How to Be an Audiobook Narrator for Books on CD
Have you wondered how one gets a job as a narrator for books on CD? The audiobook narrator industry is highly competitive, but not impossible to break into. Here's how you can be the voice of books on CD.
Other People Are Reading
Instructions
-
-
1
Be sure being an audiobook narrator is for you.
Unless you plan on narrating short children's stories for books on CD, you're going to be narrating through hundreds of pages of text. Be sure you're up for the challenge.
-
2
Take acting lessons.
This might seem like an odd step but, while your audience is not going to see you per se, you need to learn how to modulate your voice to effectively convey emotion and character personality.
-
-
3
Practice reading aloud and make your own books on CD recordings.
Do this for your personal use to critique and polish your audiobook narration skills.
-
4
Attend industry events.
Research audiobook and book industry events such as Book Expo America, or American Library Association Conference and attend with the intention of networking and learning who's who. Make friends, learn who the top audiobook narrators are, and find out what publishers are looking for.
While you're attending conferences, learn about the different audiobook companies and determine which ones you might like to work for. Be sure to get names of the person's responsible for hiring.
-
5
Have a professional demo CD made.
Be sure the demo demonstrates your audiobook narrator skills in producing different emotions, genders, dialects and perhaps, different languages if you are fluent.
Just as you strive to stand out from the crowd when you submit a written resume', your audiobook narrator demo needs to do the same. Remember there hundreds of applicants out there that you're competing with.
-
6
Submit your audiobook narrator demo to the company or companies you've researched and would like to work for.
Be sure to address your cover letter(s) to the proper individual(s) responsible for hiring.
-
7
If you're not interested in being an audiobook narrator professionally, consider being a volunteer for LibriVox.
Experience is not necessary, nor do you need to send a demo CD. You only need your voice, time, a microphone, recording software and an internet connection.
For more information visit LibriVox. (See link in resource box.)
-
1
Tips & Warnings
Join industry associations.
Practice makes perfect!
Resources
- Photo Credit Zoc, Arbron, xandert, bri v
