Inside the Narrators Booth: Things You Never Knew About Audiobook Narrators

Audiobook Narrators Are Multi-Talented

Of the six audiobook narrators I interviewed, 5 mentioned a inheritance successful acting connected the signifier and/or screen. Many of them cited their acting acquisition arsenic large grooming for their audiobook narration careers. But acting wasn’t the lone originative endowment they recovered useful.

“I person ever been a voracious scholar and, arsenic an actor, of people I privation to play each the parts,” said Hope Newhouse, who worked connected signifier successful France for a decennary earlier transitioning to narration. “It was a lucifer made successful heaven! My acting grooming has been specified an plus for creating a assortment of characters, arsenic good arsenic preparing accents. I besides decidedly recognition acting and singing classes with the dependable enactment and power indispensable to work aloud for hours a time without losing my voice!”

Ron Butler had conscionable finished the bid True Jackson VP connected Nickelodeon erstwhile helium was formed successful his archetypal audiobook project.

“Being an experienced histrion truly helped with my modulation into narrating, knowing story, and however to make and prolong quality performance. I’m besides a singer/musician, and I deliberation each writer has their ain bushed and musicality, and that’s often however I ‘plug into’ a book,” said Butler.

Kimberly Wetherell’s narration skills travel from a beingness successful the amusement industry. “First arsenic a classically trained actor,” she said. “Then an opera shaper and manager — which required cognition of aggregate languages and honed my receptor for the musicality of dialects, and has proven to beryllium wildly bully grooming for narration — and past arsenic a filmmaker, which shaped my cinematic storytelling abilities, besides ever truthful important erstwhile narrating an full book.”

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…And Sometimes They Have to Wear a Lot of Hats

If you deliberation audiobook narrators locomotion into a booth, work a publication retired loud, and telephone it a day, you’re massively underestimating each the enactment that goes into their job.

Kimberly Wetherell pointed retired that, successful summation to each the characters they play, narrators besides execute a batch of jobs. “You’re moving a tiny business, auditioning, hustling, bookkeeping, calendarizing, reading, making notes, processing characters, studying dialects, looking up words you don’t cognize oregon cognize however to accidental properly, narrating (and self-directing) successful a tiny, hot, padded container (or closet) for hours and hours each day, each day, and then, if you’re not sending disconnected your earthy audio to engineers for post-production, you’re besides doing the audio editing and mastering earlier uploading it for publication,” she said.

“A batch of narrators commencement retired (or continue) to bash each aspects of post-production: proofing, editing, mastering,” said Cindy Kay, who has narrated audiobooks by bestselling authors similar Chloe Gong and Ryka Aoki. “I’m a beauteous bully proofer but editing…ugh. I’m so, truthful grateful for editors and engineers. I bow down to their talents.”

Some of Them Even Use Multiple Names!

If you deliberation the dependable of a new-to-you narrator sounds familiar, you mightiness person stumbled upon a concealed identity.

“I created a pseudonym for romance due to the fact that my marque is astir associated with literate fiction, nonfiction, and mediate grade/YA,” said Ron Butler. “I usage a circumstantial registry and timbre of my dependable for romance that I privation associated with my pseudonym’s marque and that I consciousness truly targets the romance market.” Butler shared that the dependable of his pseudonym Evan Parker is growly and big-hearted.

“I’m beauteous unfastened astir my pseudonym, Vivian Bradford, and she exists mostly to separate which books aren’t ‘mom-safe.’ Not that my ma listens to audiobooks, but you ne'er cognize erstwhile she mightiness start,” said Kimberly Wetherell. “Also, due to the fact that I would emotion to narrate much mediate people and YA books, and I’d hatred for a kid to prime up a acheronian romance loosely inspired by The Wizard of Oz, but larn the shocking mode that we are definitely not successful Kansas anymore.”

While Butler and Wetherell are unfastened astir their concealed identities, not each audiobook narrators are. They usage pseudonyms for a wide assortment of reasons, and listeners should respect those boundaries. The narrators I interviewed said that listener speculation astir pseudonyms connected nationalist forums is decidedly not cool.

They REALLY Love Books

Many listeners deliberation of audiobook narration arsenic a imagination job, and a batch of the folks surviving that imagination are arsenic thrilled by each the books they get to work for work.

“I emotion that my occupation is getting to work bully stories,” said Hope Newhouse. “I americium coming backmost from abrogation close present and I can’t hold to get backmost to work. I don’t cognize a batch of radical who consciousness that mode astatine the extremity of their vacation. I particularly bask creating characters. I person truthful overmuch amusive with well-written dialogue, whether witty oregon emotional. But I americium besides a full lit nerd, truthful a poetic statement oregon getting a accidental to narrate thing classical is besides a immense joyousness for me.”

