When MP3 audiobooks are imported into iTunes or iPod, they will be categorized in the music section, and not audiobook section. Then your MP3 audiobooks may be mixed with other music and not appear in iTunes audiobook section. In this article, I'll introduce two ways to help you to Convert MP3 to Audiobook so that you can remember playback position and adjust your listening speed on audiobook players.
Method 1. Convert MP3 to Audiobooks Section in iTunes
You can get MP3 audiobooks on online websites. For Audible adherent, you can use Audible Converter to convert Audible to mp3 audiobooks. Then using iTunes, you can easily make any audio files including MP3 audiobooks displayed in iTunes audiobooks section and acted as audiobooks. Of course, iTunes can remember where the audiobook file last stay. When I write this article, I'm using iTunes 12.6.
Here are the detailed steps to make MP3 detected as iTunes audiobooks:
1 Add Audio Files into iTunes
Launch iTunes. Drag and drop MP3 audio files into iTunes. Find added audio files in "Music" >> "Recently Added" catalog.
2 Set Playback Option
Right click the audio file. Choose "Get Info" option. Click "Options" from the pop-up window. Choose playback options of "Remember playback position" and "Skip when shuffling" under Music media kind.
Tip: For converting multiple files, select all audio files by dragging a rectangle over them with the mouse. Right click and choose "Get Info" option. Click "Edit Items" option from the pop-up window.
3 Change Media Kind to Audiobook
Change Media Kind from Music to Audiobook. Click "OK". The audio file will disappear in the current Music section and displayed in "Books > Audiobooks" catalog.
This method doesn't change the MP3 audio file itself. That is to say, if you delete the audiobook files from the iTunes library after above steps, you must re-follow this method again. Otherwise, the audio files cannot be detected as audiobooks. And for other audiobook players, the above steps are invalid. So, Method 2 is necessary.
Method 2. Convert MP3 to Audiobook Files with iTunes
In this method, you can create audiobook from MP3 files. Do you know that iTunes also can be a great mp3 to audiobook converter. Even though the created audiobook files are deleted from iTunes library, you can import them from local into iTunes or other players with audiobook features. And there is no need to operate on the original MP3 file again as long as you have stored the created M4B audiobook files.
Following are the steps to convert MP3 to iTunes audiobook format.
1 Download & Install iTunes
Download iTunes free in Apple official website. iTunes can be used in Windows and Mac OS. And there is no doubt you can easily install it.
2 Import Audio Files into iTunes
Open iTunes. Drag and drop MP3 files into iTunes. Choose "Music" section. The imported MP3 files will appear in "Recently Added" catalog.
Or click "File" option on the navigation bar. Choose "Add File to Library" or "Add Folder to Library" to import MP3 audio files. The imported files will be displayed in "Recently Added" catalog of the Music section.
3 Choose AAC Encoding Format
Click "Edit > Preferences" from the navigation bar. Then click "Import Settings" option from the pop-up "General Preferences" window. Choose "AAC Encoder" from the drop-down box next to "Import Using". And click "OK".
4 Convert Audio Files to AAC Version
Select the imported MP3 files. Click "File > Convert > Create AAC Version" from the navigation bar. Then iTunes will convert the imported MP3 files to AAC version files.
After the top conversion progress bar is completed, the generated audiobook file will be displayed below the original files with the same name. The suffix of the generated file is .m4a.
5 Rename M4A to M4B
Right-click the generated files. Choose "Show in Windows Explorer" option to find it on your computer. Make a copy of the .m4a file. Then rename the suffix of the copy file from .m4a to .m4b by yourself.
6 Add M4B Audiobook into iTunes
Drag and drop the M4B file into iTunes. Then the M4B file will automatically display in "Books > Audiobooks" section.
M4B file can be identified as audiobooks. And iTunes can remember playback position of M4B files without any extra procedure. In addition to iTunes, you can also play M4B files with other audiobook players including iPod.
If you just want to categorize MP3 audiobooks in iTunes audiobooks section, Check Method 1.
If you want to get an audiobook version file of MP3, Check Method 2.
With above two methods, you can easily convert MP3 to audiobook files in iTunes. Are they effective for you? Look forward to your comments. If you like it, sharing is great.
Grace Sue A reading enthusiast. Always pay close attention to the world of Ebook. Devote myself to share everything about e-book and favorably receive any suggestions.
How can you create the protect m4b file? Did you add the copy protection for the converted m4b file?
Please follow the detailed steps in the article to ensure create the non-problematic m4b file.
Is there a solution for Big Sur?
You can still do this with modern Mac OS software which doesn't include iTunes. Now music and other audio files are played in the "Music" app. Here are the steps I followed.
1. Great a new playlist in Music.
2. Right-click (two-finger click on trackpad) on the mp3 file in the Finder.
3. Select open with Music app.
4. It starts playing in the Music app. In the player controls at the top, you'll see the name of the file that is playing. Hover over the name and you'll see "..." next to it on the right. Click on "..."
5. A pop-up menu appears. Select "Add to Playlist." A list of your playlists comes up. Select the playlist you want to add it to.
6. Go into the playlist.
7. Right-click on the file you just added and select "Get Info".
8. A window pops up with information about the track. The first tab called "Details" is already selected. Under Genre in that window, change to Audiobook.
9. (possibly optional, but recommended) Switch to the Options tab in the pop-up window. Click the check-box for "playback __ Remember playback position.
This will sync through iCloud to your phone, but it may take some time to upload to iCloud and download to your iPhone. Now, when you play the track in the Music app on your phone, you'll have the typical skip back 30 seconds and skip forward 30 seconds buttons that were missing when Music thought it was a music file. That was what I needed.