are not reading your audiobook. You are entertaining or educating a listener. 

[MUSIC ENDS]

And final tip, there’s very strict rules regarding the format and quality of the audio that you submit for an audiobook and what you need to include for opening and closing credits, including a sample for a trailer and so much more. There’s a whole guideline, and most publishers refer to the audio submission requirements from ACX, which is part of the Audible universe. I’ll put a link in the show notes for these requirements. So if you look at that list and most of it looks like foreign language to you. Because sometimes, again, when I’m working with my clients, I’m like, oh yeah, you’ll need this. It needs to be an MP3, but it also needs to be a certain da da da, uh, threshold and minus something, something decibels. And all of a sudden they’re like what? I’m like. Exactly. So I know what that all means. If you need support with audiobook recording and editing, or even just figuring out what are these audio submission requirements, what do they mean? We’re here for you. 

So like I said at the beginning, little side secret podcasting is our main work. Yes, but we do all things audio, just like audiobook editing and support. So drop me a note mary@organizesound.ca if you need some support with that. 

[MUSIC IN]

So, I hope this episode has just given you a little bit more insight into what you’re listening for when you’re listening to audiobooks as well. Now that is another industry where you can hone in on how people speak so that you can evaluate your own voice. What are you doing that is connecting with a listener? And we’re going to dive deeper into this topic on the next episode. You’re going to hear from a seasoned voice over pro who’s an award winning narrator, narrating 450 plus novels in her career. That is a lot of words. Like I said, a book is a marathon, and she’s done 450 plus of these novels. So we’ll get some expertise from Erin Moon. We’ll talk about audiobook narration and voice coaching and how that impacts your voice as a podcaster. And of course, because we can’t get around it these days, AI in voiceovers and what that means for podcasters as well. So I hope you join us for the next episode as we chat with Erin Moon and talk more about the voiceover on audiobook industry and how that ties in with podcasting. We’ll talk to you then.

[MUSIC ENDS // OUTRO MUSIC IN – SHOW CLOSE]

<< GHOSTHOOD FEATURING SARA AZRIEL “LET’S GO” BEGINS >>

MARY: Thank you so much for listening to the Podcaster’s Guide to a Visible Voice. If you enjoyed this episode, I’d love it if you shared it with a podcasting friend. And to reveal more voicing and podcasting tips, click on over to visiblevoicepodcast.com.

<< WOMAN SINGS: Let’s go >>

[MUSIC ENDS]