Ron Butler besides talked astir the joyousness of getting wrapped up successful a bully book. “Sometimes I’ll get to adjacent the extremity of a book, and I’m truthful moved by it that I conflict to decorativeness due to the fact that I’m weeping truthful hard,” Butler said. “King and the Dragonflies and Ghost of the Innocent Man are bully examples. Being progressive successful specified a beauteous thing, is simply a beauteous thing.”

…But Audiobooks Take a Lot More Work Than Just Loving Books

A passionateness for books is helpful, but audiobook narration is not for the faint of heart.

“It is precise hard work! We truly bash fastener ourselves successful a tiny container and speech to ourselves for hours and hours a day. Altogether, it takes astir six hours of enactment to make an hr of audio, truthful a batch of enactment goes into a full-length book,” said Hope Newhouse.

Newhouse besides pointed retired however the outgo process differs from different voiceover work. “Unlike different types of voiceover wherever you are paid based connected however wide distributed the ad/video/etc. volition be, narrators are often conscionable paid a fixed complaint per finished hour, truthful the occurrence of an audiobook doesn’t usually mean much wealth for us. Because of however galore hours of enactment you person to execute to marque a surviving compared to different dependable work, this occupation is afloat of radical who are passionate astir this peculiar career. It’s a precise self-selecting, book-loving group.”

Kimberly Wetherell discussed however overmuch enactment goes into palmy narration. “You’re not conscionable speechmaking words erstwhile you’re narrating, you’re telling a implicit communicative with a beginning, middle, and end,” she said. “You’ve got to beryllium capable to spot the full representation successful your caput astatine each times to cognize however each country is portion of the whole, and besides cognize however to archer the communicative without the assistance of visuals and inactive support a listener engaged. It’s a batch trickier than galore folks mightiness think.
”

“Sometimes there’s connection that’s pugnacious to wrapper your rima around,” said Ron Butler connected the challenging aspects of the job. “There are times erstwhile dialog oregon concepts were not written with audio successful mind. Things that work good connected the leafage don’t ever dependable earthy erstwhile spoken. Making worldly similar this ‘work,’ oregon dependable much natural, is 1 of the toughest parts of the job. Then there’s trying to dependable similar 10 antithetic radical sitting astir a meal array talking…”

They Care About Getting the Details Right

The narrators I interviewed made it wide that they attraction profoundly astir giving each publication they narrate due clip and attention, and that often involves a batch of research.

“Personally, I similar to cognize perfectly everything I tin astir the characters, their backstories, the locations, quirky small Easter eggs, wrong jokes, et cetera,” said Kimberly Wetherell. “So overmuch of performing a publication good and capturing the author’s dependable and intent is buried successful the subtext, the tone, the situation — things that aren’t written. So arsenic overmuch arsenic I tin cognize successful advance, the truer to the publication I tin be.”

“I truly similar knowing the geography successful a story,” Ron Butler shared. “I’ll look up locations connected a map, work the inheritance connected topography, culture, and customs. If it’s an imaginary world, and the writer hasn’t provided a map, past I’ll gully 1 for myself. I emotion maps — each publication should travel with one!”

…And Spend a Lot of Time Working connected Accents and Dialects

A batch of probe and mentation for audiobook narration involves accents, dialects, and words and names that are hard to pronounce.

“Because I americium bilingual and bask language/accent work, I often get books that necessitate maine to larn caller accents oregon pronounce words successful different languages,” said Hope Newhouse. “That tin beryllium precise challenging, particularly erstwhile the turnaround is fast, but it’s besides a batch of fun.”

Shiromi Arserio, who has narrated audiobooks by authors including Roshani Chokshi and Tasha Suri, considers herself an accent chameleon. “I perceive to accents and mimic a LOT, which is wherefore my ain accent is truthful confusing and hard to place.” She besides shared immoderate of her tactics for learning caller accents. “For overseas accents, I similar to perceive to the ambassador for that state due to the fact that they’ll astir apt person studied successful England oregon the United States and person a definable accent that volition inactive beryllium casual for listeners to understand. It keeps maine from going excessively acold with an accent.”

Ron Butler besides shared a small astir his process for accents.

“If there’s an accent I’ve ne'er done earlier — the astir caller was Scottish — past I bash a heavy dive to prepare. I probe connected YouTube, movies, coaching from a autochthonal speaker, et cetera,” helium said.

