How to Prep an Audiobook Manuscript

Prepping your manuscript is an important step in the production process of any audiobook before you get into the booth and narrate the thing. Here are some tips on how I go about it as a professional narrator.

To break it down quickly, here’s my order of operations:

1. READ THE BOOK — I'll do this via a tablet like an iPad or on an e-reader. When reading thru I’ll look for a couple things specifically and make note of them…

2. PLOT — It helps to know where the book starts, ends, and just generally what’s going on before diving into narrating it.

3. PRONUNCIATIONS — If I come across either a word I don’t know or am not sure about, I’ll look it up! This helps with a smoother narration and prevents me from having to fix these mispronunciations down the line. ALSO, if there are fictional words and character names that the author has created, it’s important to make note of those and double check. The last thing you want is to finish the book and find out you’ve been saying the main character’s name incorrectly the whole time.

4. CHARACTERS — How the characters are described physically, behaviorally, relationally, and (perhaps most important) vocally, are all important and helpful things to keep in mind as you read the book and begin to ‘cast’ your characters.

Here’s a bit more detail for those interested:

The first step is always to simply read the manuscript. I do that either on a tablet (iPad or something similar), or I’ll export it to an e-reader (i.e. kindle) as those can be easier on the eyes. Generally however, I’ll read thru on my tablet as the two softwares I use, make annotating much easier and fluid:

• Adobe Acrobat

• PDF Expert

While I’m reading thru, I’m of course noting the plot. What’s going on in the book?! Many folks will jot down notes on significant plot points or character appearances at chapter headings to prime themselves during narration, though I don’t do this myself.

Next I’m looking for word pronunciations. If there is a real word that I am either unfamiliar with or not 100% sure how it’s pronounced, I’ll look it up and either find a write a phonetic spelling in the margin of the manuscript, or link a sample online for future reference.

Then of course there are the fictional words. Anything the author has created for their book is probably worth double-checking. I’ll make a list as I go, and after finishing the manuscript send a list of words to the producer, publisher, or author themselves simply to verify that I’m getting it right. That way I won’t end up in a disastrous situation later on.