Advanced Techniques
Reading Time: 8 minutesQuick SummaryWhen you narrate your own audiobook, you are simultaneously the director and the talent – and...
Read Article →
Reading Time: 9 minutesQuick SummaryOne of the worst narrations a professional audiobook coach ever heard was a recording of a...
Read Article →
Reading Time: 10 minutesQuick SummaryAn audiobook that is too long does not get bad reviews about being too long. It...
Read Article →
Reading Time: 12 minutesQuick SummaryThe wrong sound effect, placed wrong, can make an otherwise professional audiobook sound like a YouTube...
Read Article →
Reading Time: 11 minutesQuick SummaryA fantasy audiobook narrator described his realization 300 pages into a series: he had built 22...
Read Article →
View all articles in Advanced Techniques →
AI Voice Technology
Using AI for voice generation and audiobook production
AI narration shifts the bottleneck from recording time to text preparation. A prepared author can go from manuscript to distribution-ready...
Read Article →
For non-fiction in 2026, most listeners cannot reliably tell AI from human narration. For literary fiction, the gap remains real....
Read Article →
ElevenLabs generates great voice clips. CoHarmonify produces complete audiobooks. The difference matters depending on what you are trying to build.
Read Article →
Hiring a narrator means giving up 20% of royalties for 7 years. AI voice cloning eliminates that cost. Here is...
Read Article →
Not all AI voice generators are built for audiobooks. A comparison of what actually matters - quality, workflow, platform acceptance,...
Read Article →
View all articles in AI Voice Technology →
Book Companion Guides
Companion guides for the What Now audiobook series — downloadable references for non-fiction authors, fiction authors, and podcasters.
Step-by-step submission instructions for iHeartRadio, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Podcast Index, Podchaser, Goodpods, Overcast, Pocket Casts, and Listen Notes - the...
Read Article →
A comparison of AI voice tools that work for dramatic book trailer narration - covering ElevenLabs, Murf, PlayHT, Replica Studios,...
Read Article →
What to disclose, when to disclose it, and the exact language to use - for affiliate links, advance reader copy...
Read Article →
Technical requirements, file format specs, metadata fields, and naming conventions for uploading audiobooks directly to Google Play Books, Apple Books,...
Read Article →
View all articles in Book Companion Guides →
Cost Considerations
Reading Time: 5 minutesQuick SummaryThe threshold most people have heard – 10,000 downloads per episode before you can monetize –...
Read Article →
Reading Time: 5 minutesQuick SummaryA single mid-roll placement in a 5,000-download episode in a B2B software niche is worth between...
Read Article →
Reading Time: 6 minutesQuick SummaryA podcast with 500 downloads per episode in the right niche can generate more revenue than...
Read Article →
Reading Time: 5 minutesQuick SummaryBefore you spend a dollar on a microphone, understand this: a $79 USB dynamic microphone in...
Read Article →
The answer depends on method, book length, and quality tier. AI narration, self-narration, and professional narrators compared with real numbers...
Read Article →
View all articles in Cost Considerations →
Editing & Production
Audio editing, post-production, and quality assurance
Reading Time: 7 minutesQuick SummaryIf you have published twenty or more blog posts on a consistent topic, you already have...
Read Article →
Reading Time: 5 minutesQuick SummarySome of the most natural-sounding podcasts on Apple Podcasts are fully scripted – every word planned...
Read Article →
Reading Time: 10 minutesQuick SummaryACX does not publish its rejection rate, but narrators in audiobook production communities consistently report the...
Read Article →
View all articles in Editing & Production →
Genres & Approaches
Reading Time: 5 minutesQuick SummaryPodcast analytics platforms show the same drop-off pattern across thousands of shows: listeners leave most sharply...
Read Article →
Reading Time: 8 minutesQuick SummaryAuthors ask how long their audiobook needs to be. Listeners are implicitly asking a different question:...
Read Article →
Podcast episodes disappear. Audiobooks earn royalties indefinitely. Here is how to convert your best content into a book - and...
Read Article →
Reading Time: 11 minutesQuick SummaryThe business audiobook that sells is not the most comprehensive one. It is the most usable...
Read Article →
Reading Time: 15 minutesQuick SummaryNarrating fiction and narrating non-fiction require different skills to a degree that experienced audiobook producers describe...
Read Article →
View all articles in Genres & Approaches →
Getting Started
Basic guides for beginners in audiobook creation
Reading Time: 7 minutesQuick SummaryIf you have published twenty or more blog posts on a consistent topic, you already have...
Read Article →
Reading Time: 5 minutesQuick SummaryApple Podcasts has stricter submission requirements than any other major platform – and the review process...
Read Article →
Reading Time: 5 minutesQuick SummaryThe actual submission process – clicking the buttons, entering your RSS feed URL, confirming your details...
Read Article →
Reading Time: 6 minutesQuick SummaryThe host of a top-ranked business podcast recorded his first forty episodes inside a walk-in closet...
