Audio Content Requirements
Consider for a moment that you are creating serialized content. That means that your audio book will be delivered in a sequence of audio files rather than a single downloadable file. A story or book that is narrated in a single audio file is, by definition, not able to be serialized. Only material that can be divided into multiple files can be serialized.
We call these descrete files episodes, and multiple episodes make up the entire serialized audio book. There can be many different ways to prepare the audio files for these episodes, but some general accepted practices have evolved over time.
Length
How many episodes are required? How long should each episode be? Both are valid questions. Yet both do not have a firm answer. Books need to be as long as books need to be, which naturally leads to the conclusion that … episodes need to be as long as episodes need to be.
But in general, the “sweet spot” for episode length is 20 to 40 minutes. Not surprisingly, this closely mirrors the average commute time for many. Also, people tend to prefer books where the episodes are of a consistent length. You don’t have to re-write chapters of your work to make them longer or shorter, however. An episode does not have to contain a single chapter. Many authors combine chapters to achieve a more consistent length. Others have chapters span one or more episodes rather than create 2 hour audio files.
Volume
I cannot stress enough the importance of producing episodes with consistent volume levels. I speak of consistency within an episode, across all episodes of the book, and across other media files that play in someone’s speakers or headophones.
Please make sure you are maximizing your sound. You do not want to run the risk of being drowned out by the sounds of traffic, or forcing your listener to scramble for the volume control when your all-too-quiet file ends and their next audio in queue starts playing – at ear splitting levels. We highly recommend using Auphonic to normalize and maximize your sound. It will give you the correct volume level. Always. And it has some rather nifty automation tools to help give you the right encoding settings, but I’m getting ahead of myself.
Content
Assuming you’ve listend to some of the more popular books on our site, you probably noticed three distinct “parts” of a single audio file or episode:
- Beginning (intro)
- Episode content (the “meat”)
- Ending (outro)
Intro and outro sections are most often canned. In other words, they are exactly the same across all episodes, with the possible exception of a new “all finished” outro on the last episode of a book. Content and production varies widely across titles, but they generally include:
- Intro: Name of the book, author, narrator and episode number
- Outro: Special attribution (music, publisher, etc.), web address and thanking the listener
- Both: Appropriate bed music (make sure you have the legal rights!)
Intros tend to be well under a minute in length. The shorter; the better. Say what you need to say, and then get on with the story. Your listeners are going to hear this 10 or more times before they complete your book. Keep that in mind.
Outros can be longer, but only if necessary. Resist the temptation to have a “credit roll” at the end of the file, or to play the entire track of the music you used for your bed. Remember that people have more files than just yours in their listening queue. Be respectful of their time.
The primary content area should be all story. You can – and probably should – use some sort of audio cue to denote chapter and/or scene changes. You can also use appropriate sound effects. Note the word appropriate. Some authors score their entire production with music, effects and sound environments. I posit this is very time consuming and a true art form. When considering adding effects of this kind, treat them as if they cost you money. And you are on a tight budget.