How to Become a Professional Audiobook Narrator: A Simple Guide

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Have you ever enjoyed listening to an audiobook? You may not know that there is actually a money-making profession for being the narrator of these types of books. It’s called audiobook narration and it’s a great home business to consider! In this blog post I will walk you through how to become an audiobook narrator, including what equipment you need, where to find jobs, and why are they so popular.

How Do You Become An Audio Book Narrator?

To become an audiobook narrator, you should have a great voice and good acting skills. It is more than just having a good voice or vocal range though; the genre of the book also plays an important role in what type of voices or emotions need to come across through narration.

For example, nonfiction books may require you to turn dull text into something that has energy and holds listeners’ attention. Fiction usually involves switching between multiple voices throughout dialogue or when changing point-of-view characters.

Do you have difficulty reading out loud? For aspiring narrators, there are many things that you can do in order to improve your chances of success.

Many people try to improve their storytelling by practicing in front of a mirror and adjusting until they sound perfect. This is the easiest way, but it also has its drawbacks because you can be distracted by what you see.

You can overcome this problem by recording yourself so that when evaluating your performance, you’re listening back instead of watching yourself speak—you’ll notice areas for improvement much more easily if there’s no chance that an awkward facial expression or uncooperative hands are going to distract from how well-spoken and engaging someone sounds.

If you want to be successful as a voice actor, it helps if you can “see” the book in your head. And if you also have some training in acting or theater arts. In addition to having excellent vocal talent and stage presence, you should also have patience and consistency.

Narrating text can be a tricky process. When narrating text, it’s common to need multiple takes in order for your voice and inflection to match your client’s expectations. After recording your text, you may have to do pick-ups; small revisions that are necessary for the final product. It’s important to match tone, tempo, and volume of voice when going back in order to keep consistency across all recordings on a project or series.

The Equipment Needed to Get Started as an Audiobook Narrator

If you’re an audio book narrator, it’s important to know what equipment is needed for the job. Here are some of the items that any aspiring audiobook narrator should have: a computer with recording software; a good microphone and pop filter; headphones, and a quiet room with soundproofing materials.

Computer & Software

A computer with recording and editing software is essential. The tech term for your computer and software is “Digital Audio Workstation” You can get started with Audacity or Garage Band depending on what type of computer system you have (PC vs Mac).

If you are going to use the free version of Audacity make sure that ACX Check has been installed so it meets all standards set by ACX.

ACX is Audible’s Audiobook Creative Exchange. It connects you to authors who are looking for producers. You can do narration, editing, and finish the final files to create a successful high-quality audiobook for Audible’s site along with Amazon or iTunes. Learn more about the ACX Audio Submission Requirements here.

Microphone, Pop Filter & Headphones

A microphone is your most important tool in a recording studio. If you start with an inferior mic, it will be difficult to compensate for that during post-production editing and mastering. Spend some money on a good quality mic so you can avoid wasting time trying out different types of equipment later on or spending hours fixing mistakes from using low-quality microphones.

A pop filter is a circular device that you attach to your microphone. These filters reduce extra sounds like ‘P’ or ‘B’ . You may not even know how much of an effect this has until after recording and listening to yourself at playback!

In order to produce the best audio for your recordings, you need good headphones. You need a set that will let you hear everything, so you know when your quality standards are met and when they are not.