As anyone who has been following me on Facebook knows, I’ve spent a lot of time recently recording tracks for my upcoming audiobooks. As with anything to do with self publishing, I’ve had to learn to do it myself, and learn quickly. If you’re interested in doing this yourself, here are telling tips to get you started.
Where to spend
There is, of course, a minimum outlay involved in this. Isn’t there always? I’m going to assume that you have a decent-spec computer or laptop. The biggest expense for me was the microphone, but even that wasn’t too expensive. A decent USB microphone is essential. Do a bit of research before buying one. There are several different types. I gave a Fifine Studio condenser mic, which I paid about twenty quid for. If you intend to use the mic for podcasts with other people a bidirectional mic may be a better purchase – though you will pay a lot more. A pop filter is essential too, but these are cheap enough.
The last essential is a set of good headphones. I picked up a pair of Sony monitoring headphones a few years back in a half-price sale. I only paid thirty-five pounds for them. What you need is a set of overhead phones with as little bias as possible.
Where to save
Software. You don’t need a high-end studio to record simple vocal tracks. Audacity is free and powerful. I use it, and I’m certain I’ll never use all of its features. There are also good quality free plug-ins available to enhance the program.
Audacity is simple to use once it’s going, but I’ll admit I found it a little intimidating at first. But that’s no reason not to do it. Writing was intimidating at first. The gym was intimidating at first. Releasing my work was intimidating at first. Everything is.  Thankfully there are tons of free video tutorials on YouTube, which I’ve made liberal use of.
Where to record
I’m lucky that the front room of my house is quiet enough to allow me to record. It’s also large enough that my voice doesn’t echo from the walls into my microphone. During term-time it’s ideal. During the holidays... during the holidays I cut back on writing activities and spend more time with my kids. I can write in the evening’s but the house is never quiet enough to record in. If I’m working to a deadline there are offices above my local library for hire at thirty pounds a day. They’re run by a local co-operative. If you don’t have a suitable space at home  it’s worth you finding out what local facilities you have.
Recording an audiobook is a much longer task than I expected. You won’t do it in one sitting – that much is obvious. Less obvious is the difference in sound between one recording session and another, if you’ve had to remove your equipment and set it out again. It’s essential to have the equipment set up in the same way each time you sit down to record, and to sit/stand the same distance and angle from the mic as before. A few discreet marks on the surface holding the mic can serve as a reminder of how to set it up again. If this is not possible then measure and make a diagram of the recording set up. This sounds like a hassle, but will ensure the finished product sounds like one professional recording rather than a series of recordings edited together.
Where to sit
Do a few test recordings to find the best place to sit and the best angle for the mic. You’ll want to be close to the mic to get as ‘dry’ a recording as possible. Try different angles to get as clear as sound as you can without the harsher p, b, and s sounds ‘popping’.
A word about posture. You should sit upright. Slouching will affect the quality of your recording and make the reading more difficult. I found I had to concentrate on my breathing as much as the words when I first started. Regular breaths, deep and steady, are the way to go. Sitting upright, or even standing, helps this immensely.
What to read
I find it easiest to read from the Kindle. It’s easier to prop up in a readable fashion, the text is scalable, and it has no pages to rustle. I find it easiest to read each short story or chapter in one continuous take, editing out all the mistakes afterwards.
What to wear
This may not seem important, but the more comfortable you are when you record the easier you’ll find the experience – and the better the final product will be. Wear something loose, and not too hot or cold.
You’ll also need to be aware of any jewellery you’re wearing. If anything clinks or rattles the mic will pick it up.
What to drink.
Water is best. Keep a beaker handy, and drink regularly when recording. Little and often is the best way to keep your throat moist when reading or speaking all day. A coffee or tea is okay too, though I find I need to leave the mic more often when I’m drinking caffeine. Avoid sugary drinks. They’ll give you a claggy throat and affect your recording.
When to record
This one’s up to you. I prefer to record in the mornings once the kids have gone to school. I’ll usually do two or three hours’ worth before moving on to another task – writing, drafting, social media, editing or mastering the recording. Try recording at different times of the day, and for different lengths of time to see what works best for you.
Those are my ten tips for recording your audiobooks and podcasts. If you have any to add please leave a comment! 
The Tor will hopefully be releases on Audible before Christmas. The Soul Bazaar is undergoing post-production.

​My bookstore can be found here.