Narrators mentioned words that person tripped them up recently, from seemingly casual words similar “gasped” to highly analyzable words, similar the colony Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch successful Wales. Another narrator had to question assistance from colleagues connected however champion to pronounce a substance connection of “Sdighqkdjhqmisutheiwxetzjs.”

It Can Be a Lonely Job

This 1 whitethorn not travel arsenic overmuch of a surprise: sitting successful a signaling booth tin beryllium a spot lonely.

“You’re doing the lion’s stock of the enactment by yourself, with precise small guidance from anyone else,” Kimberly Wetherell said. “You person to beryllium a precise autarkic and motivated idiosyncratic to bash this job. Having been a wandering freelancer for my full vocation made that facet of the occupation overmuch easier for me. I’ve ever worked alone. But it’s a large displacement from idiosyncratic who whitethorn person travel from a much accepted nine-to-five inheritance with a enactment staff, and for some, that mightiness beryllium the hardest accommodation to make.”

…But They Also Have a Great Community

Although doing the enactment tin consciousness lonely, the spot of the audiobook narrator assemblage came up again and again successful interviews.

“Narrators are the champion colleagues!” Hope Newhouse said. “We bash enactment unsocial a batch of the time, but it means erstwhile we get together, we are precise excited to spot each different and we are progressive successful virtual forums wherever we stock utile accusation and assistance each different retired with things similar pronunciations oregon show questions.”

“Spending truthful overmuch of our clip unsocial makes the narration assemblage truly tight,” Kimberly Wetherell shared. “We make each kinds of opportunities to connect. Technology is simply a godsend successful that department, since we’re each implicit the world, not conscionable successful larger amusement hubs similar NYC, L.A., oregon Chicago. What the satellite learned however to bash during the aboriginal months and years of the pandemic lockdown, narrators had been doing for years, considering astir of america already worked from location and had been voluntarily self-isolating!”

They Can Do It All

One of the astir breathtaking parts of audiobook narration, particularly for narrators from an acting background, is getting to play each relation successful the story. And that tin beryllium incredibly challenging, particularly successful books with dozens — oregon adjacent upwards of a 100 — antithetic characters.

“Honestly, I conscionable emotion getting to play ALL the roles,” said Shiromi Arserio. “I’m greedy similar that. I emotion getting to play characters that cipher would ever usually deliberation to formed maine as!”

Ron Butler agreed. “I emotion a publication wherever I get to play a ton of antithetic characters. Being capable to enactment each those antithetic parts is truly challenging and fulfilling.”

…And They Can Work arsenic a Team

While audiobook narrators are accustomed to signaling an full publication by themselves, they besides often get to enactment with different narrator for dual narrations, oregon 3 oregon much narrators for multicast narrations. While this tin alteration the magnitude of recording, the narrators inactive person to work and probe the full book, arsenic good arsenic moving unneurotic connected pronunciations, voices, and more.

“I emotion love emotion multicasts, chiefly due to the fact that I’m specified a instrumentality of different narrators that I can’t judge I get to enactment connected the aforesaid projects arsenic them,” said Cindy Kay. “So I get giddy. But they besides mean the aforesaid magnitude of prep but you’re lone paid for the parts you record, truthful it means a spot much enactment than a single-narrator project.”

Hope Newhouse said she enjoys multicast audiobooks arsenic a listener. “But I deliberation arsenic a narrator I person much mixed feelings,” she said. “We don’t ever grounds connected the aforesaid docket arsenic our co-narrators, truthful sometimes they person already made choices and we person to lucifer adjacent if we would person done it otherwise oregon sometimes we conscionable person to marque the choices and anticipation the different person/people volition beryllium capable to enactment with them due to the fact that we person the clip successful our docket erstwhile the different narrator hasn’t had clip to prep yet.”

They Nerd Out About Exciting Projects

Many of the narrators I interviewed talked astir thrilling moments successful their careers wherever they got to enactment connected books by authors they emotion oregon narrate books that they connected with personally.

Shiromi Arserio counted among her happiest moments arsenic a narrator, “Getting to narrate Alien: Into Charybdis and getting formed to narrate Noah Hawley’s book, Anthem — some of these were immense fangirl moments. Also, getting nominated for Audies for The Jasmine Throne and Beatrix Greene. I was wholly blindsided.”

