MP3 to DAISY Questions

Have any questions about how to use Converter Plus for MP3 to DAISY conversion? Questions about how to name a particular track? Confused about how to reorder tracks? Anything else related to the workflow? Please post them below.

If you have an issue that is file specific, please use the Hand to Rachel function, so she can look at the file and help solve the issue.

If you come across an error or bug, please use Report Tracker.

Q: There are four tracks for the title "The fellowship of the ring : The lord of rings, book 1 full cast dramatization" (https://www.nnels.ca/node/287397). However, it is challenging to distinguish the headings for such a full cast dramatization. Would you please provide some suggestions? Thanks.

A: This is a Hand To Rachel issue. Please follow the instructions on the Hand to Rachel wiki page.

Q: I was working on a title "The Lola quartet" (http://www.nnels.ca/node/287367). It was unsuccessful to sideload this title because there is no content on the webpage, "Page Not Found (404)". Would you please check the URL and update the webpage? Thanks.

This is a common error, and the way to troubleshoot it is on the Batch Mode Page in the section about common errors.

Q: I have a metadata question about the title "The nocturnal brain : nightmares, neuroscience, and the secret world of sleep" (http://www.nnels.ca/node/287628). The narrator is "the author" (see attached image). Should I use the author's name to replace "the author" or leave it as it is? Thanks.

A: Leave as is.

Q: In "Glass House," by Brian Alexander, I'm having some trouble figuring out how to split the first track. It has the book title and publisher, a book summary, the narrator introducing themselves, and then a repeat of the publisher information. The book summary is as follows:

"In 1947, Forbes magazine declared Lancaster, Ohio the epitome of the all-American town. Today it is damaged, discouraged, and fighting for its future. In Glass House, journalist Brian Alexander uses the story of one town to show how seeds sown 35 years ago have sprouted to give us Trumpism, inequality, and an eroding national cohesion."

This summary is what's found on Goodreads and Amazon as the description of the book. I'm not sure what to call this section, if it's part of the Title Page or Back Cover or just Summary. Also, if I make the summary a separate track, should I merge the narrator and copyright information tracks together into the Title Page track?

A: Please use the Hand to Rachel function so I can look at the track.

Q: In the book "Eyes of the Void," there is a message after the title page that refers to a PDF. The narrator says, after a long-ish pause, " Please note there is a glossary and timeline available for you to download as a PDF." Then there is a pause before the first chapter. Should I keep this message about the PDF with the title page, create a separate track, or remove it? How would a reader even know where to find the PDF? How can I be sure there is one with this file or elsewhere?

A: You can leave it as part of the Title Page. Sometimes a narrator will give it a heading, and in those cases we can split it and apply a heading. Some Audiobooks come with supplementary materials. These PDF's can be zipped into the Audiobook file, or as a separate download from the publisher.

Q: The title "Holidays on Ice" has a full recording of the song Silent Night at the end of the Sign Off. Do I keep this in and, if so, do I separate it from the Sign Off track?

A: You can keep this in, split from Sign Off, move before Sign Off track, and label Song: Silent Night.

Q: The title "Face It" has a track called "PDF Enhancement Notice." It that directs the reader to a website to download a pdf of the images in the book. Is this something we keep in? I'm also passing the title through "Hand to Rachel" so you can take a look!

A: You can keep this track as labelled. I passed it back to you.

Q: I have a two-part question: Endangered by Barbara Webb has a track with a table of contents with page references that are no longer relevant. Should I keep this in? And, if so, the TOC states that there's an index at the end of the book, and there isn't. Would I also leave that in?

A: You can remove this track.

Q: I'm working on Embrace Yourself by Taryn Brumfitt and found that there's a section before the acknowledgements that promotes the author's online self-help program. This doesn't appear to exist in the eBook. Should I leave this in and, if so, what should I call it?

A: Keep this track. Title it "Online Program: Embrace You"

Q: Working on Joey Jacobson’s War by Peter J. Usher. I noticed the beginning of each part states the part title, then has an epigraph, then states the chapter title. Should I leave that as-is, or split it so the epigraph is a separate track?

A: Never split part headings from chapter headings, even if there is an epigraph after the part heading. Part heading is assigned heading one, chapter is assigned heading two.

