Intro
2025’s “Write Stuff” Storybundle has kicked off – ten books to help you on your writing career path. (Including my book Enrichment Activities: 30 Days of Stay-at-Home Learning, Business, and Self-Care Activities for Writers.) I’m writing profiles for each of the books in the bundle. They’re all very practical books, either with concrete steps to follow, or with a very grounded insight into the writing life. Enjoy!
Book Description:
Audiobooks are the fastest-growing format in publishing. (I really need to start making some.)
Making Tracks by J. Daniel Sawyer is a no-nonsense, step-by-step audiobook production guide for indie authors who want control their audio catalog. Whether you’re narrating yourself or just trying to understand the production process, this book breaks it down in plain English—no studio jargon required.
This is the second edition, reflecting recent tech updates.
Curator's Note from the Storybundle
J. Daniel Sawyer has written, produced, and marketed audio productions for the past 25 years. He’s stayed on top of the trends and knows the modern market. His book, Making Tracks, is a go-to volume in the industry…and he’s just revised it for 2025. We’re lucky to have it. – Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Who should read this?
- Writers curious about audio rights and royalties
- DIY creators ready to build a home studio
- Anyone overwhelmed by audio tech (and ready to fix that)
You’ll learn everything from mic choice and room treatment to editing tips and mastering settings—plus what it takes to publish to Audible, Findaway, and beyond.
Excerpt
Foreword
To the Second Edition
Five years ago, the world was turning inside out. Publishing was in the middle of its great disruption, and that disruption was finally reaching the world of audio. Demand was growing faster than in any other segment of the publishing industry, with lots of room for expansion.
For reasons you’ll learn about later in this book, audio is my art form. Yes, I’m a novelist first and foremost these days, but I still produce at least six audiobooks a year—this year, I’m already scheduled for fourteen. It’s my first love, and one I hoped to be able to give a good boost on its way up.
Still, when I finished the book, I moved on. I’m a novelist, and like any professional writer, I look forward rather than back. In the meantime, Making Tracks became something of a phenomenon in its own little pond, and as the years went by I started getting notes asking my opinion on matters technological and business where my book had fallen out of date.
Then, last in 2016, I attended an industry conference where I had a series of conversations with novelist JF Penn as well as several representatives of some major retailers and distributors that convinced me that it was time for a new edition. Deciding to produce an audiobook of your work (or hiring someone to produce it for you) involves a number of factors, and some of the information you need to make that decision has changed enough in the last five years that it would be irresponsible of me to leave Making Tracks as it was.
So, here you are. This is the second edition. Inside you’ll find significant changes to the sections on the business and on the technology. There are more minor changes elsewhere else, including new tips and techniques in the sections on performance, production, and post-production.
The audiobook market hasn’t stagnated or stalled in the last five years. It’s still heading up. New players have entered the market, and several more are poised to. Audio is now the fastest growing segment of the publishing industry.
And it’s not too late to make it a thriving part of your business and career.
Bio:
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