Hi, I’m MK Williams, an author and independent publisher. I love sharing my insights about all things self-publishing with you. Before I get into the details about today’s topic, don’t forget to subscribe. You’ll be notified when I put out new videos every week about self-publishing and make a career out of being an author.

As I have narrated and self-published 4 of my own audiobooks now and I have started to edit and produce audiobooks for my clients, I have learned a few things. My top piece of advice for anyone who is self-narrating is this:

“If you can hear that sound, your microphone can hear that sound.”
-The washer or dryer in the background
-You hitting the leg of the table as you cross your legs
-That plane flying overhead
-You clicking on the document you are reading to advance it to the next section
-That loud truck barrelling down the street
-You clearing your throat but trying to talk through it

All of this will get picked up by your microphone. The second you hear this noise – stop reading. Wait for the plane to fly over, advance the text when you are not speaking, or just wait until the laundry is done. You can only “de-noise” the background noise on your audio so much before it sounds metallic and robotic. Don’t just push through these noises.

The ums and ahs and stutters can be fixed or cut out when you reread the section slowly. Technically you can slow down the speech if you are reading too fast, but try to remember to read slowly and deliberately. But the background noise is by far the worst item.

You spent so much time writing your book, don’t rush through the audio process. The first few times will be painfully slow, you will want to throw your computer. But then you will get better at this skill as you have with others. And, if it is really stressing you out, you can always record and have someone else do the audio edits, or you can outsource the whole thing. ACX and Findaway make it super simple to find a narrator.

What has been the hardest thing for you to master when you have been narrating or recording? Let me know in the comment below.

Music from: https://www.bensound.com/ E.R.F.

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