Q: I'm currently working on Worth the Candle: Through Adversity and the tile of Chapter 14 is "ELEVATOR facts". Should I keep the all caps or use normal capitalization when I edit the track name? Thanks!

A: Good question. Remove all caps when renaming in COP.

Q: I'm working on Sidney Crosby: The Rookie Year, and the first track has a lot of challenges. This book is an audible original, so it doesn't seem to follow all the same labelling standards.

The track starts with "Audible presents" and a title page…and then as the narrator introduces himself there's the sound of a hockey stick hitting a puck in the background at around 8 seconds. This noise blends in to background noise for what seems like introductory content around 14 seconds. The introductory content does not "announce itself"—it's an audio clip of a commentator discussing the draft and then Sidney Crosby talking about his experience. I don't really know what to do with this.

Also, at 00:12:39.72 there's this message: "Before we continue, a quick note to say that this Audible Original contains strong language and scenes of violence."

I'm thinking I should split off this section, but what should I label it? "Note"?

A: This is a title that was created only for Audible, there is no other format. As there is also no standardization in creating Audiobooks and their metadata, it is always a bit of an adventure.

Around 13 seconds in, after the narrator introduces themselves, cut the title page. It is a tricky cut, and will have to be done manually.

Next section can be named Preface as per the definition in the Audiobook glossary.

The part about language and violence can be named “Disclaimer” is it more concise than just note as it is giving a direct reader disclaimer about the content being potentially.

Q: The wiki refers to "the records page" a lot and it's not clear what this means. I'm currently trying to enter metadata for His Brother's Bride, and because it's not an audible book, I don't know what records page to go to in order to find the Copyright Date, Producer, and Narrator.

A: "records page" refers the the records page on NNELS, as most of the work with do with COP is remediation for published audiobooks. His Brothers Bride is a publisher project, meaning a publisher has paid us to convert their files. For publisher projects, you can use the information the narrator says, or you can reach out to the Production Coordinator through the assigned RT ticket and ask them to track down the information on your behalf from the publisher directly.

Q: I'm trying to add Superpowereds Year 3 to ConverterPlus, but I'm receiving this message when I try to upload the file that I downloaded from Cyberduck: "That file is too large to send. Files must not exceed 1 GB." I'm happy to try another method, but I'm a little unclear as to the instructions on the Wiki. For example, to Sideload a book the instruction is this: "Navigate to the records page for the title you wish to download." What "records page" is this referring to? Do all MP3 to DAISY files have records pages to sideload from?

A: Great question! This error means the project is too big to upload. When this happens, please let me know and I will upload it to your account on my end. Sideloading is only for titles that have a records page. A records page is the page in our repository where the title has been published. We use Sideloading for are remediation projects.

Q: I'm working on The Praise of Folly by Erasmus. I've just discovered that the Audible book also contains "Against War" by the same author. It has a different narrator. This also means there are two end credit tracks in the book: One is after Folly and one is after Against War.

Should I keep Against War? Do I adjust the headings to have multiple levels to indicate which tracks relate to Folly and which relate to Against War?

A: Keep the both books and create the headings as follows:

Q: "Barrowlands" is a novella in the Mike Shel Iconoclasts series. It has a clear title page and clear end credits, but the actual content does not come with a title of any kind. There is just a single track with no chapter divisions. Do I just name the main track "Barrowlands"? I will "Hand to Rachel" but I'm wondering if there's a common way to handle this kind of novella.

A: Good question. You can name the section Story

Q: The Buseyisms file is ready to export, but I'm not 100% sure about the compression options. The Wiki says that "If the file is large, you will be presented with a button Compress to Standard Talking Book Quality or Compress to Production Quality. You only need the Production Quality if there are special effects in the audiobook. Most audiobooks need only the Standard Talking Book Quality. If you can't remember, then just go back to the book and listen to it. Is there music? If there is then choose Production Quality. If in doubt, ask." There is music throughout; there's a little banjo tune at the start of every single chapter, as well as the title, introduction, acknowledgements, end credits, etc. I would assume that I should do Production Quality however there is only a button for standard on the export page. Do I just hit the "Export" button without hitting the compression button?

