Avoiding Common Mistakes That Delay Your Audiobook

Avoiding Common Mistakes That Delay Your Audiobook

1. Don’t Record from a Draft

Use your final, proofed script only
Recording from a draft leads to corrections, wasted time, and inconsistent audio.
Fix any spelling, grammar, or layout issues before you hit record.

2. Keep Your Audio Clean

No background noise, hum, or hiss
Record in a quiet space.Your silent sections must be quiet. Background noise can cause files to fail submission. Turn off fans, fridges, notifications, and anything else that might bleed into your audio. Avoid a noisy chair and clothes that rustle and shoes tapping on a hard floor.

Use a pop filter
It helps avoid distracting mouth noises, breath pops, and harsh consonants.

3. Watch Your Volume and Pacing

Inconsistent volume is a red flag
Stay the same distance from your mic.
Avoid sudden drops or spikes in loudness between sections.

Keep your tone steady
Changing pace or delivery style halfway through can distract the listener and trigger review issues.

4. Edit with Care

No effects
We require a clean file.
Your audiobook should sound clear and natural, not like a radio advert.

Remove unwanted noise
Clicks, mouth sounds, long pauses, and stumbles all need to be cut.
Read it aloud once you’re done editing to make sure it flows.

5. Include the Required Files

Opening and closing credits are essential
Make sure you’ve recorded them as separate files.
Missing credits is one of the most common reasons for rejection.

Create a Sample File
Select a sample between 1 and 5 minutes in length from your project that you feel is a good reflection of your audiobook

  • Samples must not contain any explicit (e.g., violent or pornographic) material. If the beginning of your audiobook contains this, please select a different sample. For example, if the book is erotic, please do your best to choose a clean but romantic excerpt.
  • The sample must come from the audiobook.
  • Apple Books automatically uses the first five minutes of the book as their sample.

Label the Sample
This should be the same label style as your other files but have Sample at the end rather than Chapter. For more info click Read More below

READ MORE

Don’t forget clean room tone
Each file must start with 0.5 to 1 second of silence and end with 1 to 5 seconds of silence.
It matters more than you think. We recommend 0.7 to 0.9 at the start and 3-4 seconds of silence at the end.


6. Final Preflight Check

Before sending your files to VoomVox:

  • ✅ Listen from start to finish

  • ✅ Check for glitches, repeats, background noise

  • ✅ Make sure all chapters are present and named clearly

  • ✅ Confirm spacing and credits are correct

  • ✅ Ask yourself: would I enjoy listening to this?

Fixing issues later causes delays.
Catching them now keeps your audiobook moving forward; fast, clean, and ready for polish.