Similar to Kindle eBooks, audiobooks are available in many file formats, which can be extremely perplexing. With Kindle, there are MOBI and ePub files, among others, and with audiobooks, there are MP3, M4B, WAV, and even AIFF files for CDs. Explain what these files are and how they are utilized.

1. WAV files

WAV files emerged in 1991, and you may recall them from the early days of Microsoft. Remember the "ping" error noises under "Sounds" on your control panel? All of these extremely brief noises were WAV files. Because WAV files are so large, this worked well for brief sounds. Today, they are employed as the uncompressed file that stores all the recording's nuances, which the audio engineer subsequently uses during file mastering. According to best book writer, It is simplest to comprehend all of this if one is familiar with the recording process. Suppose you are recording with GarageBand. This origin file is a ".band" file, and the engineer uses it to extract all of the individual WAV file tracks for each book chapter. The mastered WAV files are then exported as MP3 (for the Audiobook Creation Exchange (ACX)) or M4B files.

2. MP3 files

MP3 is the ultimate audio file format for the majority of audio, including ACX audio, as we have just discovered. They are significantly smaller and compressed compared to WAV files, making them portable. The MP3 format has made it possible for us to store hundreds of audio files on our smartphones, so laying the groundwork for the proliferation of audiobooks.

3. M4B files

iTunes uses M4B files, which are comparable to MP3 files in that they are significantly smaller than WAV files. Thus, when you download an audiobook from iTunes, you download M4B files, whereas, with Audible, you download MP3 files. The primary advantage of M4B files over MP3 is that they can be bookmarked, whereas MP3 files cannot; nevertheless, this is a tough procedure for a do-it-yourselfer.

The key takeaway is that if you use ACX to publish your audiobook, the MP3 files that you send to ACX will be sent to BOTH iTunes and Audible, and you do not need to convert them to M4B files for iTunes.

If for any reason, you want to record your audiobook and then only publish it in M4B format, some apps can export the WAV files as M4B once they have been mastered as WAV files.