A: If there is only the option to compress to talking book quality, you can export without compression. This one is a bit of a judgement call, as the music isn't in the body content. The main reason we compress large files is so they are easier to download for the patrons, and that they take up less space on a patrons reading device.

Q: I have a metadata question about the Christmas Pig! This book as an ensemble cast (https://www.audible.ca/pd/The-Christmas-Pig-Audiobook/B092NLHQJF). In the title page, the narrator reads something like "recorded by Amaka Okafor and an ensemble cast. In the metadata, do I include all the cast members? Thanks for your help!

A: Good question. Enter all the narrator names. There might be an issue with character limits in the text box, but let me know if that happens when you pass it to QA. I can manually enter any missing names if need be.

Q: I'm working on Sin Eater, my first MP3 to DAISY, and after the end of the last chapter file comes this blurb: "This is the end of Sin Eater, but keep listening after the credits for a special note from the author. If you enjoyed this audiobook, find more just like it from Podium Publishing, the leader in Sci Fi and Fantasy audiobooks, available exclusively on Audible.com."

And then a pause, followed by, "You have been listening to Sin Eater…" followed by credits/Title Page information.

The author's "special note" is then in a separate chapter.

My question is this: Is that first blurb a "preview" and should I thereof split it off? Do I then split off the Sign Off/End Credits and keep that but remove/delete the preview blurb? And then finish up with Notes by the Author?

A: Good question! Could you use the Hand to Rachel feature for me to take a closer look at those end tracks?

UPDATE: I listened to the file, the section that is "this is the end .." is the sign off track. You can split it and name it End Credits. The last track is an Afterword. The narration even states he is reading and Afterword at the beginning of the track. Previews are a section from the next book by the author, as a way to get the readers interested in purchasing more books. See Audiobook Glossary for full definition.

Name the last track Afterward and leave it where it is.

Q: I have another question about an Andy Weir title - The Martian. The audiobook seems to have a chapter of bonus content that isn't in the ebooks TOC. The narrator on the last track says: "And now some selections from the files of Marc Watney. Diary of An AssCan." Diary of an AssCan is a short prequel story to The Martian (https://the-martian.fandom.com/wiki/Diary_Of_An_AssCan:_A_Mark_Watney_Short_Story). The text on this fandom page matches the text the narrator reads.

All this to say - I'm not sure how to name this track and it isn't in a TOC so I can't refer there. The narrators wording is kind of long… Can I call it "Selections from the files of Marc Watney", or "Diary of an AssCan"? Thanks for your help!

A: This is a preview track. We delete all preview tracks.

Q: I'm working on Project Hail Mary - the project is pretty straightforward with the exception of the last chapter which is titled "Chapter [symbol]". The narrator says "Chapter Mmm-mmm". I can't find away to insert a symbol into the name - how should I proceed? (I've currently titled it chapter 30)

A: Could you use the Hand to Rachel feature so I can look at the file more closely? Once I can listen to it I can better answer this question. Thank you!

Q: In Rough and Plenty (Project name Rogers), the TOC uses roman numerals for the chapter numbers (the TOC uses lower case roman numerals whereas the chapter headings use upper case. I've been trying to follow the roman numerals, but converter plus keeps mixing the cases so it ends up being Iii or Vi. Is this something that can be fixed or should I switch to using numbers instead? Thanks for your help!

A: COP has a built in Capitalization function to aid people with screen readers have the proper capitalization when using the app. It is still a bit buggy, and I am unable to fix the Roman Numeral bug at this point. You can just replace the Roman Numerals with Arabic Numerals (1,2,3 etc..)

Q: I have a question regarding naming tracks in "Soldiers of Song" (Project name Wilson). The audio book includes a number of songs at the end of the book (How fun!) and the publisher named the track with the name of the song and indicates that it is a song - for example "Long Trail Winding (song)". Obviously these aren't included in the TOC of the ebook (including the Appendicies), and the narrator only names the song in one case. Am I okay to leave as is, or is there another best practice?

A: So much fun! Leave it as you have it. The name of the track should be the name of the song.

Q: I have two questions regarding “Rough and Plenty” (Project name Rodgers).

