#alfryco

Firstly, I would say, just give it a go. It can be hard when you listen to podfic and it’s so amazing and polished and you feel like you can’t achieve that, but you will learn and get better as you go. I was very intimidated but am so glad I did it anyway.

I picked a shortish fic that I really loved to get started, and that’s what I would recommend. Something that you love so you’re excited to read it, and something on the shorter side so it’s not so overwhelming. Make sure you get permission from the author of the fic. The author might have blanket permission given for podfics in their AO3 profile or on their Tumblr, but if they don’t you can reach out to them to ask.

I listened to lots of different samples of podfic by others to help me get an idea of what I wanted to do in my reading and editing. Different people have different styles, and you’ll figure out what works for you. For example, I love podfics where the reader does different accents, but I am personally rubbish at accents so I don’t do that. As another example, from a editing point of view, some people remove breathing sounds, some don’t - I do because I hate the sound of my own breathing (though I don’t mind other people’s).

I have an external mic, but you don’t need one. You can use your laptop mic or phone mic, or start that way and get an external mic later if you like.

I record directly into and also edit using Audacity. It’s a free program available for Windows and Mac. I had some previous experience of using it but had forgotten pretty much everything, and found it easy to pick back up. But there are other programs available, and you don’t have to record straight into the editing program.

There’s lots of tutorials and things online. I heavily used this one when I got started (and still refer to it now).

AO3 has some very useful guides too, such as this one which goes through the whole process from choosing what to podfic to posting the final product.

I also am in the podfichat discord, which is really helpful. And I cannot go without thanking @mistmarauder, who has been super kind and supportive of me, always willing to answer my questions, and is a huge inspiration!