Create and Sell an Audio Book Using These 5 Simple Steps By Shelley Hitz
Today, I'm thrilled to introduce you to our guest today, Shelley Hitz. Shelley is the creator of www.Self-Publishing-Coach.com and the author of 5 books and many audio CDs. In fact, Shelley will be sharing her experiences by walking us through the 5 steps of creating your own audio book CD. If you have ever entertained the idea of creating an audio book of your own title, you don't want to miss the great tips in this post.
Create and Sell an Audio Book Using These 5 Simple Steps
By Shelley Hitz
Once you finish your first book, there is a huge sense of accomplishment. Wow... it's really done. I'll never forget the feeling of holding my first proof copy in my hands. My idea had finally become a reality!
However, these days, authors publish their books in many various formats: print, electronic and audio.
Create an Audio Book and Diversify Your Income
Have you thought about creating an audio version of your book? Some people prefer listening to books rather than reading them. Therefore, you may be missing out on additional profits from your book by not offering an audio version.
After I published my first book, "Mirror Mirror...Am I Beautiful?" I decided to create additional formats, including an audio book. Today, I'm going to share with you the five steps I took to publishing my first audio book.
Five Steps to Publishing Your Audio Book
Step #1 : Decide who will record your audio book.
You can do it yourself or you can hire someone to do it for you. Personally, I decided to do it myself. It's more personal and allows your readers to connect with your voice and personality. Plus, it can be very expensive to hire someone.
Step #2 : Gather your equipment - audio software and a microphone.
I used the free audio recording and editing software called, Audacity. You can download it for free here. It truly is amazing what you can do with this software.
I also used a Plantronics headset which cost me between $30-40. It works well for me and gets the job done.
However, I will eventually upgrade to a higher quality microphone like the Blue Yeti USB Microphone. If you have the money to pay $99-150 for the Blue Yeti USB microphone, it will be worth it to go ahead and make the investment now. You can use it for your audio book, podcasts and much more.
Listen to a sample of my audio book recorded on Audacity with a Plantronics headset:
Step #3 : Record your audio files.
I found a quiet space, configured my microphone, pressed record on Audacity and started reading. Pretty simple. You can view a short tutorial I recorded for you below:
(or you can link to this page: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_EN_ICNKsE)
Step #4 : Decide how to sell your audio book.
I recently interviewed Tim Hampton who has had success selling his audio books on CDBaby.com. I personally haven't used CD Baby, but it looks easy to use and get started right away selling both MP3's and CD's. They also get you on iTunes, Amazon MP3 and other channels.
Personally, I used Clickbank to sell my MP3 downloads and Kunaki to sell my CD's. With Kunaki, you can order copies of your CD for as little as $1 + shipping to sell in person. I take both my books and the audio book CD's to my speaking events and this was the cheapest I could find to order CD's to sell.
Step #5: Start selling your audio book!
I sell my book from my website and although I'm not getting rich selling the audio book, I am selling enough to make the investment of my time worth it.
You can see my sales page here.
That's it! Now, it's time for you to go and record yours!
----------------------------
Shelley Hitz is an entrepreneur, speaker, author and consultant to organizations, individuals and businesses who want to multiply their impact through self publishing. She teaches from personal experience. Over a two year span, while working full-time, she self published five books, multiple audio CDs, authored two websites that attract thousands of visitors each month, and created multiple products that she sells through her website and at her speaking engagements.
www.Self-Publishing-Coach.com also offers a monthly newsletter, tele-classes, special reports, e-books, webinars, podcasts, videos as well as book marketing resources to help individuals, small organizations, and businesses achieve their goals and multiply their impact through self publishing.
--------
Tony Eldridge is the author of The Samson Effect , an action/adventure novel that Clive Cussler calls a "first rate thriller brimming with intrigue and adventure." He is also the author of the Twitter marketing book, Conducting Effective Twitter Contests .
Create and Sell an Audio Book Using These 5 Simple Steps
By Shelley Hitz
Once you finish your first book, there is a huge sense of accomplishment. Wow... it's really done. I'll never forget the feeling of holding my first proof copy in my hands. My idea had finally become a reality!
However, these days, authors publish their books in many various formats: print, electronic and audio.
Create an Audio Book and Diversify Your Income
Have you thought about creating an audio version of your book? Some people prefer listening to books rather than reading them. Therefore, you may be missing out on additional profits from your book by not offering an audio version.
After I published my first book, "Mirror Mirror...Am I Beautiful?" I decided to create additional formats, including an audio book. Today, I'm going to share with you the five steps I took to publishing my first audio book.
Five Steps to Publishing Your Audio Book
Step #1 : Decide who will record your audio book.
You can do it yourself or you can hire someone to do it for you. Personally, I decided to do it myself. It's more personal and allows your readers to connect with your voice and personality. Plus, it can be very expensive to hire someone.
Step #2 : Gather your equipment - audio software and a microphone.
I used the free audio recording and editing software called, Audacity. You can download it for free here. It truly is amazing what you can do with this software.
I also used a Plantronics headset which cost me between $30-40. It works well for me and gets the job done.
However, I will eventually upgrade to a higher quality microphone like the Blue Yeti USB Microphone. If you have the money to pay $99-150 for the Blue Yeti USB microphone, it will be worth it to go ahead and make the investment now. You can use it for your audio book, podcasts and much more.
Listen to a sample of my audio book recorded on Audacity with a Plantronics headset:
Step #3 : Record your audio files.
I found a quiet space, configured my microphone, pressed record on Audacity and started reading. Pretty simple. You can view a short tutorial I recorded for you below:
(or you can link to this page: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_EN_ICNKsE)
Step #4 : Decide how to sell your audio book.
I recently interviewed Tim Hampton who has had success selling his audio books on CDBaby.com. I personally haven't used CD Baby, but it looks easy to use and get started right away selling both MP3's and CD's. They also get you on iTunes, Amazon MP3 and other channels.
Personally, I used Clickbank to sell my MP3 downloads and Kunaki to sell my CD's. With Kunaki, you can order copies of your CD for as little as $1 + shipping to sell in person. I take both my books and the audio book CD's to my speaking events and this was the cheapest I could find to order CD's to sell.
Step #5: Start selling your audio book!
I sell my book from my website and although I'm not getting rich selling the audio book, I am selling enough to make the investment of my time worth it.
You can see my sales page here.
That's it! Now, it's time for you to go and record yours!
----------------------------
Shelley Hitz is an entrepreneur, speaker, author and consultant to organizations, individuals and businesses who want to multiply their impact through self publishing. She teaches from personal experience. Over a two year span, while working full-time, she self published five books, multiple audio CDs, authored two websites that attract thousands of visitors each month, and created multiple products that she sells through her website and at her speaking engagements.
www.Self-Publishing-Coach.com also offers a monthly newsletter, tele-classes, special reports, e-books, webinars, podcasts, videos as well as book marketing resources to help individuals, small organizations, and businesses achieve their goals and multiply their impact through self publishing.
--------
Tony Eldridge is the author of The Samson Effect , an action/adventure novel that Clive Cussler calls a "first rate thriller brimming with intrigue and adventure." He is also the author of the Twitter marketing book, Conducting Effective Twitter Contests .
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