Going the audiobook route can open a brand-new revenue stream for your publishing business. After all, not everyone has the time to curl up with a good book these days. This is especially true if your target audience is based on generally busy individuals. As such, it’s important to give these folks the opportunity to access your content through audio.
While virtually any book can be transferred to an audio format, not all books are suitable for audio. In some cases, some books simply won’t work well in audio format. For instance, novels with a large number of characters and dialog may end up becoming quite complex to narrate. By the same token, books that combine several languages may be quite difficult to narrate.
In this article, we’re going to be looking at three topics that make great audiobooks.
Non-fiction Titles
Of course, this is a little broad. On the whole, non-fiction books work very well in audio format. Generally speaking, books in which there is a single voice work excellent. For example, self-help books in which a single narrator goes through the content work very well.
On the contrary, please try to avoid going to audio format if your book has abundant illustrations and diagrams. In those cases, you may end up getting stuck with holes in your content. As such, the reader will feel they are missing something.
It’s also important to avoid going audio with highly technical manuals and handbooks. These types of books are used as a reference. So, audio doesn’t allow readers to consult the information contained in the book.
Children’s Books
Children’s books are absolutely perfect for audio. They can provide parents with a great alternative for storytime play or bedtime tales. They can also be used in tandem with pictures to provide a great experience. Moreover, books aimed at preschool kids are a great idea for audio format.
There is one catch, though. If your book has multiple character voices, then you need to make sure that your narrator(s) can handle the content. Having a single narrator working with multiple voices can be quite complex. In the end, a lousy narration could very well defeat the purpose of the book.
So, if your book has a single voice narrating, or a limited number of characters, going the audio format route can make wonders for your book. Just make sure that when you write your book, you write focusing specifically on narration. That way, you can make it easier for your narrator to do a good job.
Novels
Novels can get quite complex, especially if there is a great deal of dialog. If the book contains a great deal of dialog among a limited group of characters, you shouldn’t have too much trouble getting it done. It would be costlier, but you could get it done relatively easily. However, if your novel contains too much dialog, you might want to do a trial run on a part of the book and test it on your followers.
In general, romance novels with a single narrator voice work very well. Also, novels aimed at teens and young adults work quite well, too. As with children’s books, it’s a good idea to write the content with a narrator in mind. That way, you can avoid overly complex material that will make it hard for a narrator to do a good job.
