If you, like me, have a love for good stories being read aloud to you in the form of an audiobook, the worst thing is not knowing where you left off and having to physically look through the hours of and hours of tracks the next day. Fortunately, this problem can be easily solved by converting your .mp3 files into .m4b files, which will always keep your position in the track no matter how many other tracks you decide to play in between.
1. Merge your .mp3 files, if necessary. This is usually necessary if your audiobook CDs have a bunch of separate track listings. Merging your files will allow you to have a single track that plays for several hours rather than several short ones lasting only a few minutes. You can download the free software here.
2. Add your .mp3 files into iTunes. Right-click your file and select the “create AAC version.” If you do not see this option, that means that you have not set up your import options correctly. Go to Edit –> Preferences –> General –> Import Settings –> select “AAC encoder” from the drop-down menu.
4. Create your AAC files, and delete the .mp3 files from iTunes.
5. Now, go into your iTunes media folder, and search up the names of the files that you have just converted. You will see that the file extensions are displayed as .m4a. Simply replace the “a” with a “b.”
6. Delete the .m4a files from your iTunes library, and re-add the .m4b files (this prevents those annoying exclamation marks from popping up when iTunes can’t find your files). Edit info and such as necessary.
Enjoy your audiobook!