Read Article →
Reading Time: 5 minutesQuick SummarySome of the most natural-sounding podcasts on Apple Podcasts are fully scripted – every word planned...
Read Article →
View all articles in Getting Started →
Legal Considerations
Rights, contracts, and legal aspects of audiobook publishing
Reading Time: 9 minutesQuick SummaryThe music licensing rules for audiobooks are not the same rules that govern YouTube videos, podcast...
Read Article →
Reading Time: 8 minutesAn author purchased a commercial music license, added the track to the opening of each chapter, and...
Read Article →
Reading Time: 13 minutesQuick SummaryA narrator recorded a 9-hour business audiobook on a royalty-share agreement – no upfront fee, a...
Read Article →
View all articles in Legal Considerations →
Marketing & Distribution
Promoting and distributing your audiobooks
Reading Time: 6 minutesQuick SummaryThere is a version of audiobook marketing that almost every author defaults to: post a clip...
Read Article →
Reading Time: 6 minutesQuick SummaryYour book is out. You did everything right – you wrote the launch emails, ran the...
Read Article →
Reading Time: 5 minutesQuick SummaryMost authors announce their audiobook with some version of “now available.” They post the cover, add...
Read Article →
Reading Time: 5 minutesQuick Summary“New episode out now – link in bio” is the most common social post format for...
Read Article →
Reading Time: 5 minutesQuick SummaryThe average podcast episode page on the open web contains fewer than 50 words of text....
Read Article →
View all articles in Marketing & Distribution →
Podcast Monetization
Reading Time: 5 minutesQuick SummaryThe threshold most people have heard – 10,000 downloads per episode before you can monetize –...
Read Article →
Reading Time: 6 minutesQuick SummaryA podcast with 500 downloads per episode in the right niche can generate more revenue than...
Read Article →
Reading Time: 5 minutesQuick SummaryA single mid-roll placement in a 5,000-download episode in a B2B software niche is worth between...
Read Article →
View all articles in Podcast Monetization →
Podcast Platforms
Reading Time: 5 minutesQuick SummaryEvery time you publish a podcast episode, you do it once. Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music,...
Read Article →
Reading Time: 5 minutesQuick SummaryApple Podcasts has stricter submission requirements than any other major platform – and the review process...
Read Article →
Reading Time: 5 minutesQuick SummaryThe actual submission process – clicking the buttons, entering your RSS feed URL, confirming your details...
Read Article →
View all articles in Podcast Platforms →
Quality & Standards
Reading Time: 11 minutesQuick SummaryMP3 (MPEG-1 Audio Layer III) has been the dominant audio format for internet distribution since the...
Read Article →
Reading Time: 5 minutesQuick SummaryA listener cannot tell you your episode is too loud or too quiet. They just stop...
Read Article →
Reading Time: 7 minutesQuick SummaryAudiobook platforms don’t publish vague guidelines – they publish exact technical specifications, and they enforce them....
Read Article →
Reading Time: 39 minutesQuick SummaryThe audiobooks that sound like they were produced in a professional studio mostly were not. They...
Read Article →
Reading Time: 12 minutesQuick SummaryThe most common point of discovery for audiobook quality problems is not before submission – it...
Read Article →
View all articles in Quality & Standards →
Success & Strategy
Reading Time: 5 minutesQuick SummaryThe threshold most people have heard – 10,000 downloads per episode before you can monetize –...
Read Article →
Reading Time: 6 minutesQuick SummaryA podcast with 500 downloads per episode in the right niche can generate more revenue than...
Read Article →
Reading Time: 5 minutesQuick SummaryA single mid-roll placement in a 5,000-download episode in a B2B software niche is worth between...
Read Article →
Reading Time: 6 minutesQuick SummaryYour episode title is doing more work than any other field in your podcast metadata –...
Read Article →
Reading Time: 6 minutesQuick SummaryPosting your new episode link to social media generates, on average, fewer than ten clicks per...
Read Article →
View all articles in Success & Strategy →
Technical Aspects
Equipment, software, and technical details of audio recording
Reading Time: 5 minutesQuick SummaryThe average podcast episode page on the open web contains fewer than 50 words of text....
Read Article →
Reading Time: 11 minutesQuick SummaryMP3 (MPEG-1 Audio Layer III) has been the dominant audio format for internet distribution since the...
Read Article →
Reading Time: 6 minutesQuick SummaryThe host of a top-ranked business podcast recorded his first forty episodes inside a walk-in closet...
Read Article →
Reading Time: 5 minutesQuick SummaryBefore you spend a dollar on a microphone, understand this: a $79 USB dynamic microphone in...
Read Article →
Reading Time: 5 minutesQuick SummaryA listener cannot tell you your episode is too loud or too quiet. They just stop...
Read Article →
View all articles in Technical Aspects →
📚 Exclusive Publisher Resources Available
Strategic implementation guides, ROI calculators, and vendor evaluation tools available to logged-in publishers.
Login to Access
Request Publisher Access
Looking for specific information?
Browse our complete article archive or use the search to find exactly what you need.
Browse All Articles