In April 2016 my thesis Risk Management in the Supply Chains of Entomology Farms was published as an audiobook in all major platforms like iTunes, Audiobooks.com and Audible.
I got the idea to do the audio version after hearing multiple sources that “yeah the thesis sounds really interesting, but I do not have the time to read it”… Well, now you have no excuse!
Now when the project is happily over I thought I should share some of the experience to help you out as well to make your own audiobook from an existing, ready written document:
- Edit the book to fit the new format. In the case of a thesis, academic references play a big role in the document, but in the audiobook format they are simply useless: No one wants their listening to be interrupted all the time for a list of names and dates. At the beginning of the audiobook, it is announced that the references have been removed, but are available accordingly in the written document. The second thing to modify is references to graphs and pictures in the written document, as obviously the listener cannot see them.
- Hire a professional narrator. I had access to professional recording gear, but even though I know English quite well, I am not a native speaker. I think I could have made a reasonable recording, but I think people would have lost the enjoyment of listening quite soon. One hour and 40 minutes is not a long audiobook, but it is a really long time to listen if the narrator is not really good. I used the Fiverr- service to find the narrator. I contacted three people who all seemed very friendly and professional. In the end, I chose the person who answered me the first, and the result came out really nice. It really sounds like a real audiobook and the price was reasonable as well.
- Use a publishing service. This advice is not only a piece of advice but a must for all non-UK and non-USA based publishers. The main publishing platform is ACX that handles everything for iTunes, Amazon, and Audible. They do not accept private uploads if the person does not have tax-ID in either in the UK or USA. To go around this obstacle I contacted some publishing houses but found only one suitable one: Author’s Republic. They are a USA based company that offers similar service as Tunecore offers for bands and musicians: They will upload your copyright- materials to all agreed platforms and they will do all your paperwork for you against a fee/portion of your royalty income. I can only say positive things about the arrangement I have with Author’s republic: Very fast and friendly service and my audiobook was published in a very short time.
You can purchase the audiobook behind the following links:
http://www.audiobooks.com/search/author/Ilkka%20Taponen
https://www.overdrive.com/creators/1120533/ilkka-taponen
http://www.audible.com/search/ref=a_hp_tseft…
https://www.hoopladigital.com/title/11615148
The audiobook also available at iTunes, just search for “Ilkka Taponen”.
I am looking forward to hearing your thoughts about the work!
