Do You Have What it Takes to be an Audiobook Narrator?

The audiobook industry is a booming market. In many parts of the world it has consistently been growing at double digit rates on a yearly basis. While the best audiobook productions are made in studios there are jobs that can be done at home. The job or business promises independence and good pay. But are you suited for the job? Here are what you should consider:

The Most Important Factor: Do You have the Voice for It?

This is the first of all things and the most important. It is what audiobook production companies look for in a narrator. Believe it or not successful audiobook narrators have particular voice talents that are significantly different from other voice acting jobs.

There have been public speakers, movie actors, theatre actors, radio voice talents and so on who have tried audiobook narration and spectacularly failed. For example Dame Judi Dench a well known actress does not do audiobook narration.

So do not think that just because you can read and speak good English or whatever language you grew up with you can easily get a job as an audiobook narrator. There are reasons why people like particular singers or certain radio broadcasters. It is their voice they like.

For example an opera singer can sing musical notes that most common people cannot possibly duplicate. There is also the reason why we have the term ”A Voice for Radio". This denotes people that have voices so distinct that they stand out from the rest.

But we are getting a bit offtopic here. Audiobook narrators have their own specialized voice. I have heard a lot of audiobooks and I immediately stop listening to an audiobook when I do not agree with the voice of the narrator.

A Voice Can Be Best Used Elsewhere

I have experiences where the audiobook narrator was like the typical game commentator and I can clearly see that they were trying to emphasize some sentences or words in the story. They might be trying to drum up excitement except that their style did not work for me.

At other times the narrator seems to be monotonously reading in a bored way. Their voice seemed subdued even at the exciting parts of the story. It is as if the narrator was softly trying to put me to sleep.

I am not saying that both voices are not appropriate but rather their voices should be used where it is more appropriate. The narrator with the game commentator voice should be commenting on games and the other narrator should be doing ASMR instead.

Test Yourself

Try to read a book aloud just to check if you have the voice for audiobook narration. Are you satisfied with your own voice? Would you pay to hear your own voice? Only you could answer this but there is another test.

This time the test is to read a book aloud to a number of people. You need to read aloud not to a group of people but to a single person at a time. Why? Reading to a group of people is more akin to public speaking rather than audiobook narration.

Have you read book being publicly read to an audience? How does it sound like? Your guess is as good as mine. There is a difference between public speaking and speaking to a single person. Audiobook is more personal than public speaking.

Now that you have read aloud a book or chapters of it to several people, ask them for their reaction. Will they buy an audiobook narrated by you? Ask them to be truthful to you and not polite. Ask them what their harshest analysis is with regard to your voice.

This will give you valuable feedback if you have the voice for audiobook narration. If for example you decide to record your own audiobook your voice analysis will help you decide if you want to record your audiobook using your own voice or use another person’s voice.

Do You Have the Appropriate Vocal Training?

You have to remember that recording audiobooks takes a toll on your throat and lungs. Speaking aloud takes a lot of toll on your voice muscles. Speaking aloud for long stretches of hours can stress the lungs.

You might have the voice but if you are not trained to speak for long hours at a time then you would simply fail. Remember that movie actors, theater actors also fail at audiobook narration. Why do they fail?

Because unlike movies and theater plays these actors get to say a line and then stop to do something like act or wait for the other actors to say their lines. Audiobook narration is continuous speaking.

Audiobook narrators speak for hours non-stop. They usually speak non-stop unless they are stopped because of speaking errors or other things. Normally, audiobook narrators read one hundred pages a day.

Try to read one hundred pages non-stop with little breaks. See if you can hold the attention of your audience long enough that they understand what you are thinking of. Note that reading non-stop requires a lot of lung strength and throat control.

Have you ever seen comedians when they perform onstage? What do they have? They usually drink water from time to time. This is how punishing speaking can be if done almost non-stop. If comedians tire within for example thirty minutes and stop to pause or drink water then you have an idea of how hard audiobook narration is.

Do You Love Reading Books?

You can’t fake this. If you want to be a narrator for money’s sake then it’s okay, but remember that to last in any job you do you have to enjoy doing it for long periods of a time. This is especially true with audiobook narration.

Remember that audiobook narration is time intensive. One hour of recording can for example turn into three hours of recording after the corrections have been applied. Imagine reading the same words over and over again until you or the producer of the audiobook is satisfied.

