Similar to podcasting, audiobooks are a growing market which is worth getting involved in as they can be a great source of passive income. Typically you would create an audiobook version of a book or eBook that you have already written.

There are two ways you can create an audiobook. In both these methods we are going to assume that you have already written your book that you want to convert into an audiobook.

First Option. This will involve some upfront cost but will give you the most professional audiobook. You hire a freelancer to produce your audiobook for you or sign up with a site such as ACX which has a number of voice artist professionals that will record your audiobook for you. Then you upload the final work to platforms that can sell your audiobook. There a number of companies that will do this but ACX is by far the largest that have access to the platforms with the most reach such as Audible, Amazon and iTunes.

Second Option. If you don’t want to someone else to record your book for you then you can do it yourself. First you need to get your own equipment. As a basic set up you will need a computer and a microphone. However most audiobook platforms require your audio to be of a certain quality so you will need some equipment such as:

• A pop filter to record clearly/protect your microphone.
• A pair of headphones so that you can hear your recording clearly.
• A microphone stand to give you the best position to record clearly.
• An audio mixer to control the recording.
• An audio interface to produce high resolution recordings.

Now is the time to begin recording. This will be a time consuming task and you will need somewhere quiet with little background noise. You will need to edit your recording to make sure that it meets the requirements of the platform you are going to upload it to. You can still upload to ACX even if they don’t produce it for you. Their requirements can be found here. Once you have finished recording you will need to save it in an acceptable file format. Then finally you need to create artwork for the book cover.

Whichever option you choose you so much of the success will be down to how you launch and market your audiobook. You can pay for this, advertise to your followers on social media or hire a freelancer to do it for you.

Extra Cash

If you have the correct equipment you can offer your services to convert other peoples books into audio books. This can be done on a freelancing basis and will allow you to work from home.

Sites to use

ACX – The largest production platform for audiobooks.