A few months back, I wrote about the challenges of recording the audiobook of my novel Marion Hatley, and about why I chose to take on the job myself, as opposed to hiring voice or studio talent. As I said then, “Marion’s story has become so much a part of me that I thought I should do the reading myself.”

Of course, finances were another (major) consideration. I learned that hiring both voice and studio talent to record an audiobook can cost $1,000 to $3,000, or more, and I was fairly certain I’d never recover that type of expense through sales.

Now that the audiobook is done and live, would I go the DIY route again? I’m still pondering that. But for now–and for the benefit of other would-be DIY-ers–here are a few things I wish Post-Recording Beth could have told Pre-Recording Beth:

• When you read, bring so much emotion to the words that it almost feels cornball. Early in the recording process, I felt like I was giving each passage and scene its emotional due. But about two-thirds of the way through the process, while playing back recorded chapters to check sound levels, I hated the flatness of my voice–hated it so much that I ended up re-recording most of the completed chapters, with a lot more feeling. The strange thing was, what sounded overly emotional and dramatic while I was reading it ended up sounding just normal on playback.
• Slow down. The chapters I ended up re-recording sounded rushed, as if I was trying to hustle both myself and listeners through the story. The second time around, I relaxed and tried to let the pacing of the story set the pacing and rhythm of my voice. If there was a pause in the action or dialogue, I let my voice pause, too.
• Add more cues, especially in dialogue. On the printed page, paragraph breaks make it clear when dialogue is shifting from one character to another. Because there are no paragraph breaks in audio, I had to add more hints about who was saying what in conversations.
• Call in the professionals when you need to. My audiobook wouldn’t have met my personal standards (or the standards of Audible) if I hadn’t had the sound files professionally mastered. The mastering was well worth the couple hundred bucks it cost.

If you end up listening to the audiobook, please let me know what you think. If you have any suggestions for improvement, please let me know. I’ll apply them to the next audiobook. Thanks!

You can purchase the audiobook through Audible, Amazon, and iTunes. For an audio sample, visit the Audible page. If you’d like to color while you listen, print out this dress designed by Marion.