Should I Make an Audiobook?

Do you need an audio version of your book?

On the one hand, it's an additional expense. On the other hand, around 45 percent of all Americans listen to audiobooks, which is a huge audience.

I suspect the percentage of business leaders who listen to books rather than reading them is even higher. It's a more convenient way to get the same value.

One way for authors to decide is simply to ask themselves how they "read" books.

If they prefer audiobooks, there's a good chance their readers will, too.

If an author chooses to record an audiobook, there are lots of options. They can hire a voice actor to narrate the book, or they can record it themselves either in a professional studio or down the line from their home or office.

I suspect that many readers prefer to hear authors' voices over actors, because it makes the author more relatable – but then I also know authors with flat voices who would sound horrible if they were recorded.

That's a decision that might be best made by recording yourself and listening back to it. Or of asking people you trust to be brutally honest about how they think you sound. (I sound terrible, for example, so I'd probably ask my wife or brother to record a book on my behalf.)

If you get it right, an audiobook adds another dimension to your book: a feeling of intimacy.

If you get it wrong, it doesn't matter how carefully you've written your text. The reader will switch off and go do something else instead.