Using Audacity to meet ACX/AUDIBLE production requirements

Welcome to the Seahorse Audio Blog.  In this blog, I plan to share with you everything that I have learned about using Audacity to produce high-quality audiobooks for Amazon/AUDIBLE/ACX.  

​If you are new to audio production, don't worry.  I learned how to use Audacity for this exact purpose and you can, too.  
​First of all, you should know that ACX recommends Pro Tools for audio production.  There is only one small problem for those of us living in the real world of finances.  I will let you decide what that problem might be when you examine the image below:

I have no problem with Avid's Pro Tools.  I'm sure it's a wonderful suite of options for the financially-enabled consumer.  But, maybe you are like me and have a family to support.  Or maybe you are just getting started and want to jump in without spending all of your cash right away.  If you don't have $600 laying around, may I recommend the FREE option: Audacity.

Yes, Audacity can look a little fishy to someone who is trying to find a way to download it for the first time, but I can assure you-- as an Audacity user for the past four years-- this is a great piece of software and you will not get a computer virus from it.  It's safe and it's everything you need to live the dream.  I recommend you download it here from the official site at www.audacityteam.org.

Open it up and start recording something by hitting the red record button.  It doesn't have to be Shakespeare.  Maybe it's just you saying random things like: "chicken sandwich," "clowns are reaaallly scary," and "I'm gonna be rich." 

Now, put on your best headphones and check out what you recorded with the green play button.  

What did your recording sound like?  Did it sound like sh*t?  It could be one of two things.  Check out the next blog post to find out what they might be.