My audiobook JUST came out, which I recorded myself in my backyard shed/office. I recorded in Descript, which made editing super easy and took care of a lot of the background noise reduction (though I'm using a high quality Shure mic and my shed is pretty soundproof.) Then took it into Adobe Audition to fix the leveling and round off the RMS. I did it entirely myself and it took about a week of recording and a week of editing.

@Julie Broad Thanks for the options! A downloadable PDF sounds like a great option. I already call out a "goodies" link throughout the book that includes worksheets and templates to follow along with in the print version. I'll make it a separate link unique to audiobook listeners so they can download "what they're missing" with non-print. And, I'm my own podcast producer, but I have access to some great professionals who can help me prep the files for ACX, if needed.

Here's an update! Well, I did it! Decided since I have the gear to do the recording, I spent the end of December recording and then about a week editing. I definitely took your advice, @Julie Broad, and ran some samples through the ACX lab. I found some videos that helped me smooth out my RMS and all the stuff. Uploaded to ACX for Audible and and inAudio for Aggregation. I went with the recommendation to compile a PDF download, which is unlinked on my site, but mentioned in the opening credits of the audiobook and also included as an attachment on platforms that support it. I just got the notification that it went live on Audible today and will start trickling out onto the other platforms over the next few weeks!

@Julie Broad I know!!

@Bruce Wayne I'm 100% confident it's a scam. Gmail address. Misspelled name (jeniferr.lawrencee.workss?). Clearly AI written synopsis of the book. I'm a cybersecurity guy by training. I can sniff these out. :)

I'm a little bit of a domain hoarder. So here's what I did. For me, my company name, MessageSpecs.com came first. Because that was what I was doing most of my revenue-generating business under (consulting and coaching). So that was what I used for my main site. I also had my name (first+middle initial+last.com) for YEARS as a separate personal blog. When I launched the company page, I just made that a redirect. Recently, my first+last.com came available and I got that and pointed it to the company's page also. When I sort of landed on my "identity" as the "Nerd That Talks Good," I bought that domain as a joke. But I pointed it as a redirect to the main company site also. But, working with the Book Launchers team, we landed on a book title "Be a Nerd That Talks Good." So I started just telling people they could find me at nerdthattalksgood.com/book. That seems to work out. I've also got a podcast "Nerds That Talk Good," so I verbally say nerdthattalksgood.com/podcast and it forwards to the messagespecs domain. The way I look at it, all roads lead to my company, which is what I'm driving traffic toward. But the on-ramp to get there might be different depending on the audience. Regardless, I make my site's landing pages VERY obvious that they're on the right site. Because the domain ultimately resolves to MessageSpecs, which may not be what they were expecting.

@Heather Lyn, overcomplicating AV is my favorite thing to do! :) I once built a whole "game show control box" for one of my talks (photo). But, if you want to keep things to a minimum, I would recommend (if the venue allows it) to present from your own laptop with your own presentation remote. That way, you're the most comfortable with the tech stack and there's a smaller chance of the slides displaying incorrectly or you getting confused by the controls. Same with mics. I'm a fan of the Rode Wireless Go mics and usually tuck one into my outfit (with a small lavalier) whether I'm using the venue's mics or not. Because they record on the device and I get a "safety track" of what I said to review later. PowerPoint is my preferred platform. But I do replicate my slides in Google Slides for accessibility, in case I have to present from someone else's machine. It's easier to just send them the link to access it. Hardcopy worksheets are always nice, especially since you can include CTAs and links to other resources, to drive attendees to your website. Not a lot of earth-shattering advice, I know. My sessions are typically really complex, including note cards, stickers, etc. Here's an unlisted video from a conference talk/workshop I did last year where I included ... everything. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8klYckOWIbU