Audiobooks Overview
Audio books, also known as books on CD or tape, can be a helpful tool for: those who are traveling and need to catch up on important information, for the visually impaired, or for those who just enjoy listening to books rather than reading through them.

History of Audiobooks
In January 1952, Barbara Cohen and Marianne Roney, sat down with Dylan Thomas and persuaded him to record some of his poetry. Spoken word records were almost unheard of at the time.

Knowing Your Audience
Know your target audience. Drill down regarding specific interests particular your selected people group. Knowing your audience ensures that your expectations and sales goals are in line with what the market will support.

Selecting a Genre
Select a genre and establish the market you want to record for. Genres include themes such as Non-Fiction, Fiction, Business, Health, Science Fiction, Romance and so on.

Choosing a Manuscript
Find a manuscript that reflects the choices made in steps #1 and #2 that you can record. This is the most critical step in the process to get going.

Licensing a Manuscript
If the manuscript is in the public domain, you don't need to worry about licensing fees or any other legalities.

Selling Your Vision
A document such as this should be concise and give the reader immediate insight pertinent to their potential involvement or commitment to the audiobook.

Budgeting and Costs
Figure out how many words there are in the book, how long it will take to record and factor in how much it will cost to have the audiobook narrated.

Finding a Narrator
Provide narrators with a few paragraphs if not a page of text for them to read from and also give them with a digital copy of the manuscript so that they may review the contents before committing to an audition.

Hiring a Narrator
By working with a professional voice talent you gain several advantages. Narrators have recorded dozens of audiobooks and know what works in terms of performance.

Agreeing Upon Terms
Once you have found your narrator, settle upon the final price and deadline for completing the recording.

Producing Your Audiobook
The audio files will need to be formatted for the final destination, either CD or as an audiobook on Audible and iTunes.

Creating Artwork
Accompanying your audiobook will be the book cover, which is similar to the album artwork.

Distributing Your Audiobook
If you are an audio publisher or producer who has at least five audio programs that will appeal to a wide audience and you would like to offer audio content in Audible's online store, contact Audible directly.

Promoting Your Audiobook
There are 3 areas that you'll need to look after to build an online presence and get the word out there about your audiobook.