​As a white, male author I have taken a great interest in the ongoing debate over diversity in fiction. The furore rages on every blog and podcast. At least, that’s what it feels like some weeks.
It fascinates me for several reasons.
Firstly, the number of people who don’t understand what ‘diversity’ means. It doesn’t mean inserting your minority of choice into everything you write. Homogeneity is homogeneity regardless of who you are writing about. If you only write, for example, sci-fi that takes place in a favela and features Hispanic characters, or fiction that only takes place in the Caribbean, or only features any one non-white ethnic group, then your fiction is as ‘diverse’ as any that features only white people. Case in point: whilst using Google to look for sci-fi magazines open to submissions I came across an online ‘zine that wanted diverse sci-fi presenting women in a nonstereotypical and empowering fashion, with a focus on bi and homosexual relationships. If that’s what you enjoy writing, then fine. If that’s what you want to focus on as a publisher, if that’s the niche you want to give exposure to, then great. The more writers granted a platform, the better in my view. It’s the pedant in me that objects to such a narrow, targeted market describing itself as “diverse” and “inclusive”. It’s neither. It shouldn’t pretend to be, and it has no obligation to be. If it was it wouldn’t be specialised, and those writers would likely have lost a voice.
It also doesn’t mean ensuring that people of colour, or women, or people with disabilities or any other group of people in your fiction have to be presented in an eternally positive light, as some commentators maintain. That’s unrealistic. People are complex. They are good, bad, aggressive, caring, greedy, ambitious and self-contradictory, and their gender ethnicity and sexuality have nothing to do with this. Cassandra is the lead character in Swarm, my next work to be released. She can be sarcastic, even caustic. She is loyal, but not foolish. She thinks Iain, her husband’s friend, is both shallow and stupid, and on occasion she lets this show. She is a strong lead female character, yes; but she’s not without her flaws. Rachael is the main protagonist in The Tor, but read between the lines of Rest and you’ll see she isn’t as all-powerful as she seems. She may be a negative force, but she retains some compassion, some humanity. Why else is she so reticent to lead Joseph along her dark path?
I get the need for diversity in fiction. People are all different, and all people can be found everywhere. In other words, to introduce diverse, three-dimensional characters into your work is to introduce a healthy dose of realism. Your ability to manage diversity is your ability to write realistic characters.
What I don’t get is the right some commentators think they have to impose their inaccurate ideas of diversity on other people. Yes, genres such as scifi and horror and action have an overabundance of male leads. Yes, roles for women in those genres tend to be limited in both number and scope, which is why characters such as Ripley and Janeway made such an impact on the screen. Can you name the literary equivalents? People of colour and people with disabilities are practically invisible in such roles.
In large part this has been due to the monolithic nature of the industry. White male publishers saw no market for non-white, non-male characters in these roles, which created no market, which in turn meant few stories were published. Yes, that’s a simplification, but the broad strokes are accurate. Certain groups of people were denied access to the market, whether that was due to a political choice on the part of the publisher; or due to a commercial decision, based on a mistaken belief that the market for certain types of fiction wasn’t big enough to show a return on investment.
However, the industry has changed. The market is both broader and more accessible than it was several years ago. Broader, in that more books are being sold to more people in more places than ever before. More accessible, in that books are cheaper to buy and to produce than they ever have been. Crucially, you no longer need a publisher’s permission to get a story out. I love to see the type of story traditionally considered ‘niche’ to find a place on the open book market.
It astonishes me how, in an age when anyone can write and publish a book on any subject for any market, people still expend time and energy lambasting authors for being too white, too male (phrases that some people use as pejoratives when discussing diversity, without any sense of irony). We live in a time of long-tail marketing, when every literary permutation has a market waiting to be tapped.
Now, I should clarify that I’m not saying that there’s no need for white male writers to fill their writing with a range of characters. Being able to do so is the sign of a good writer. What I’m saying is that we are not obliged to. And to those who read a stereotypical plot-driven novel full of white males and criticise it for being just that: move on. There are plenty of other novels available; perhaps you could even write your own. Are James Herbert’s early novels (I’m not a fan of his later works) any less entertaining for being white, plot-driven horrors? Of course not. Would it be boring if every horror was white and plot-driven? Definitely. Enjoying such novels for what they are does not mean you are against diversity in your reading.
The book market is becoming ever more democratised. Read what you like. Write what you like. And let others enjoy what they like.
What do you think? Do we worry too much about diversity in fiction? Is it a relevant debate given the nature of self-publishing? As writers, do you feel under pressure to be inclusive and diverse, or would you rather a diverse range of writers working in their own niches? Let me know in the comments.
 
My bookstore can be found here.