This is not unlike movie creation where you are allowed a certain number of mistakes and allowed to repeat a scene over and over again. With audiobook narration there is just so much time allotted towards the creation of the audiobook that not only do you have to minimize your mistakes but have to be ready to read with near perfection.

This means studying your books intently. Unlike a normal person reading a book you have to have an expert knowledge of the book you are assigned to. The only way you can successfully do this is if you enjoy reading a book sometimes over and over again just to get the details right.

Can You Really Interpret the Book?

Reading the words in a book is very different from reading it aloud and with character. What do I mean with character? For example there is a difference between speaking in the current time, historical time and future time.

For example can your voice and manner of speaking be identified with a person that lived in during Victorian Times where the British accent and manner of speaking is so identified with. Can you speak like the characters in Star Trek particularly like the character of Spock played by Leonard Nimoy.

I do not know if you noticed but Leonard Nimoy tends to be casted as "the intelligent one” because of his successful acting of the Spock character. But you can see that his voice and manner of speaking easily identifies with intelligence. Intelligence is a big factor in futuristic storylines.

Do you have the proper slang? There would be times when the character you are narrating has a slang when speaking. For example even if you are an American can you speak with an Irish slang if the book you are narrating requires this?

This is why in the world of freelancing native English speakers have a distinct advantage as most audiobooks are narrated with an English tongue. It used to be that American English is the most in demand English language but times are changing.

Due to the increasing popularity of audiobooks in the UK there is also now a healthy demand for British English in the audiobook narration industry. Like it or not even though people from non-English speaking countries can speak good if not excellent English, native speakers know the intricacies of their native English tongue.

There are also certain words that are hard to say aloud like scientific names. There are words that when combined together creates an entirely new word with an altogether different meaning. For example the word “it” combined with a word before it can have several meanings when said at different speeds.

Can you effectively switch between a male and a female persona at an instant?

There are audiobook jobs that are done by two people to accommodate male and female personas. But most audiobooks are narrated by only one person.

This is especially true if your clients are on a tight budget and can only hire one narrator. Do you feel comfortable enough to inhabit the persona of an opposite sex? This might not be much of a case for female narrators but for male narrators it could be a problem.

This is especially so for the sensitive parts of the book dealing with male and female interactions. A narrator could be willing to inhabit the persona of the opposite sex but might not be convincing enough for the listener of the audiobook.

Can you effectively differentiate the different characters in the audiobook?

There are audiobook productions that can afford to hire an entire cast of narrators for the different characters in an audiobook. But again, these kinds of projects are not common and you would most likely have to do all the characters by yourself.

According to the audiobook narrator of the Harry Potter Series he had to narrate all the characters in the book series by himself. He told us that as the series progressed more characters were introduced and he had to expand his range to accommodate the addition of the new characters.

For example if your story was a story about a group of old women of which one of them is very frail, how would you differentiate in your narration this frail old lady when all the characters are also old ladies and weak?

This skill to subtly be able to differentiate characters that are identical through narration is why some narrators earn the big money. It takes real skill to narrate a conversation between two or more characters when you only have yourself to talk to.

Can you Become Objective

One professional narrator pointed this out: “It’s not about you. It’s about the book. You are here to tell the author’s story.” She pointed out that some narrators tend to grandstand while narrating trying to bring a certain flair to their narration.

Whatever their motives they have the effect of distracting the listener from the flow of the story. Audiobook producers can sense when the narrator is doing this and this may prevent the narrator from fired and not being hired again.

Do You Have the Stamina?

As previously mentioned reading aloud for long periods of time is stressful to the throat and lungs. Narrators are said to read one hundred pages a day. One hour of audio recording could translate to three more hours of recording after the editing and retakes have been added.

It is so physically draining that narrators tend to use a lot of lip balm. One professional narrator told in an interview that on her first day of recording her lips were so dry that they cracked and she can taste the blood from the cracks. This is why she regularly puts on lip balm.

Do You Have the Discipline to Maintain Your Voice?

An audiobook is like an athlete who must be in tip top shape all the time. But instead of muscles in the arms or legs they use their throat muscles and lungs to create their much sought after narrating skills.

