Why Audiobooks?

What are audiobooks?

Oxford Languages defines "audiobook" as an audiocassette or CD recording of a reading of a book. In other words: you read a book; you read out aloud; you recorded your voice; you made an audiobook.

Audiobooks are good materials for people with visual inconveniences or attentional challenges. Miller (1989) suggests that listening can be a much easier way for many readers to comprehend the material, because a stimulus to different senses may help the reader to concentrate more on the text. Meanwhile, considering that 90% of our information transmitted to the brain is visual (Kosmyna et al., 2018), visual stimulus of information can be too overwhelming for people with mental challenges. In this case, listening-based audiobooks and podcasts can be a great educational material for them.

Audiobooks to ourselves

For recorders, creating audiobooks can be meaningful as well. Literature has been shown to have therapeutic value, and the activity of reading it out loud can further help the recorders to release pressure. For neurotypical audiences, audiobooks can calm their mind and reduce their level of anxiety. In fact, the multisensory nature of audiobooks makes them a great tool for helping audiences stay focused. As the world becoming uptempo, we need a way to relax. Listening to audiobooks can be a great way to maintain our inner peace.

How do I create my first audiobook?

· Choosing A book

No doubt, the first step is always choosing a book. When selecting your book, make sure it is in public domain, if you don't have a permission from the author. Due to the fact that creating audiobooks is an act of "performing creative works" or "distributing", unauthorized creation of audio versions may result in copyright infringement.

Another consideration is more practical. Since the only way for audiences to interact with audiobooks is auditive, it'll be inappropriate if the book relies heavily on visual presentation (e.g. illustrations). Moreover, audiobooks are expected to be easier to comprehend. Therefore, the material should not be overly complex. Examples of good material for audiobooks may include: long and short novels, proses and poems, plays and dramas, popular science writings, self-teaching textbooks, etc.

· Comprehending the text

Before we actually do the recording, recorders usually pre-read the text in order for better presentation. Not necessarily finishing the entire material at once, it'll be better for recorders to have a preview of the section they're going to record and gain some basic understandings of it. For one thing, previewing the text can help recorders to improve their fluency. For another, the insights gained through previews can help recorders better understand the emotions and thoughts of the characters, so they can therefore have more vivid presentations in the recording.

· The recording

Then it comes to the recording session. You may need a quiet place to do the recording. But remember that you are making noises yourself, so places like libraries or public self-study rooms are also inappropriate. Recommended places include your home, single-person office, dormitory rooms without roommates, etc. Generally, it can be a place where other won't disturb you, and you won't disturb others. A professional hi-fi audio equipment is not necessary, but a good recording should be clear and easy-to-listen. A good way to check your audio quality is to listen to it by yourself. It you don't find it boring, then it's good.

· Processing your audio

So now you have your audio. The next step is processing. You need to have a careful look at your audio, pay attention to any interruptions or unsmooth sentences. Open your editing software (e.g. Adobe Audition) and fix them. Sometimes you may need to re-record unfixable sentences. A suggestion is, when you are doing the recording, sometimes you can feel that your previous sentence may need an improvement. At that time, you can just re-read that sentence again in your recording. In this way, you can get two versions of one sentence side by side, which allows you to easily cut off the inperfect one later on.

· Padding it with a background music (BGM)

Before you finish your work, there's one more step. Adding a BGM to your recording can help reducing impact of the background noise. Also, a good BGM makes your audiobook more enjoyable. Usually, I soft BGM is better than a hard one. You may also want to choose pure music instead of music with lyrics, since the vocals in the music may interfere with the vocals of your recording. Recommended background music can be piano or violin sonatas.

· Final thoughts

Congratulations, you're done! Overall, recording an audiobook should be a pleasant thing to do. If it makes you nervious or causes any sort of emotional struggle, you may need to take a good rest. When recording, try to find a quiet place and focus entirely on the book. By doing so, you can release stress and refresh yourself. If you find it enjoyable to do, you may also call a few friends to read in different roles. This can bring you a quite different experience, and your recording will become even more interesting, especially if you are reading a script or a play. Anyway, just remember: read, relax, and enjoy!