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Audiobook Production Services

Woman with headphones listening to audiobook

Producing Audiobooks Just Make Sense

If you are in the United States, this is probably obvious. But if you are in Canada, you may still be asking yourself, why should I bother with audiobooks? Right now (2021), Canada is where America was in 2009, when audiobooks represented only 5% of book sales in the USA.

Last year audiobook sales in the United States generated over $1.2 billion dollars in revenue and surpassed e-book earnings for the first time! (E-books only made $983 million). Booknet Canada reports that Audiobook purchases have increased 34% in Canada since 2018. 

Audiobooks have many advantages that listeners in the US have been discovering in larger and larger numbers, and Canadians are beginning to recognize. Audiobooks can be enjoyed while driving, walking, and doing other activities that are not conducive to reading either print or e-books. Studies have shown that audiobooks can help children struggling to learn to read get better at reading. They are a great leveller, making difficult nonfiction accessible to most listeners. And, most of all, audiobooks can be hugely entertaining, bringing books to life for people who struggle with print and avid readers alike.

For publishers and authors looking forward, audiobooks are a no-brainer.

Producing Audiobooks with Post Hypnotic Press

The founders of Post Hypnotic Press, brother and sister, Carl Craig  & Carlyn Craig bring over 40 years of publishing and technical sound experience. This rich background, specially suited to producing audiobooks has allowed them to excel in both the Canadian and world market.

Since the company was founded in 2010, Post Hypnotic has worked with a variety of large and small publishers as well as individual authors to produce audiobooks in a wide range of genres.  We have produced many audiobooks for other publishers including New Society Publishers, House of Anansi Press, KOBO Publishing, Penguin Random House (Canada) and more.

We have published authors such as bell hooks -][- Rolland Merullo -][- Marvin Kalb -][- Betty MacDonald -][- Gabor Maté -][- Maggie Scarf, Silvia Federici -][- Federico Finkelstein ]-[ Jan-Werner Müller -][- George Yancy -][- Joel Bakan -][- Michael Bungay Stainer -][- Jennifer Margulis -][- Gail Bowen -][- Lawrence Martin -][- John Taylor Gatto and more.

We can find the perfect narrator(s) for your project.

We have enviable experience taking a book from print to final audio file. We can record and produce your book in a timely and cost-effective manner.

We also offer recording studio rental, engineering, remote recording and post-production services for those who only need us to take on part of their project.

Ready to Get Started?

narrator, Jenny Craig, recording audiobook

Narrator: Jenny Craig

Audiobook Samples

get starting on producing your audiobook

AUDIOBOOK PRODUCTION 101

Step 1 :  Evaluating the Manuscript

So, where does one start? With the manuscript! Audiobook pricing is based on the finished hour, so we need to assess your manuscript and calculate it’s approximate finished length. If you have a finished (or nearly finished) book, you can send that to us as either a word document or an unlocked PDF.  We use the finished length as well other book details to plan the production. We also use this data in developing a quote for your project.

We occasionally need to consider the difficulty of the production. A single voiced, straight-ahead nonfiction title is probably going to be easier to narrate than a complicated nonfiction title with technical terms, foreign languages (be they dead or alive), illustrations, charts, graphs, etc. If you are interested in exploring a multi-cast recording (exciting!), that is going to cost more, too. Rates for narration and a la carte audio services are listed below.

What sort of things affect the production:

  • Word count
  • Cast (single or multicast)
  • Fiction or nonfiction
  • Genre
  • Difficulty estimate: does your manuscript have a lot of foreign or Latin words? Describe challenges the narrator might face in bringing your work into audio, like the inclusion of graphs, tables, charts, and other illustrations.
  • Are you looking to record your book or do you want us to quote based on recording with a professional narrator?

Step 2: Casting

Our basic rate is for a straightforward fiction or nonfiction book with a single narrator (we work with professional union actors – UBCP/ACTRA, SAG-AFTRA).

If you want a multi-cast recording (exciting!), or if your book has a significant number of technical terms, foreign languages (be they dead or alive), illustrations, charts, graphs, etc., we may require additional preparation fees. If you’re hoping to cast a popular, in-demand narrator or celebrity, they are going to cost more, too, and we are happy to negotiate on your behalf and provide quotes.

Once we have a manuscript to work with, we can start the auditioning process. Many publishers and authors want to choose the narrator, and we are happy to provide as many auditions as it takes to find the right reader(s).

Note: Our actors are real; no synthetic voices for us.

Step 3: Pre-planning

Before we record, we go through the text and prepare. This includes checking the pronunciation of words and names, and specialized terms. If this is fiction, the narrator will be pre-reading and planning character voices. If we are doing a multi-cast, we will be coordinating actors and character voices.  This is the time to consider if we will be using any music or foley (sound effects) and start planning for them.

Step 4: Recording with an Engineer /Director

We record in one of our studios with an engineer/director.  Our director reads along as the talent narrates and catches any mistakes and makes performance notes.  This rough audio then proceeds to Post Production for finalizing.

Step 5 Post-Production

At this point another set of ears is going to listen to the production whilst reading along with the text. They will be listening for mistakes, mispronunciations and extraneous noises. They prepare a list of pickups and we go back into the studio to record corrections. Once corrections are recorded they are cut into the original. The audio is then scrubbed and mastered (we use iZotope tool to clean and level the audio).  Final step is a quality control listen to ensure everything sounds PERFECT!

At Post Hypnotic Press our sound quality is paramount, check out a collection of audio samples below:

For more audio samples please check out our profile on Soundcloud

Audiobook Recording and Production Service Options

Are you looking for recording services and/or post production services? We provide recording options, audio assessment, clean-up, proofing, mastering, and quality control.

If you have any questions not answered  please get in touch email us at: record@posthypnoticpress.com

Studio Rental (Vancouver area)

Studio with engineer: $90 per hour | Self-serve studio rental: $90 for the first hour (with engineer); $60 per hour thereafter (without engineer) Are you  looking for a studio to record your audiobook in the Vancouver, Lower Mainland?   Our studios are designed for audiobook narration. We have customized our audio recording program to develop a system that is very easy for people who are not technically inclined to use. We  use non-destructive recording software and have the latest RX plug-ins for excellent sound quality.
Recording equipment (mike and headphones)

Remote Recording

 If you are in a relatively quiet area, we can provide a recording set-up and assist you with creating a recording space that will deliver quality audio. We’ll test the sound quality and ensure it meets the required standards for distribution with all the major audiobook distributors. We will then work with you remotely to record your book.

Post Production Services:

Have you already recorded your book and now you need help with post-production? 

We can assist with that. We’ll start with assessing your recording and let you know whether it meets the minimum standards required for distribution on audible and other distributors. If it doesn’t, we’ll let you know why and whether it is possible to fix it.

We charge a small fee (CAD$100) for assessing your audio.If the audio meets audible requirements, this fee is included in the post-production service. If your audio doesn’t meet audible requirements, but is salvageable, we will provide you with a quote for clean-up and if you go ahead with the clean-up, the fee will be waived. In other words, you only pay this fee if your audio is NOT salvageable. 

 

 

completed audiobook When animals Rescue

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