Skip to content
Meridian Press International Publishing logoMeridian PressInternational Publishing

Audio guide

How audiobook production works

An audiobook is a performance of the text, recorded and prepared to technical standards that retailers check automatically. Knowing the stages helps authors plan budget and time.

Published by the Meridian Press editorial desk · 7 min read

Script preparation

The narrator works from the final text. Authors supply pronunciations for names and foreign words, and decide how to handle tables, images and footnotes that do not translate to audio.

Casting

Auditions of a short passage let you compare voices. Consider the point of view, the accents the book needs, and whether one narrator or several suits it.

Recording, editing and mastering

Recording is followed by editing to remove mistakes and noises, then proofing against the text, then mastering to the loudness and noise levels retailers require. Files that miss those levels are the most common reason for rejection.

Delivery and listing

Finished files are delivered chapter by chapter with a square cover, a retail sample and accurate metadata, including the narrator credit. Listing details affect how listeners find the book as much as the recording does.

Next step

Discuss your book internationally

Send the manuscript details and the markets you have in mind. We reply with an honest assessment, not a sales pitch.

Free assessmentWhatsApp