Talk your book. Then turn the talk into text.
If you explain your ideas best out loud, start there. Plan the conversations, record them one chapter at a time, and turn the transcripts into a manuscript that still sounds like you.
- Free worksheet, no sign-up
- 3,000+ books published by Scribe
Five steps from conversation to chapter
Talking is the easy part. The steps around it, the plan before and the editing after, are what turn hours of audio into a book.
Outline before you press record
A list of chapters, each with the point it makes. The worksheet turns that list into a recording plan with questions for every chapter.
Record one chapter per session
Answer the chapter's questions out loud, alone or with someone asking. Push for stories and examples, not summaries. See the question bank.
Get it transcribed
Automatic, human or a mix. Each has trade-offs in accuracy, cleanup time and privacy. See transcription options.
Turn transcript into prose
Spoken language wanders. Cut the false starts, find the point, reorder, and add structure, without sanding off your voice. See transcript to chapter.
Revise like any other draft
Once the chapters exist on the page, the book is edited the same way as one that was typed.
Everything you need to talk a book out
How to talk your book out
The whole method, end to end, with how many hours of talk a book takes.
Read →Interview questions for your book
A question bank to interview yourself, or to hand to someone who will interview you.
Read →Recording setup
Phone or microphone, the room, remote calls, backups and file names.
Read →Transcription options
Automatic, human or do-it-yourself, and what to check before you upload client stories.
Read →From transcript to chapter
The five edits that turn speech into prose, with a worked example.
Read →Get interviewed for your book
Who should interview you, how to brief them, and a session agenda.
Read →Dictation or interview?
Which way of talking suits you, and how to combine them.
Read →Hand the recordings to a writer
When to bring in a professional, and what an interview-based process looks like.
Read →From the people who write books from interviews
Talk Your Book is made by Scribe Media, a book writing and publishing company in Austin, Texas that has published more than 3,000 books. Scribe says 80% of its authors choose Scribe Professional, where a writer interviews the author and writes the book in their voice. This site shows how to do the talking part yourself. Read about this site.
Common questions
Can you really write a book by talking?
Yes, if you treat talking as the raw material, not the finished book. Spoken words need to be reshaped into written ones: cut, reordered and given structure. The method on this site covers both halves, the talking and the turning it into text.
Is it better to dictate or to be interviewed?
Dictation suits people who already think in finished sentences. Being interviewed suits people who explain best when someone asks a question. Many authors do both. Dictation or interview compares them.
What do I need to record my book?
A phone in a quiet room is enough to start. What matters more is a plan: one chapter per session, with questions ready. The recording guide covers rooms, microphones, remote calls and backups.
Who made this site?
Scribe Media, a book writing and publishing company in Austin, Texas. Scribe's main service is an interview-based one, where a writer interviews the author and writes the book in their voice. This site shows how to do the same thing yourself, for free.
From recording to transcript
How to transcribe an interview for your book: the steps, the styles and a template
Nine steps to transcribe a book interview, full vs clean verbatim compared with examples, a copyable transcript template, and how to check quotes you print.
Read →Dictation apps for writing a book: what to look for and how to choose
Built-in, dedicated and record-then-transcribe dictation tools compared for book writing, with makers' own facts on privacy, offline use, vocabulary and cost.
Read →How to record an interview on iPhone
Voice Memos in person, call recording for phone interviews, video calls, then transcripts, file names and backups.
Read →80 questions to ask your parents
For your mom and your dad: their childhood, how they met, raising you, hard times, and what they want you to remember.
Read →70 questions to ask your mom
Her childhood, her own mother, her life before you, and what she wants you to know.
Read →70 questions to ask your dad
His childhood, his own father, his work, and what he wants you to know.
Read →75 questions to ask your grandparents
Seven themes from childhood to advice, the follow-ups that get the story, and how to record it on your phone.
Read →Life story interview questions for a memoir you talk out loud
96 life story interview questions in eight themes, the follow-ups that turn memories into scenes, and how to interview an older parent or relative with care.
Read →