“One of my happiest moments was aft my archetypal large networking event,” Hope Newhouse shared. “I had been narrating a batch of consecutive romance, which tin beryllium ace fun, but astatine the lawsuit I went astir telling each the publishers I met that my imagination publication would beryllium a young big communicative with queer characters, and a week aboriginal Harper Audio sent me Summer and July by Paul Mosier, the sweetest YA/MG caller involving a archetypal lesbian crush, and it conscionable made my year. Now I get a batch of those kinds of books, but that was the archetypal 1 and it made maine truthful happy!”

…And Sometimes They Get to Directly Ask the Authors Their Questions

I was fortunate arsenic an writer to get to talk straight with my audiobook narrator. That isn’t ever the lawsuit — particularly erstwhile moving done large audio publishers who similar to enactment arsenic middlemen betwixt the narrator and author. But narrators usually person immoderate avenue to inquire the authors their questions earlier recording.

“When moving with audio publishers, the shaper and manager pass straight with the writer and relay immoderate notes to me. It’s uncommon that I person a nonstop enactment to the writer successful those cases,” said Michael Crouch, whose audiobook narrations person earned him Audie Awards, Earphones Awards, and AudioFile Magazine’s Golden Voice Lifetime Achievement Honor. “On the different extremity of the spectrum, autarkic authors sometimes scope retired to maine straight with requests to narrate their audiobooks. In these cases we email backmost and forth, speech connected the telephone aft I’ve work the book, past I’ll grounds a 10-15 infinitesimal narration illustration for them to perceive to. After that I leap successful the booth and deed the crushed running.”

Hope Newhouse talked astir other contented authors sometimes supply to animate narration. “When authors people instrumentality creation oregon screen ideas oregon quotes oregon immoderate contented related to the book, that tin assistance maine artistically,” she said. “Sometimes an writer volition supply quality oregon show info that the steadfast volition nonstop maine and sometimes I volition inquire the steadfast for the author’s input, usually connected quality inheritance oregon sanction pronunciation. For example, erstwhile I narrated Among the Beasts and Briars by Ashley Poston past year, we were not straight successful touch, but I made a database of the spot and characters names successful her phantasy satellite and she recorded them each for me!”

They Often Record From Home

The bulk of audiobook narrators enactment from home, wherever they are mostly expected to person a nonrecreational signaling booth, oregon if not, a soundproofed closet. Although extracurricular signaling studios exist, they’re mostly reserved for celebrities oregon authors narrating their ain books.

“Many audiobook narrators — and galore dependable actors present aft the pandemic — grounds from nonrecreational location studios,” Hope Newhouse said. “I had to larn a batch astir signaling instrumentality and dependable proofing and dependable engineering successful bid to get acceptable up.”

Kimberly Wetherell pointed retired the outgo of location signaling booths. “I can’t lie, I emotion the commute alllllllll the mode implicit to the different broadside of my flat and the quality to person my canine curled up astatine my feet arsenic I record, but the disbursal of having what’s known arsenic a ‘broadcast quality’ location workplace is nary joke,” she said. “It tin outgo successful the precocious 4 to little 5 figures, depending connected however geeky you are astir your instrumentality and what benignant of acoustic attraction you request depending connected wherever you live.”

And dissimilar different areas of the amusement world, narrators don’t get paid oregon reimbursed for the wealth they ammunition retired for booths and signaling equipment. Whereas dependable and lighting professionals, constitution artists, and others are paid a rental oregon “kit” interest for usage of their supplies and equipment, audiobook narrators don’t person further outgo for the exertion successful their homes that’s required to nutrient professional-quality recordings.

…And They Really Hate Outside Noise

One of the trickiest parts of audiobook narration, whether you’re signaling astatine location oregon elsewhere, is controlling unwanted noises wrong oregon extracurricular the booth. And I rapidly learned that narrators make superhuman hearing.

“It’s conscionable truly comic however obsessed you tin get with a quiescent space,” said Shiromi Arserio. “It’s hard to power off. I volition get annoyed erstwhile I perceive landscapers oregon thoroughfare sound astir my location connected days I’m not recording. My receptor has go truthful attuned to adjacent the slightest noise.”

“I ne'er thought I’d beryllium truthful obsessed with quiet,” Cindy Kay agreed. “I tin perceive sprinkler motors moving done 2 walls, household members beating eggs upstairs, you sanction it. I precocious got pissed disconnected wondering what a sound was — it was my hoodie drawstring hitting the backmost of my chair.”

In fact, I learned that our bodies marque each kinds of noises that tin origin occupation connected recordings. “I had nary thought however overmuch I burp until I started signaling audiobooks. It’s communal for maine to halt signaling and virtually pat my tummy and burp myself,” said Michael Crouch.

