8 Tips for Self-Narrating a Great Audiobook

June is audiobook awareness month. Our friends at Friesen Press share insider tips to help authors create the best version of their audiobook.

What if your book was not just read, but heard — your words and passion echoing in a fully fledged auditory experience.

This is the magic of audiobooks, a continually growing medium in publishing that allows your work to accompany listeners wherever they go. It’s a direct, intimate line to your audience, boosting discoverability, and opening new doors for you and your book.

While fiction is sometimes best suited to professional narrators due to their complexity and cast of characters, nonfiction — especially personal or expert-driven books — is often expected to be narrated by the author as a mark of authenticity and quality. But recording an audiobook is more than just reading your book into a microphone. It’s a performance and a production.

While powerful recording equipment is more accessible than ever, you’ll still need the guidance of an experienced team to produce a professional-grade audiobook. Their specialized skills take years to master. It’s not impossible for you to develop these skills too, but it’s an intense and time-consuming path that most authors would rather avoid. Just like a print book, a professional audiobook is best created with a team (like FriesenPress).

With the production side covered, now it’s your turn. How do you deliver a strong, engaging performance that truly brings your book to life? Before you hit record, consider these 8 essential tips to help you self-narrate a great audiobook:

1. Prepare Your Manuscript for the Ear

Read your entire book aloud, and listen critically to how it sounds. Some lines that read well on the page can be tricky to say out loud. This will help you identify clunky phrasing, repetitive patterns, or sentences that simply don’t roll off the tongue naturally. Mark passages that require special attention, considering what key ideas or emotions you want to emphasize.

To save your voice for the performance itself, you might consider using free text-to-speech tools to simply listen to your book like an audience member, and catch those typos or overused words you might otherwise miss.

2. Prioritize Vocal Health and Optimal Scheduling

Your voice is your instrument. To keep it in good working order, ensure you’re well-rested, thoroughly hydrated, and warmed up before each recording session. Try some gentle vocal exercises like humming or lip trills to both physically and mentally prepare your voice.

Also, strategize your recording schedule: are you a morning or evening person? Schedule sessions for when your energy and focus are at their peak. Your recording sessions might last for around 60–90 minutes, so be sure to listen to your body and avoid pushing beyond your limits to prevent fatiguing and straining your voice.

3. Optimize Your Recording Environment

The quality of your recording space profoundly impacts your audiobook’s sound. Do a tour around your space to seek out the quietest, least reverberant room possible. Small rooms, especially those with soft furnishings like a walk-in closet filled with clothes, are ideal for absorbing sound and minimizing echoes.

To determine your makeshift studio’s suitability, sit quietly in your chosen space and identify any subtle background noises a microphone might pick up. Turn off all those potential noise culprits: air conditioning, refrigerators, phones, and when the time comes to record, be sure to notify others in your home to prevent interruptions.

4. Simplify Language

While your content might be complex, consider simplifying your language where appropriate to enhance audio comprehension. Break up overloaded sentences, explain jargon upon introduction, and be mindful of acronyms (pronounced as a word) that might be initialisms (pronounced letter by letter) in disguise.

5. Focus on Pacing, Clarity, and Pronunciation

When reading aloud, listen carefully to your reading speed and ensure to vary your pace to keep the listener engaged, quickening for exciting moments and slowing down for thoughtful reflection.

To ensure each word is articulated clearly, take the time to practice challenging pronunciations or complex sentences until they flow naturally. If you have unique names or specialized jargon, consider creating a pronunciation guide to ensure consistency.

6. Practice Performing, Not Just Reading

Recognize that audiobook narration is a performance. It’s about using your voice to pull the listener into your world, evoking emotions, and conveying meaning beyond the literal words.

For nonfiction, this means communicating the passion and ideas behind your book. Listeners don’t just want to learn something as if from an audible Wikipedia page, they want to hear from someone who cares. Imagine you’re speaking directly to your ideal listener, sharing your message with genuine excitement. Your body language, even if unseen, influences your vocal delivery. A smile can come through as clear as the words you speak.

7. Infuse Personality and Authenticity

Don’t be afraid to let your personality and passion shine through your narration. Listeners can hear your sincerity and enthusiasm. When you use intonation and emphasis to highlight key points, you can better convey the underlying message of your text. This is your expertise, so lean into your knowledge.

Remember, you don’t always need the credentials of a trained voice actor to deliver a powerful performance. It’s certainly beneficial for an epic fantasy book with a large cast of speaking characters, but for a personal nonfiction title like a memoir, your unique, authentic voice is your most powerful tool for connecting with your audience. The best author-delivered audiobook performances are those that are the most authentic.

8. Embrace Mistakes

It’s completely normal to feel nervous or make mistakes during recording. Rest assured, perfection isn’t expected and there will be many takes. Any slight errors you make can disappear in the editing process, and nobody will ever know. Embrace the fact that errors are part of the process, and you can simply pause, take a breath, and re-read that section.

With these practical audiobook recording tips in mind and the technical expertise of recording engineers, producers, and editors to guide the production process, you’re well on your way to transforming your print book into a professional audio experience.

Take these insights, apply them with confidence, and you’ll connect with your readers on a whole new level. Give your words the voice they deserve

FriesenPress is the only 100% employee-owned publishing services provider. Their mission is to embrace each book as our own and empower our authors to share their best stories with the world. Employee-owners lead by example, are driven to continuously improve, enjoy serving others, and act as stewards of our customers, our company, and the world.