How I Got Into Narration

Audiobook narration became a significant part of my career journey when I combined my passion for storytelling with my background in performance as a singer-songwriter. Initially, I was using freelance websites and social media platforms to meet clients who needed vocals and writers for their music, but soon I saw the potential for other kinds of audio that I could also offer.

I started working on really small projects, people’s answering machine messages and short commercial explainer videos, where I honed my vocal skills and learned the intricacies of recording spoken audio, and how to edit that kind of thing rather than instruments and singing!

This initial experience sparked my interest in the audiobook industry, where the art of conveying a narrative through voice is vital. I loved the idea of working on longer form projects, where I could really get stuck into the story and the characters.

To develop my narration skills, I immersed myself in the intricacies of audio production - listening to YouTube videos and enrolling in online courses - that helped explain how to go about producing this kind of audio! I also started to properly listen to audiobooks like never before, to try and understand the unique demands of different genres. I studied pacing, character differentiation, and emotional delivery, which I believe are essential to creating an immersive listening experience. I still think there’s so much more to learn though, so I’m constantly adapting and evolving as I go, always open to advice and lessons along the way!

My Mother is a teacher, and currently in her retirement she volunteers by teaching adults to read, and so the importance of accessibility in literature has been passed down to me. I see audiobook narration as a way to expand a book's reach and give a voice to authors' words. I am dedicated to bringing every story to life, ensuring that each narration is thoughtful and reflects the essence of the material.

Over time, by delivering high-quality audiobooks and a service that I’m incredibly proud of, I’ve developed a roster of authors and publishers that I’m incredibly grateful and lucky to work with on a routine basis. That’s the key thing that I’ve learned, whilst many voices are needing in the narration community, leaving a positive impression is the greatest way to ensure that your voice is repeatedly heard in this growing audiobook community.

A day in the life of a narrator

As a freelance audiobook narrator , I get asked a lot from my friends and sometimes even family, what my days actually consist of. Not quite believing, possibly, that I get to simply sit and read all day, but also genuinely curious about how an audiobook is created beyond just that.

So as i’m currently struck down with the dreaded festive flu, I figured it was about time to explain what my standard working day looks like as a audiobook narrator. But first, a little background!

At this point, I've been working full time in audio for quite a few years, although before going full time as a narrator, I was a singer-songwriter. So my days were frequently filled with bouts of creative highs and lows, and lots of procrastination! Now that I’ve delved more into narration (although always keeping a toe in the songwriting of course) I have found that my life is much more structured, although I’m sure it’ll never quite look like a standard nine to five. Which as Dolly beautifully put,, is “ enough to drive you crazy if you’ll let it” and certainly would be the case for myself!

So, usually I will wake up at around 6:30am and roll into the kitchen for a coffee and “breakfast club” with my fiancé. Then after a brief watch of the news and a cuddle with my cat Molly, I get myself ready and dressed (usually in what I’ll call my “work Pyjamas”) and head across the hall to my home office. I love a to-do list and each morning I start my day with one, listing out the chapters or pages that I’d like to complete by the end of the day, and the voice over projects that will need my attention. I check through my emails, and get to work on the most pressing job on my list.

After a couple of hours, usually I’ll look up and it’s lunch! So I’ll head out into my garden if it’s a nice day, or go out for a coffee if it’s not. This helps break up the computer time, and the solo time, as usually if i’m doing a full day of recording, the only person that I’ll see is my cat, Molly, and i’m not sure she counts! But this helps me to get some vitamin D, rest my voice, and usually have some sort of connection with the world beyond the lovely words on some lovely pages. Then i’m ready for another few hours of recording.

The question of editing comes up often when asked about my work, and the answer is that I edit as I go. I use the punch and roll method so that I don’t have to ever go back and re-listen to my work. And now that I’ve been working for some time as a narrator, I think i’m quite efficient at being able to get a good run out before fumbling my words or making any errors. At present my ratio of finished hours to recorded hours is about 2:1 which I’m pretty happy with, however I’d love to get to 1.5:1 at some point. That’s 1.5 hours of recording for every 1 hour of finished audio, can you imagine the efficiency?!

If I'm available to pick up more work, as i’m wrapping up for the end of the day, I’ll go through and record auditions for any audiobooks that have caught my eye on ACX, Author’s Republic or anywhere else that hosts auditions, and send those off. I love this part of my day, as i’m all warmed up vocally, and get the buzz of a potential new project. It’s lovely to leave your work day on a high of hopefulness, and it means that each morning I wake up excited to read any messages or emails regarding my auditions. I’ve found that authors and publishers are some of the kindest and most genuine people I’ve ever worked with, and it helps that they’re excellent with their words as their emails and messages usually leave me feeling incredibly appreciated and thankful for my job.

Anyway, that’s it really. A mixture of emails, recording, some mild edits and lots and lots of reading. And I couldn't love it more.