To Audiobook or Not to Audiobook, That is the Question!

Luigi Kohli spent more than a year stuck on whether to turn his debut novel Aletheia into an audiobook, and the math never gave him an answer. What finally did was a very different question about what an audiobook should actually do. He walks through the real costs, the choice to hire a professional narrator over doing it himself, and the one benefit of the production process he never saw coming.

Before I get to my personal views on this, I feel a little context is in order. Why? Because context matters. Perhaps the answer isn’t as straightforward as you imagine.

As Indie authors the world over will tell you, when you’re planning the release of your debut novel, and you’re learning the ropes, it’s very easy to get carried away with the excitement of it all. You invest hours – and money – you didn’t know you possessed into social media, websites, reviews, podcasts, book launches, and the rest. You don’t mind, of course, because it’s your baby, and you love every moment that comes your way to talk about it to anyone who will listen! If you’re lucky, your partner is supportive and “understands.”

However, amongst all the joy and your boundless energy, there is a BUT. A point of caution.

Whether you do it the easy way or the hard way, as an Indie author, you learn to acquire a modicum of restraint and to ensure you “do the math.” Everything costs money. Literally everything. In all likelihood, you won’t be able to do all the things you want to do, so it quickly becomes a question of prioritisation. What’s important to you? What do you really want to achieve? What’s the payback you are looking for – and it doesn’t always have to be about making an immediate sale. Building your brand is a long-term investment. Take a book’s cover, for example. The range of spending here is potentially huge. It could be a thousand dollars and more, or nothing at all. Creating an eBook is relatively cheap compared to producing a hardback or paperback, but are you content to have it available only online, or do you want your book on the shelves of a bookshop and/or to be able to take it out on the road?

Restraint is especially important when you’ve written the book for the love of the story and for personal ambition, and not the financial rewards. And let’s face it, for most of us publishing independently, there will be precious little of that. In the end, we all want the same thing. We want others to hear the tale we’ve spun. To step into the shoes of our characters and to feel the love, the pain, the fear, and the treachery. To become immersed in the time and place we spent countless hours imagining and crafting, and near-endless editorial revisions, fine-tuning. And therein lies a quandary… Money invested will not ensure success, but not investing is a sure way to see your work disappear under a blizzard of published titles.

When I started out to write ALETHEIA, it was a personal goal. Something I had wanted to do since my teens. There is something captivating and ethereal about the ancient past. An escape into a world that is at once visceral and prescient, and yet feels not real at all. It had taken me forty years to get around to it, and as far as I was concerned at the time, the research and the writing were my sole objective. It was perhaps a little ambitious, given the challenge to follow a best-selling author’s work, and incidentally a movie that had stood the test of time for more than six decades. But I felt strongly that it was a story waiting to be told, and why shouldn’t that story be told by me?

Maybe unsurprisingly, three years later, and by the time I was nearly done, my goal had changed. What a shame it would be if nobody, save my immediate family, got to read it. It might not be Shakespeare, but damn it, I was going to be sure it reached as many readers as possible, no matter the critical reviews that might follow. Better that than oblivion. And so it began. I invested time and money into paperbacks and eBooks, international distribution, a website, building my non-existent social media presence, and a flurry of book reviews. I also invested in collaborative endeavours with artists, animators, and film-makers that have given me great pleasure. Before I knew it, I had spent more than I had ever intended.

And so I return to the question. To audiobook or not to audiobook? Whilst the answer depends on many things, I would argue that it should probably never be based solely on hard calculations or any notion of a return-on-investment. This is what held me back from a decision for more than a year! For one thing, you “could” do the audiobook narration yourself and keep the cost low. For another, audiobooks are notoriously difficult to promote and to predict in terms of sales. If you are going to do it, do it to bring something new to the party, both for listeners and for yourself. And if it’s your first one, do it to learn about a new creative format, because that’s exactly what it has the potential to be.

And here is the rub. I don’t see the point in an audiobook that is simply your own narrated version of what’s in print. If you are going to do one, I think it needs to be done with feeling. With an emotion that brings your carefully crafted prose to life for someone who is listening and not reading. And whilst I love my books, I know I don’t possess the tone, skill, or dexterity to do it justice. To coax a listener’s head and heart into a time and place where their imagination can breathe and their pulses race. Finding a voice that is a fit with the genre is a good start. I was lucky enough to secure British actor Martin Carroll for my audiobook. He has a quality eminently suited to a Roman epic riddled with intrigue and deception. I also added in a bit of music to heighten the senses, the rhythm and instrumentals acting mainly as signposts for chapter introductions and exits, so as not to distract. This all costs. ‘Was it worth it?’ I hear you ask. Well, it’s too early to tell in terms of sales and reviews – its official release was on Christmas day, but the answer is a definite yes, and not only because there’s something rather magical about hearing your story read out aloud.

There are many spin-off benefits besides the reach to a segment of readers you might otherwise miss. Those busy people with no time to turn the pages, digital or not, or those with visual impairments for whom audio can be a lifeline. As the author, you get to leverage your book in new ways. The production journey is a whole new story, uniquely yours. It’s a great talking point at book signings, lectures, and clubs. And extracts make for great ways to mix things up in your presentations and social media posts, bringing your tale to life. Finally, there is one other huge benefit in the production process I was not expecting. Listening to your book whilst reading it is a fantastic eye opener, no matter how many revisions you’ve done along the way.

Should you audiobook? It all depends…!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Luigi Kohli was born in London in 1965 to an Italian mother and Indian father and grew up in a household rich in family stories shaped by the upheavals of the twentieth century, from the Second World War to the partition of India. A lifelong reader of historical fiction and lover of classic cinematic epics, he was particularly struck by Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. At seventeen he made himself a promise: one day he would write the story of what happened next.

In 1991 he met his future wife, Hilda, who had come to England from Lebanon, a country whose history and landscapes would later help shape the world of his novel.

After twenty seven years working in marketing and business, Kohli left the corporate world in 2022 to fulfil the promise he had made as a teenager. The result is Aletheia, his debut historical novel.

CONNECT WITH LUIGI KOHLI

Website: www.LuigiAKauthor.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/luigiakauthor

ALETHEIA

As Imperial Rome forges its empire upon the ashes of war, its provinces feverish with religion, ambition and a thirst for power compete in the shadows without conscience. Save for one. An adopted Jew of a long dead son of Rome who is playing a dangerous game. Driven by a vision he is certain is the future if he does not act, he is forced to make an unlikely alliance. An alliance that is fated to bring unwelcome attention. Not all those seeking prominence in Rome are men.

At great personal cost, a provincial governor and his unwitting sons will be caught in the middle. Cassius will choose for vengeance, the ripples of his actions destined to echo across time. His brother Justus will seek the safety of obscurity. Their only allies are Caeso, a haruspex and long-time friend of their father, and Hector, a forgotten hero of the Tenth Legion. And the only clues in their search for the truth, and possibly their only hope for salvation? The discovery of a secret that could start a war!

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