Audio Files

Publishers that have a distribution agreement with Bokbasen must send raw audio files to Bokbasen following certain standards and conventions. This page describes the process for sending audio files to Bokbasen after you have signed the agreement with Bokbasen.

If you need information about the file requirements for audiobooks, please refer to Bokbasen’s Guidelines for audio files.

If you need information about how to name your audiofiles, please refer to Guidelines for Naming Audiobook Chapters.

Prerequisites 

Before you can send files to Bokbasen, the metadata on the book must be submitted and processed. Either manually using Meta, or through the Onix Import API (see Import Service). Any attempt to submit files before Metadata is registered will cause the processing of the file to fail. We also recommend that you have submitted cover image for the book before sending the file as these are embedded into the files during processing. Cover images are submitted to Bokbasen using Object Import API (see Import Service) or Meta (as for all books).

File Submission Requirements:

• File Naming and Zipping:

  1. ZIP folder name must be the audiobook’s ISBN number only.
     Format: {ISBN}.zip
     Example: 9781234567890.zip
     If you need assistance creating a ZIP folder, please refer to Bokbasen’s ZIP creation guide.

  2. Do not include any other characters, words, or symbols in the folder name. Incorrect naming will result in failed or incomplete submission.

  3. Contents of Zip File: Only include audio files (.wav or mp3) directly inside the zip file (no subfolders).

  4. Track Numbering: Each audio file must start with a track number using 3 numbers in a sequence (e.g., 001, 002, 003)

     • The intro should always be chapter 001

     • The outro should always be the last number in the sequence(00x+1)

  5. No Gaps in Track Numbers: Ensure track numbers are sequential without gaps. (e.g., 00 1, 0 02, 0 0 3)

• File Length: Each chapter, poem, story, intro, outro, and instruction must be their own file, no longer than 120 minutes. If a chapter contains a poem, story, or short story, the sections before, after, and including the interpolation should be combined into a single file.

• Segmenting: If there are no chapters, split the book into segments of 30-120 minutes each.

• File Formats: Submit files in either .mp3 or .wav format, with a recommended maximum length of 120 minutes per file.

• Audio Excerpt: An audio excerpt should be submitted in Meta. The excerpt should be delivered as a MP3 and should not be longer than 3 minutes or bigger than 10 Mb in size.

Transfer methods

• Upload using “Meta” (easy, but no batch)

• Upload using SFTP (more technical, supports batch)
  (Needs a username/passord to the FTP server for delivering files.)

Upload process

There are two ways of uploading audio files to Bokbasen, Meta and via SFTP. Bokbasen recommend using Meta for the ease of use. SFTP is for users who wants to do mass uploading of multiple ISBNs at the same time, but SFTP do require technical knowledge and use of Bokbasen’s API.

How to upload using Meta

Login to http://app.bokbasen.io using your credentials.

1. Navigate to Meta:

   1. Go to “Følg opp” and find the ISBN in the list of incomplete ISBNs, or

   2. Go to “Utgivelser” and search for the ISBN.

2. Upload Files:

   1. Go to the tab called “Filer og bilder.”

   2. Upload both the book (zip-folder, max 20GB) and the audio sample (mp3 file, max 10MB). How to create a .zip can be found here.

3. File Processing:

   1. Once the file processing is complete, go to the “Format” tab.

   2. Add chapter names and timestamps for the best user experience.

4. Rights Management:
   Remember to select “Ja” on “Rettighetsbelagt materiale” if your audio contains music that must be disclosed to Tono.

Upload using SFTP

1. Log in to our SFTP server using the hostname and credentials given to you from Bokbasen.

2. Upload the zip file into the folder named audio. (How to create a .zip)

3. Bokbasen's systems will automatically pick up the file and send it for processing.

4. Processing time depends on file size and number of items to be processed and can be anything from a few minutes to a few hours.

5. Check the folder Errors and Logs folder to check if processing has gone through. (See error handling for more info)

Error handling

Bokbasen Meta

When a book failes the upload process in Meta, there are two ways to receive feednback:

1. Error Message in the Interface: If a file fails to process (for example, due to wrong fileformat, wrong naming or a mix of mono and stereo channels), a red-outlined box will appear, like when a resource hasn't been uploaded yet. This box will explain what went wrong with the upload.

2. Email Notifications: You can also receive an email with details about the error or a confirmation when an audiobook has finished processing. To enable this, go to Settings and then scroll down to “Varsler", click the pencil to edit then add your email to “Lydfilbehandling (feilrapport) and to lydfilbehandling (kvittering).

SFTP

Files that does not pass validation are put in a separate folder in your FTP account so it is easy to follow up if Bokbasen has been able to read the file you sent us. When you log into the FTP account you will have a file called "errors", any Audio book that you uploaded that did not pass validation is put there. The filename will be {ISBN}-{timestamp}.zip (the timestamp is added to avoid overwriting files if you have uploaded several versions of the same ISBN).  Additionally, there will be a file named {ISBN}-{timestamp}.log that contains details on why the file was not accepted for processing. The log file is in XML format, making it machine-readable, but you can open it in any text editor to read it yourself. When a file passes validation, a “receipt” will be placed in the logs folder.