How a Retired Air Traffic
Controller Launched a
Thriving New Career as an
Audiobook Narrator (Video 1)
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Running time: 46 minutes
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(YOU’RE WATCHING: VIDEO 1) How a Retired Air Traffic Controller Launched a Thriving New Career as an Audiobook Narrator
Don’t believe “The 7 Myths You’ve Heard About Narrating Audiobooks!”
Feel free to ask your questions here…Dan and I are ready to answer them and help you begin your journey as an audiobook narrator on ACX, for Audible and for any other production platform or publisher you want to work with.
And remember, if you miss one of the videos, you can click on the little image of that video below the main video on this page, and it will take you to that video that you missed.
So…Just post your questions below.
When is the next class?
We’re gearing up for the next class and will release details toward the end of the week, and it will be a study-at-your-own-pace class, so you’ll set the schedule. For now, please enjoy these free videos!
What’s held me back? A few things – first, I have struggled in the last few years with some damage to my voice from silent reflux that was making it difficult to speak. As far as the audiobooks themselves, I have heard that it’s such a slog of work for very little pay and since I have a 9-5 job it felt like an unrealistic path for me.
I hear that a lot – too much work, too little pay. Everyone’s experience is different, and we try to help that ratio be as rewarding as it can be. It’s funny how people who just play at it and don’t achieve any success at it can be among the most negatively vocal about it.
why would that be funny? Odd choice of words. I am a working film and theater actor. I’ve done 3 books, made about 1,600 total, but yes it’s a lot of work. Making sure the take has no audible breath or mouth sounds. Getting no background noise if you live in the city. Buying your first quality mic. I got decent rates starting because I had other VO work and decades of acting.
Yes, funny. I was talking about the naysayers who were discouraging, not about you. It’s great that you have seen success.
CJ – In this context, David chose the word “funny” not to denote “humorous or amusing” but rather to denote “difficult to explain or to understand; strange.”
I’m sorry to hear you spent a lot of time removing audible breaths. Breathing is both natural and crucial to good storytelling; voicing audiobooks — even nonfiction titles — is storytelling. Not only is it unnecessary to avoid all breath sounds; doing so damages the quality of the performance and weakens the communication with the listener.
The most successful audiobook narrators don’t try to avoid the sound of a breath.
Mouth noises, too, are a natural byproduct of speech. While particularly egregious noises may merit removal or correction, in general it’s an unnecessary and costly waste of time.
Carrie — I had to look up “silent reflux.” Of course, if I had known it’s another name for “laryngopharyngeal reflux,” I immediately would have known what it meant. (It’s possible I’m slightly exaggerating my previous knowledge.)
Glad to hear you’re on the mend.
Re: The amount of slog required, please see what you think of the reports in these 3 videos from graduates who always had heard the same thing.
And please check out the 200+ reports from some of our graduates at https://acxmasterclass.com/kudos. We know that anonymous comments can be of questionable value, so every report you’ll find there includes the name and geographical location of the person speaking and at least 95% include the person’s photo.
In addition to getting the verbatim input from people who always had heard the same discouraging stories about how terribly difficult and time consuming the work is, perhaps you’ll spot one or more people you happen to know.
If so, please consider contacting them directly and asking them to share with you their private, off-the-record experiences learning & applying the special recording/editing/mastering method we taught them.
I think that everyone needs to and should explore the possible roads to take in order to satisfy their passions. I am juggling 3 jobs, and have juggled 2 for years. A 9 to 5 career, a radio DJ job, and my voice acting and audiobook narrating & producing business. I’m about to start a year long professional certification program so I can pursue another love, and one in which lots of feedback from peers, senior managers have encouraged. I love the audiobook work: end-to-end. With over 50 audiobooks completed, I can tell you that if you want your brand to be top quality, if you want to qualify for higher PFH rates, if you want clients to be wowed by the care and quality you deliver – and their golden referrals, then every aspect of the work needs focus, practice and some 3rd party coaching and feedback so that you keep learning. And it’s vital to remember that as a narrator, regardless of the genre, you are acting. Don’t be discouraged. Find ways to make the time to explore the talents God has given you. I know many people who lament openly to me that they wish they had something else to do besides their career. As you might imagine, I usually have a number of questions and encouraging thoughts to offer to them. Bottom line for me, is if you absolutely love something, you find ways to make it a part of your life. You find others to encourage you. You learn from those with more experience. You seek to uplift the profession in your attitude, approach, and way in which you conduct your business. And you keep seeking to juggle your life and career strategically. And remember to update your website with credits (something I am way behind on). Believe me, your brand will be noticed. The diligent hard work will pay off. I hope that helps!
Thanks, looking forward to hearing more on ACX
Ernell — Great. Hope you’ll be joining the class.
Hi David,
As a graduate of one of your live sessions of the wonderful ACX Masterclass, I was wondering if it might be beneficial for me to do some sort of audit of this class? It has been a couple of years since the class, and I am now in a position to more actively pursue audiobook narration.
Thanks in advance!
Suzanne, are you a lifetime member? That’s the better move – then you get full access to this and all future classes as well! I’ll email your info the link.
As an opera singer who has been storytelling for an entire career, I have the concern about vocal fatigue. Yes, I know how to preserve my voice speaking properly. However, I heard a highly successful narrator in the UK. Masterful accents and changes in tone, but I would never want to do those sounds, as I sing concerts. Are such different sounds necessary?
You may be making the assumption that you record audiobooks in looooong sessions – you usually don’t. 20-30 minutes at a time, taking frequent breaks, and with far more normal speaking than with harsh “effort” sounds. There are moments of shouting or other more strenuous vocalizations, but it’s rare and easily handled – far more easily than say video games, where efforts can be dangerous to your vocal health. It’s interesting – a lot of operatic singers also do VO in general and audiobooks in particular – the acting training you get as an opera singer is very useful in the acting you’ll do as an audiobook narrator.
Claire –
Being far too literal minded, I’d like to add to David’s comments by responding directly to your question, “Are such different sounds necessary?”
While some audiobook narrators use a of a wide range of tones to denote changes in character, most do not AND it’s not necessary.
One of your key responsibilities is to make sure the listener knows who is speaking at any given moment.
If it’s fiction, the author already has done a lot of the heavy lifting for you: Deciding where and when it’s necessary to include devices such as:
,” said Lillian.
or
Robert was enraged. “How could you….”
or
Clearly Steven was surprised to see Mr. Magoo walk appear in the doorway. “I thought you weren’t ever again going to set foot in this house.”
“Well, I changed my mind.”
“Yes, I can see that.”
“Got any chocolate chip ice cream?”
At a minimum, simply adjusting your tone only slightly, just enough so the listener recognizes that a different character now is speaking, is enough.
Imagine yourself relating a real-life incident to a friend:
“The cashier told me I was in the wrong line.”
“What do you mean, the wrong line??”
“This one is for VIPs only….”
I’m guessing you have no trouble communicating clearly when sharing such experiences with a friend.
If I’m correct, then you already have the ability to adjust your tone and at times pause for a fraction of a second to signal the change in the identity of whose speaking.
If it’s a lengthy conversation between 2 characters, you might discover that simply lifting your head just slightly, combined with an almost imperceptible minute (“minute” {my-nyute} referring to the size rather than “minute” referring to a 60-second period) pause is enough to indicate who now is speaking.
With no strain on your voice.
Hope you’ll be joining us!
Thank you for the thorough responses.
Finally, someone who considers my responses “thorough” rather than “annoyingly verbose.”