People ask me all the time:
How do I become an Audiobook Narrator?
Honestly, my journey to audiobooks has been a long road. I’ve been an avid reader, actor, and singer since I was a kid, so I had the foundation for performance and a love of literature, but the actual business of voice-over and narration is a whole different animal!
I made the decision to pursue VO full time in 2015. I actually spent a few years training and researching before I really jumped into auditioning and working, and even then, I only dabbled in audiobooks and had a love/hate relationship with them for a while. They’re hard work! And, working in isolation, it’s so frustrating not knowing if you’re doing the right thing or not.
I was also being too much of a perfectionist, which is so hard with long-form narration. If you nitpick too much, you’ll never finish an audiobook. I eventually had to adopt the mantra “Progress, Not Perfection!” Being a narrator means forever learning, growing, and improving on your craft, and I’ve learned to love the journey!
I fumbled around for years learning stuff, but I’ll direct you with the biggest game changer for me, which I only took last year: The Great Audiobook Adventure.
Since taking this course, I’ve seriously leveled up my audiobook game and have since started focusing on audiobooks as my main genre of voice-over. My booking rate went up like crazy, and I’m starting to foster relationships with publishers and producers. I wish I had taken it when I was just beginning my journey, because it gives you everything you need to get started, plus a community, which is so essential!
Some other things I recommend:
Take the webinars and watch the archive videos from the APA
I haven’t joined yet, but I hear PANA is also great for training and networking.
The VoiceOver Network has lots excellent workshops
Penguin Random House Producer Julie Wilson offers workshops and coaching: https://www.thearticulatecoach.com/
Join Facebook groups and be a fly on the wall. Search the archives to learn stuff. And beware of posting things without searching the topic first. Pros start to roll their eyes at the newbies who are too lazy to search for the information that’s been discussed a million times.
Groups:
Listen to as many audiobooks with good narrators as you can. I like to research the Audie winners and listen to them. You can also find good titles and reviews from AudioFile Magazine.
These are some of my favorite audiobooks:
“The Hail Mary Project” by Andy Weir, Narrated by Ray Porter
“Ready Player One” by Ernest Cline, Narrated by Wil Wheaton
“The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck” by Mark Manson, Narrated by Roger Wayne
I also love anything narrated by January LaVoy and Saska Maarleveld
Of course, coaching and workshops are always great. Do your research for vetted coaches (The FB groups have some good discussions about this). Several I’ve coached with or attended workshops with include:
- Elise Arsenault
- Ronnie Butler
- Scott Brick
- Julie Wilson
- PJ Ochlan
And once you get going with recording audiobooks, I highly recommend Pozotron for proofing your audiobooks. You can also export a report with any typos you find, which my indie authors appreciate.
Places to start building your profiles, adding samples, and finding auditions:
ACX (Beware of scams! Research titles and authors!)
AHAB (Note that this is the big leagues, run by Penguin Random House. Make sure you’re putting your best foot forward if you choose to audition. But absolutely start making your profile! Producers search keywords looking for the right narrator, and newbies have been hired)
Additional Narrator Profiles:
AudioFile Narrator Database (Paid)
There are so many more things I could list, but this is a good place to start. Please share any resources, coaches, and workshops you recommend in the comments!
Happy Narrating!