This title has long chapters, many of which have been divided into two tracks. The narrator begins each track with “Chapter 1, part 1, Shelburne County….” Or “Chapter 2, part 2”. I’m wondering the best way to handle this. Should I combine the two parts into one track because they are one chapter - or should I keep them separate? Ch 1 P1 is 1:11:29 in length and Ch1 P2 is 49:12 if that makes a difference. If I keep them separate, should I match what the narrator says in my titles and use heading level 3 for the “part 1 / part 2” like this:

First track of chapter H1: Hemmed-In Communities H2: Chapter 1: Shelburne County, Nova Scotia, Mid-1970s H3: Part 1

Second track of chapter H1: H2: H3: Part 2

Second question, the publisher has a track titled “Alt Text and Captions” that begins abruptly with the alt-text for figure 1. Can I leave this named as such? I wanted to check since I don’t see a relevant term listed in the Audiobook Glossary section of the wiki, and it isn’t included in the ebook and the narrator doesn’t say a title! Thanks for your help!

A: The heading structure looks good. You can keep the name as is for the Alt-text section and give it a H1 heading. It is not an ideal way to record Alt-text, which is why we are pushing so hard in the industry to create standards.

Q:I am working on the title Transition to Common Work (file name Mancini) and I have a question about naming a track. The second track begins with an image description (which closely represents the images on the front cover) followed by a short paragraph titled "The Six Virtues" and there is no corresponding listing in the ebook TOC (this section comes after the front cover, but before the title page). It seems logical to me to name it "The Six Virtues" since that seems to be the heading on the page, but I wanted to double check since it doesn't correspond with anything on the TOC.

A: Great question! Narrators often read the Alt-text directly into a track. Name the track for its heading. In other cases we would then tag the Alt-text, but this is not a requirement for this project.

Q: I am working on Literatures, Communities, and Learning: Conversations with Indigenous Writers (file name Hanson) and I have two questions.

My first question relates to end notes. This audio book has three endnote sections - one for the intro, one for the interviews and one for the conclusions. Currently, each endnote section is its own track. I'm not sure how to proceed. Should I keep them as their own track? If so, should I give them a heading 1 title (matching what the narrator says i.e. "Introduction Endnotes" or is it more appropriate to have a heading 2 title for those sections?

My second question relates to combining tracks. Each chapter of the book is an interview between the editor and an individual, and each chapter has a long intro section before the "Our Conversation" section. Currently the intro track and the conversation tracks are separate. Should I keep these as separate tracks? If so, I'm wondering about the appropriate headings. Currently I'm following this pattern (Based on what the narrator is saying):

Intro track:

Heading 1: "Being Able to Tell Stories from the North" a Conversation with Richard Van Camp Heading 2: [None]

Conversation track:

Heading 1: Heading 2: Our Conversation

A: Endnotes can stay their own tracks and be named to match the section they are connected to in heading level 2. For example, Introduction Endnotes. For the Conversation tracks, the way you have it set up above is correct.

—- Q: I just have a question about naming tracks. In the book I'm working on (Nyxia Unleashed), each chapter has a title and a subtitle. The subtitle indicates the character voice for that chapter. The narrator reads the title and subtitle together at the beginning of each chapter. But the table of contents I found online for the book only includes the chapter titles. So I'm just wondering whether I should be including the subtitle in the track names?

A:In this case match what the narrator says.

Q: I know we delete previews in MP3 to DAISY, but I couldn't find anything about previews in the Wiki for ePub production. I'm editing a "middle readers" book and it has a multi-page preview at the end for another book by the author. Do I delete it? If not, what heading should it go under?

Edit: The book in question is "The Ride Home" by Gail Anderson-Dargatz. The "Sneak Peek" for "Iggy's World" comes right after the About the Author.

A: We can remove the preview section. Thank you for your question!

Q: I am currently working on the MP3 to DAISY Le Carnet d'Allie. However, it's all in French. I understand none of it. I can kind of guess where some of it is but not even enough to be sure. For example in chapter one they did a preamble of some sort, and then introduced the book, and then chapter 1, but I haven no clue what the preamble said and whether it needs to stay or be removed. What do people do in these cases? Is there any transcript I can look at of the MP3 file available anywhere? I'm nervous to mislabel or remove important information.

A: You need to be able to understand French to reformat Audio. I will take the ticket from you and assign to a French speaker.