Your Step-by-Step Guide to Turning Text into Profitable Audiobooks
Imagine creating an audiobook in hours instead of weeks, without spending thousands on voice actors or recording equipment.
Even if you haven’t got any prior skills, with the help of AI, this easier than ever — and it could be a fantastic way to create a new stream of income!
In this email, I’ll explain how anyone can create and sell audiobooks using AI tools for a passive income, even if you have no technical experience.
Why Audiobooks?
Firstly, it’s a booming market. Audiobook sales are skyrocketing, with global revenues expected to exceed $15 billion by 2027.
It’s a highly accessible audience — people love listening on the go, whether they’re commuting, working out, or simply relaxing. Personally, I enjoy audiobooks mostly while I am driving. There are so many books I’d never take the time to sit down and read, but listening to them makes it feel easier and much less of a commitment.
The production costs are pretty low, so the barrier for entry is also low….which is perfect if you don’t have any prior experience in creating audiobooks.
Read on if you want to know more…
Step 1: Choose Your Content
You don’t need to write a novel to get started, although you can do that if you really want to!
Sites such as Project Gutenberg or The Internet Archive are great sources for free public domain works. As they are in the public domain, you’re free to use them as you wish.
If you have already have a blog, you could repurpose the content for an audiobook.
You could also think about using your areas of expertise, hobbies, or interests that could offer practical value to others. If there’s a topic you’re less familiar with, remember that AI can help you research and explore it further.
Step 2: Transform Text into Audio with AI
Once you’ve decided on your content and have your text ready, it’s time to transfer it into speech using AI!
Thankfully, there are a few different AI text-to-speech tools that will do all of the hard work, and help you to create a high quality audiobook in minutes.
Some popular tools include:
- Speechify
- Murf.ai
- ElevenLabs
These tools offer natural-sounding voices and even customisation options like accents, tone, and pacing. They all have free demos, so you can give them all a try and pick the one that you like the most.
Step 3: Polish the Audio
Quality matters! As good as the AI text-to-speech generators are, the audio will inevitably need a final polish before it’s ready for sale.
I’d recommend using free audio editing software like Audacity to remove any errors or enhance the sound quality. It’s not a problem if you don’t have any experience editing audio – there are lots of YouTube tutorials that can help, such as this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCD5XeiSio4
If you want to further improve your audiobook, you can add elements such as a brief introduction, or some closing remarks…again, doing this with the AI text-to-speech generator makes it child’s play!
Step 4: Publish Your Audiobook
Platforms like ACX, Authors Republic and Findaway Voices make it simple to distribute your audiobook to a global audience.
The process itself is pretty simple. Just register on the site of your choice, set your price, and upload your audio file, and then (hopefully) watch the sales roll in!
In terms of pricing, there’s a lot of variation but I would say that the average prices are:
Audiobooks less than 3 hours – Around £2.99.
Audiobooks between 3 – 8 hours – Around £6.99
Audiobooks more than 8 hours – Around £9.99+
Step 5: Marketing
Once the audiobook is finished, you will need to do some marketing and promotion. Audible offers some great resources to help you with this.
Step 6: Scale Up
Once your first audiobook is live, it’s time to rinse and repeat! You can create multiple audiobooks across different niches, expanding your income streams.
What Have You Got To Lose?
AI has levelled the playing field, making audiobook creation accessible to anyone. If you’re ready to tap into this growing market and turn your ideas into passive income, start today!