# Audiobook Narration Checklist for Beginners — free download from DollarWise (dollarwise.xyz)

A 30-step workflow for recording, editing, and delivering ACX-ready audiobook narration. Work through the phases in order for every session.

## Phase 1 — Prepare your recording space

1. Choose the smallest, softest-furnished room available — closets full of clothes make excellent starter booths.
2. Hang blankets or moving pads on hard walls to kill echo; cover windows and bare floors.
3. Turn off everything that hums or clicks: AC, fans, refrigerators, fluorescent lights, and notifications.
4. Record a 10-second silence test and listen on headphones — fix any noise you can hear before narrating.
5. Put a "RECORDING — DO NOT ENTER" sign on the door and silence your phone completely.
6. Keep the room layout identical between sessions so every chapter sounds like the same space.

## Phase 2 — Voice and mic preparation

7. Warm up your voice for 5-10 minutes: lip trills, humming scales, and tongue twisters.
8. Drink room-temperature water (not ice cold) and keep it nearby; avoid dairy and caffeine before sessions.
9. Position the mic 6-8 inches from your mouth, slightly off-axis, with a pop filter in between.
10. Set input gain so your loudest passages peak around -12dB to -6dB — never hitting 0dB.
11. Record 30 seconds of room tone (silence) at the start of each session for editing use later.
12. Mark your exact mic position and chair placement so you can recreate it tomorrow.

## Phase 3 — Narrate with consistency

13. Read the chapter silently first, marking tricky pronunciations, character voices, and emotional shifts.
14. Keep a character voice log: name, description, and a sample line for every speaking character.
15. Maintain a steady pace of 150-160 words per minute — conversational, not rushed.
16. When you flub a line, pause, clap or click, and re-read the full sentence — the marker makes editing easy.
17. Keep your energy and distance from the mic constant — drifting changes the tone between takes.
18. Take a 10-minute break every hour; tired voices sound tired, and listeners can tell.

## Phase 4 — Edit to platform standards

19. Remove every marked mistake, false start, and long pause; tighten breaths but don't eliminate them entirely.
20. Apply light noise reduction only if needed — over-processing creates an unnatural underwater sound.
21. Normalize RMS levels to between -23dB and -18dB per ACX requirements.
22. Confirm peaks never exceed -3dB and the noise floor stays below -60dB RMS.
23. Add 0.5-1 second of room tone at the start and 1-5 seconds at the end of each chapter file.
24. Export chapters as separate files with consistent naming (e.g., chapter-01.mp3).

## Phase 5 — Quality control and delivery

25. Listen to each finished chapter end-to-end on both headphones and speakers before approving it.
26. Check chapter openings and endings match in tone and volume — no jarring transitions.
27. Verify every file meets ACX specs with a checker tool (e.g., ACX Check plugin for Audacity).
28. Confirm the narration matches the manuscript word-for-word — no skipped, added, or changed words.
29. Record and attach the retail sample (1-5 minutes) plus opening/closing credits as required.
30. Back up raw recordings, edited files, and finals in two separate locations before delivering.