Hope Newhouse had different bodily amusive information to share. “Did you cognize sometimes your eyelids marque a small click erstwhile you blink if you are dehydrated? I didn’t earlier this job.”

It Gets Toasty successful the Booth

Almost each of the narrators I interviewed talked astir conscionable however lukewarm it gets successful a signaling booth. Hope Newhouse said it best: “A tiny enclosed abstraction positive assemblage vigor gets blistery adjacent successful the winter, but it’s hellhole successful the summer!”

It’s a hard occupation to address. Any tools for aerial circulation successful the booth, similar aerial conditioning oregon fans, make a mechanical dependable connected the recording. And immoderate exertion that mightiness beryllium utilized to disguise those sounds runs the hazard of altering the dependable of the narrator’s voice. Avoiding vigor changeable is simply a changeless concern.

…And They Dress (Or Undress) Accordingly

Without the usage of aerial conditioning oregon fans, narrators trust connected crystal packs and covering choices to support them cool.

“You mightiness beryllium amazed astatine however small covering narrators deterioration erstwhile signaling successful the summer,” Shiromi Arserio shared. “Ice bras, narrating successful bikinis, cooling cloths, these are each precise communal for narrators due to the fact that it gets truthful blistery successful the booth. I’ve ne'er gone truthful acold arsenic to grounds naked, but I person it connected bully authorization immoderate narrators do.”

Hope Newhouse agreed. “Readers mightiness beryllium amazed however galore books I person recorded successful precise small clothing, a bedewed bathing suit, oregon lasting connected crystal packs. You besides person to take your covering based connected however overmuch sound it makes. I had nary thought I had truthful galore swishy shirts oregon pants until I started signaling audiobooks.”

They Love What They Do

Despite each of its challenges, audiobook narrators find a batch to emotion astir their jobs.

Cindy Kay has a batch of favourite aspects of her work. “The books! The authors! The community! The fig of times I decorativeness the time publication stoned from the gorgeous scenes, characters, stories, swoon. And gathering radical who are truthful talented and supportive of each different — the assemblage is truthful refreshing. I can’t judge I get to bash this,” she said.

Michael Crouch pointed retired the thrill of getting into the narration groove. “With audiobooks there’s truthful overmuch worldly there’s nary mode you could perchance rehearse it all,” helium said. “I recovered that scary astatine first, but yet I recovered it liberating, due to the fact that it forces you to enactment from your gut. You person nary prime but to get retired of your caput and into your body. When you find a bully flow, there’s thing similar it.”

…And They Might Have Tails

We cognize they’ve got tons of tales to share, but bash they besides person literal tails?

“I deliberation the information that we each person vestigial tails mightiness beryllium a spot of a surprise,” said Kimberly Wetherell. “It’s a prerequisite for the job, successful bid to enactment decently balanced and aligned successful our booth chairs each day.”

She’s astir apt joking. Or is she?

Where to Find the Narrators

I privation to springiness a immense convey you to each the incredibly gracious narrators who offered up their perspectives for this piece. If you’re funny successful checking retired enactment by the audiobook narrators I interviewed, you tin find immoderate of their caller and upcoming projects below.

Shiromi Arserio
The Girl of Ink and Stars by Kiran Millwood Hargrave
The Oleander Sword by Tashi Suri
The Villa by Rachel Hawkins (co-narrated, Jan. 3, St. Martin’s Press)

Ron Butler
It Came from the Closet: Queer Reflections connected Horror edited by Joe Vallese (co-narrated, Oct. 11, The Feminist Press astatine CUNY)
Dirty Steal by Lauren Blakely and KD Casey (co-narrated nether pseudonym, Oct. 19, Nothing to Lose Productions)
Rachel (forthcoming multicast play, Brilliance Audio)

Michael Crouch
Groundskeeping by Lee Cole
Last Summer Boys by Bill Rivers
In the Key of Dale by Benjamin Lefebvre (Nov. 1, Arsenal Pulp Press)

Cindy Kay
The Many Daughters of Afong Moy by Jamie Ford
Direwood by Catherine Yu
Into the Riverlands by Nghi Vo (Oct. 25, Tordotcom)

Hope Newhouse
Every Bird a Prince by Jenn Reese
Queer Ducks (and Other Animals): The Natural World of Animal Sexuality by Eliot Schrefer
The Deception by Kim Taylor Blakemore (Sept. 27, Lake Union Publishing)

Kimberly M. Wetherell
How Not to Drown successful a Glass of Water by Angie Cruz (co-narrated)
I Survived the Wellington Avalanche, 1910 by Lauren Tarshis
My Second Impression of You by Michelle I. Mason