Voice: Audiobooks

Thinking of voicing some texts that are in the public domain? You’re not limited to books, notes Karen Commins, audiobook narrator/producer/publisher, and leading curator of info about the audiobook industry. Karen shares where to find this great material in newspapers, magazines and short stories …

Audiobook narration. Sounds like a niche for you? It takes more than a “nice voice” to succeed there. Veteran audiobook narrator and REAPER (recording software) instructor James Romick details what you need just to get started …

For audiobook narration newcomers: Auditioning for work can be intimidating – and it’s also a waste of time and energy if you don’t approach it right. Award-winning narrator/voice actor/coach Noah DeBiase shares where to find auditions, plus how to choose and approach the genres that are best suited for you, in this excerpt from his book, “Booking Your First Audiobook Gig” …

Acclaimed audiobook narrator Ann Richardson advises that in order to turn out a top-notch audiobook, a narrator must “pre-read” the manuscript before stepping into the booth, to be prepared to inhabit the story, whether fiction or non-fiction. And today, with more relatives and friends “sheltering in place” amid the coronavirus crisis, a possible sideline for them is to do that prep work for you. So for your use – or as instructions for others – Ann shares these how-to guides for prepping non-fiction and fiction books before you record …

These days, many of the details and terms of your audiobook narration are set by the book’s Rights Holder. But not always. So VO and narrator pro/coach Tom Dheere offers this checklist of what to confirm before you turn on the mic …

How do you keep track of your audiobook narration recording time and finished hours? Here’s how narrator and VO pro Mike Lenz does it, with a spreadsheet that separates days by color and totals the times for recording and finished hours …

Audiobook narration pro and coach Dawn Harvey has also hired many narrators over the years, and advises: “Your demo should be representative of the very best work you can do.” Her two-part series on creating great audiobook demos concludes with lots of pointers …

The audiobook demo is your marketing calling card to audiobook publishers, book authors and other rights holders. So it’s got to attract their attention – and fast. “It must start off with a bang!” advises narration pro/coach Dawn Harvey in Part 1 of this series on how to select your demo materials – and other good stuff …

Ann Richardson is a long-time and award-winning audiobook narrator whose recent blog directed to her listening fans caught our attention. While explaining to listeners how thoroughly narrators research a book before opening the mic, she indirectly gives narrators excellent advice on how to learn word pronunciations …

When figuring out the time it will take you to prepare to narrate an audiobook, is length of the book – or stories – a consideration? Well, yes and no. Voice actor/narrator Tom Dheere is currently prepping four short stories for an anthology – a quick project? Hardly. Especially when he has to make a Japanese character sound Russian, and a Russian character sound Japanese …