HOW TO MAKE MONEY RECORDING AUDIOBOOKS AT HOME
Why Audiobooks?
If someone asked me about two or three years ago,” what is the best form of consuming literature?”, I wouldn’t have hesitated to tell them it was reading books. Books have been a staple of any culture for hundreds of years and and still remain incredibly popular even today. But there’s just one problem, books are in the decline. It is happening very slowly but surely, and the world dipping further into the depths of technology is mostly to blame. Today, people want information or content as fast and as conveniently as possible. Books have begun to be seen as bulky and unwieldy, losing favour with the younger generations who prefer to use a simpler way to read novels and other text in the form of ebooks on their smart devices. Another more convenient form of consuming the content within books are the use of Audiobooks, these are audio versions of books that are listened to on any device that can play them including phones, tablets or personal computers. Audiobooks, in the years since their introduction have proved to be extremely popular and there is a steadily growing market for this form of media. Audiobooks are now the fastest growing type of media in the world. To put things into perspective, in 2018 more audiobooks were downloaded online than ebooks. That goes a long way to show the emerging dominance audiobooks are beginning to assert. But with every large market comes opportunity, and that is what is going to be detailed in this article.
Becoming an audiobook narrator is not overly difficult. Not only is it possible it has been shown to be considerably profitable.The great thing about becoming an audiobook narrator is that it doesn’t take very much to get started. Some of the things you may need include;
- A laptop
- Software for recording like Logic Pro or Ableton
- A pair of headphones
- A microphone
As an optional requirement, joining ACX , a subsidiary of audible, one of the biggest audiobook marketplaces in the world, could be beneficial in getting started. ACX is very useful because they assist you in claiming royalties if you work on any books and copies of them get sold. They will also help you manage your content in general. ACX is not the only platform out there but is certainly the biggest.
Other options include listenup audiobooks and CDBaby
How should you go about it?
The process is not overly simple but not complicated either. A bit of practice learning about your sound recording software of choice goes a long way to make things easier for you as well. If you choose to record using Logic Prom try to learn as much as you can about how the interface works and how audio is recorded on the software. Make sure your surroundings are as quiet as possible. If you have room that you can dedicate to this then do so, if not, any enclosure like a wardrobe where sound isn’t likely to leak through will do. It also helps to get soundproof foam to help you with this. Once you have all these boxes ticked you can then proceed to record, edit, and get your recording ready to export and upload.
How much can narrators potentially make?
The revenue that can be made from recording audiobooks from home varies because of a few factors like your experience, hours recorded, professional background etc. But generally there are two ways you can make money from recording audiobooks.
The first is simply the flat rate or simply how much you make per hour recording the audiobook. This is especially relevant when recording an audiobook on behalf of a client. An amount can be agreed on, and each hour spent recording warrants a payment of said amount.
The second way of generating revenue is in the form of royalties. These are also pre agreed terms where a percentage of all sales of the audiobook go to you the narrator. The amount that goes to you varies and are mostly determined by the aforementioned factors but have been known to be capable of going as high as 50%. That is essentially half of all sales of the audiobook which can prove to be extremely lucrative if the the audiobook sells very well. Considering that the bulk of revenue generated from narrating audiobooks are more passive than anything else they can easily be done to supplement any job.
Should you jump into recording audiobooks?
The answer is a resounding yes. Audiobook recording has substantial monetary benefits and if you have the confidence in you speech bailey and voice then there is no time to be wasted deliberating as there is a lot to be gained. Using platforms like ACX also speed up the process making things simpler for you as they package your finished recording and distribute it to marketplaces like audible and apple iBooks.Seize the day, Carpe Diem!
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