Hire a Freelance Audiobook Narrator

Hire an Audiobook Narrator

The process of recording audiobook narration involves reading a book out loud and recording it with voice recording softwares. This is normally done by reading a whole book and then recording each part out loud.

Taking in an audiobook doesn't merely involve listening to the words on the page. The narrator must possess skills and empathy to make the story come alive. Professional narrators assist story writers in creating audiobooks as another revenue stream for their work.

Improvements of the audiobook narration market

An audiobook narration is a valuable service for the community of different personalities and even abilities. According to Statista audiobook sales revenue data, between 2010 and 2020, the number of audiobook titles published in the United States climbed from just over six thousand to more than 71 thousand. Data on the size of the audiobook industry in the United States in 2020 showed that audiobook sales amounted to 1.3 billion U.S. dollars.

The numbers do not lie - alongside revenue growth, audiences are growing, foreign markets are growing, and children's publishing is expanding.

Benefits of hiring an audiobook narrator

As audiobooks become easier to download and listen to on the go, they are one of the fastest-growing segments of the book industry. A narrator reads an audiobook, and hiring a professional can greatly boost the quality of the book and make it more appealing to customers. A great audiobook narrator can also be an expert broadcaster.

An audiobook is a great way to share your book with a wider audience. You can hire one voice actress to perform solo narration, or you can hire multiple audiobook narrators to play different characters.

What skills should audiobook narrators have?

Speaking clearly and confidently is perhaps the most important skill that an audiobook narrator should have. No matter what their method is, audiobook narrators must make sure that every word they pronounce is easy to understand by the audience.

The ability to use software for recording and editing audio files is another skill that audiobook narrators should have. Their voices can be recorded and adjusted to provide a smooth audiobook playback for listeners with this software. If audio editing is not a narrator’s skill, that’s ok. freelance audio editors for hire are the best choices here.

Being creative can also be beneficial for audiobook narrators, especially when using a characterization-based narration style. The narrator can enhance the enjoyment of the story they are reading by showing creativity when narrating these audiobooks.

5 things to consider when hiring an audiobook narrator

1.Female or Male?

Your narrator's gender may be revealed in some books. In the case of a first-person narrative, you need to hire a gender-specific narrator. The gender of the book will normally be suggested if it is written in the third person, but the perspective of the character is strong.

A lot of books can be interpreted either way. In most cases, you will be led in your choice by the protagonist's gender. Does your cast of characters, as most fiction books do, contain a fairly even mix of males and females? How much dialogue is there? A narrator capable of doing both male and female voices clearly and well will be ideal in this case. But keep it in your mind that some audiobook narrators don’t know about dubbing. If something like dubbing is what you expect, you can hire a freelance dubbing expert as easily as possible.

2.Age Group

According to the first-person narrative, what is the age of the protagonist at the time when the story is being told? Will it change as the story progresses? Does the protagonist's age change over time? Based on these factors, what is the ideal age range of your narrator?

Choose a voice to deliver your information to willing ears based on the type of audience you want to reach.

3.Culture/Dialects/Accents

Select an audition passage that allows you to clearly assess any accents or dialects that your characters must have accurately. When creating characters from a specific culture, and those characteristics are clearly reflected in their voices, make note of what these characters are before searching for those specific vocal characteristics.

4.Style/Genre

A good audiobook does not depend on accents to succeed. A narrator's accent skills are less important than one's acting quality. An accent can usually be indicated by its vocal suggestion, but it depends on how important it is.

Certain narrators excel in particular genres, as mentioned earlier. There are some who can pull off that chilling voice that sends shivers down your spine, others who can do that fun voice that charms kids, and there are some who have that confident business voice that captivates business developer experts.

5.Audience

Audiobook listeners should be considered. For whom did you write this book? Would they be interested in hearing it? For a children's book, It is probably not a good idea to hire someone who specializes in thriller recording. It may not be a good idea to select a voice that's soft, sweet and sounds like your grandmother if it's a thriller. Or maybe you should.

Which Narrator or Narrators Should I Hire?

This section may be helpful if you have narrowed down your options - or are trying to do so.

Retail samples of potential narrators

You need to find audiobooks that the narrator has recorded if you only want to hire an experienced narrator. Make sure to listen to as many audiobooks as possible; it might help you understand the narrator's range of voice. Listen closely to dialogue samples if your book has dialogues.

Experience

It takes much more than speaking clearly into a microphone to be an effective audiobook narrator. It doesn't make any sense to choose only experienced narrators out of so many talented ones available but not as experienced.

Actors, Not Just Readers

In my opinion, a great narrator is an acting expert. Try to figure out the freelance audiobook narrator's acting training and experience. I am NOT saying that all actors who excel on stage also excel at the microphone. No! In terms of bringing your audiobook to life, actors are trained in the skills necessary.

Dialogue

The importance of differentiated character voices in audiobooks with dialogue is enormous. If your book has such a scene, I highly recommend that you select that scene for your audition passage. This way, you'll have a chance to listen to how the narrator changes his or her voice in response to each character. When someone is speaking, it's important to know who is speaking.

Give Direction

A person may feel that if they have read part of a book for you, they cannot make any changes to it. Instead, it might be a good idea to suggest something that you'd like done in a different way, make a specific request. So you can assess whether the narrator has the ability to accept direction and then implement it. If the actor doesn't have the skills to incorporate the changes you request, then you know you'll have to rely on his or her work from the beginning since you may not be able to influence the result.

Conclusion

In addition to physical book sales, audiobooks represent one of the fastest-growing revenue streams for today's great story writers. You can enhance your self-publishing business or writing career by hiring an audiobook narrator and producer.

An audiobook's success can be determined by the narrator. An unprofessional narrator, regardless of how good the content is, can decrease the number of your listeners. It can also cause a fan to abandon other books. Likewise, a good narrator will have fans begging for more from the same author/narrator combination. We will connect you together.