Audiobook narrators avoid cold drinks, alcohol, cigarettes, foods like cheese and generally do not go on a night out if they are about to narrate an audiobook.

They also control themselves from shouting. This might not seem a lot of work. But consider not being able to raise your voice when you need to. For example, you cannot shout and express your enjoyment at a ball game.

Imagine also of having to conserve your voice even if the situation necessitates it. For example, if your children are becoming very unruly and are ignoring your timid warnings. You might have to use a loud voice just to keep your children in place.

Above all, you must be in good shape. If you are sickly you might lose your voice in the process and be unable to work. Having a fever too and coughing prevents you from doing your job as a narrator.

Can you stay still for hours on end and even the entire day?

Professional audiobook narrators who have plenty of experiences working in a studio recount how hard it is to not make a noise besides their voice. The tapping of fingers or the feet to the floor could be enough to ruin an audio recording.

Some narrators accidentally move the chairs which in turn makes a noise. Some accidentally make a noise when their arms or feet hit the table. Again, this is enough reason for an almost perfect audio recording to be ruined.

Can You Hustle for a Job?

Audiobook narration is a job being increasingly entered by big name celebrities. There is even an industry award called the “Audies” to give the industry more credentials. They are your competitors plus the millions of lesser known audiobook narrators who have been in the job for decades.

The audiobook industry might be booming but so is the number of people who want to profit from it. When people sense that there is money to be made from something, they flock in numbers to take advantage of the prospect.

Just like the California Gold Rush. Can you also successfully prospect for gold and not be just another dreamer who would spend all their time and money for nothing? The gold in this case is a high paying narrator job. It is true that narration jobs can pay big money but this is not always the case.

This article won’t discuss anymore where to look for audiobook narration jobs. Anyone without being instructed can find it for themselves online. For example, if you Google the search keywords “audiobook narrator jobs” plenty of articles would show up where and how to find jobs as an audiobook narrator.

There are for example Amazon’s Audible and voices.com as popular websites for narration jobs. The freelancing platforms also abound with jobs for narration. Upwork, Freelancer and PeoplePerHour are just some of the freelancing sites that also offer narration jobs.

Are You Available On Short Notice?

A veteran audiobook narrator spoke about the unpredictability of the job. There would be times when there would be no jobs available and times when suddenly a job would come out of the blue requiring only a short time for a narrator to prepare.

According to her, a narrator is usually given weeks to prepare for the job. There would be instances however when a narrator is only given one day to prepare and they would have only an entire night to get acquainted with their audiobook project.

Besides the hard part of hustling for a narrator job you would have to contend with the part that if you are doing it on a part-time basis your work schedule might conflict with one another.

Do You Have You Own Adequate Studio?

Professional studios are used for narration. But increasingly, companies are allowing their narrators to work from home. Even well established narrators now do all or some of their narration jobs at home.

Platforms like Audible who is in turn owned by Amazon for example have narration jobs that can be done from home assuming you have the proper studio setup. An adequate studio means that you have the proper audio recording and editing equipment available to record audiobooks.

Another and perhaps more important subject to tackle about your studio is noise. Professional narrators tell of stories where even their best efforts at noise insulation is not enough to prevent noises with interfering with their work.

This is especially true if the narrator does not have a dedicated studio in their house. Talkative neighbors, dogs barking, the sound of construction work at the next street or even the sound of footsteps from the floor above could ruin a narrator’s work.

Have you watched a YouTube video done from a person’s room where all of a sudden the video narrator was interrupted by noise from outside the room. The video narrator cannot edit out the noise because it is too much work. This is very similar to how audiobook narrators suffer.

Conclusion

Being an audiobook narrator is not a simple job even though you may be used to using your voice and talking skills for a job. You might have worked as a movie or television actor, theater actor, public speaker, radio personality and so on but still fail at this job.

There are plenty of requirements for this job. The most important of all is the voice you have. Besides this you need to be able to clearly convey to the listener what the book is about. You must be able to adapt the persona of the characters in the book and much more.

You must be healthy enough to narrate which means taking care of yourself especially your voice. If you lose your voice or if your voice changes it could be the end of your career. Many audiobook companies now allow working from home but for this you need a proper studio. Besides having good audio recording and editing equipment, you need good noise insulation.

These article pretty much sums the advice and experience of many veteran audiobook narrators.

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