Why You Need a Professional Audiobook Narrator for Your Audiobook and How to Find One.
- melissachambersvoi
- Aug 5
- 6 min read
Updated: Oct 8
A Definitive Guide for Authors: Navigating the Audiobook Landscape
Fresh out of drama school in the early aughts, I realised what all the clever theatre actors were doing: audiobooks. Between shifts at the coffee shop diagonally opposite my house (not the best idea, as I could see my sad day job from my bedroom), I began talking to older actors about how they made ends meet between stage jobs. After many months of persistence, Robert at Vision Australia offered me a job recording my first audiobook.
Twenty years later, I’ve recorded hundreds of books across various genres. Everything from children's books to self-help, serious literature, bodice rippers, non-fiction, and instruction manuals.
I’ve collaborated with major publishing houses like Vision Australia, Bolinda Audio, and Podium. Recently, I’ve also worked with self-publishing authors due to the rise of platforms like ACX. As an avid audiobook listener, I’ve learned a lot about what makes an audiobook worth the long listen.
In this article, I will discuss what a qualified audiobook narrator brings to your self-published audiobook project, why hiring a professional is crucial, and where to find one.
What Do Professional Audiobook Narrators Do?
Audiobook narration is an acting job. Narrators must handle language, build tension, create and distinguish characters, and channel the spirit of the writer. These skills are what actors spend years training to master.
The importance of these skills becomes evident when they are missing. The rise of synthetic voices in the marketplace has highlighted this issue. When a story is narrated poorly, you may hear it, but you won’t truly listen. Bad or untrained narrators can lead to disengagement. A professionally trained or deeply experienced audiobook narrator knows how to capture and maintain your audience’s attention. In many ways, book narration is the most fundamental acting job.
The voice is the most cultivated part of a professional performer. At my acting school, The Victorian College of the Arts in Australia, voice work was considered interchangeable with acting. We dedicated about eight hours a week to vocal training. This included breath work, building musculature for a more resonant voice, and mastering accents.
We practiced these techniques for years until they became instinctive. Even after 20 years, they remain second nature to me. For those interested in the extended universe of vocal expertise, I recommend the work of the late Kristen Linklater, to whom we all owe a great debt.
Essentially, at drama school, we learned that our vocal technique was our core skill set as storytellers. For your self-published audiobook, this skill set is your secret weapon.
The Risks of DIY Narration
I understand the temptation. Cheaper options can be alluring. However, just because you’ve read aloud to yourself doesn’t mean you can sustain an engaging narration for over six hours or more. As your tone deadens, your characters lose distinction, and your pace quickens in a frantic rush to finish, your audience may not forgive you. Worse, they may have switched off hours ago.
When authors narrate their own work, a more insidious problem often arises. Have you ever retold a hilarious story without drawing a laugh? Or wept while explaining a moving experience to awkward onlookers? The same can happen with your writing. Once you’ve written it, it feels like it has already happened to you. Without a professional narrator's skill set, the meaning, emotion, and impact can become trapped in the feedback loop of your own work.
A professional narrator knows how to make your writing resonate with others. They bring objectivity and marathon-style endurance, ensuring that the last word of your book is as impactful as the first.
Many great writers are, unfortunately, terrible narrators. For evidence, check out the New Yorker Fiction Podcast.
The Importance of a Pro Recording Environment
On a practical level, unless you are a professional broadcaster, you won’t have access to a professional recording environment without significant costs. Trust me, the recording environment and quality are the bottom line for a good audiobook. Eight hours of audio with background noise from your kids or the echo of your closet is not an experience many listeners will pay for or stick around to enjoy.
Where Do I Look for an Audiobook Narrator?
So, you’ve wisely decided not to narrate your own book. Where do you find the right person to do it? A good starting point is online marketplaces for voiceover work. I recommend reading my article on What a Professional Voiceover Artist Charges before exploring this article about Online Marketplaces for VoiceOver and how to use them effectively.
Consider whether you want to run the project through a marketplace or just use it to listen to different portfolios and narrow down your shortlist. Marketplaces often take a substantial cut from the talent's fees, which typically goes to a tech company’s profits. Most professionals subscribing to these marketplaces also have their own off-platform contracting process.
A good rule of thumb is to offer your direct contact details in the chat when communicating with talent through a marketplace. They cannot share theirs due to the terms and conditions of their subscription. If you’re satisfied with their contract process and track record, it’s best to deal directly.
Another option is to approach dedicated voice talent agents, such as Sue Terry in the UK. Most agents have audiobook-savvy representatives. Keep in mind that agents will add their own fees, which may stretch your budget if you’re just starting out. However, working with agencies guarantees serious professionals with proven track records, making the higher fees worth the investment.
What Should an Audiobook Narrator Cost?
The most important financial consideration for audiobook narration is that it’s charged per finished hour. This means per mastered and edited hour, not per studio hour. Keep in mind that it can take over two hours for a narrator to produce one hour of finished work. They must prepare by mastering accents and learning how to pronounce local place names. They also do retakes, as no one records a whole chapter perfectly in one sitting. Their per-finished-hour (pfh) rate reflects this.
A reasonable pfh rate for professional audiobook narration ranges from £200 to £300. This can vary based on the narrator’s experience and the complexity of the text, especially for books with technical language or lesser-known pronunciations.
To put this cost into context, there are about 9,000 words in one hour of narration. So, if your book is 60,000 words long, your narration will take approximately 6.5 hours. At an average rate of £250 pfh, your overall budget will be around £1,625.
You won't be able to unread that now. Like most professional services involving many hours of work, audiobooks don't cost hundreds to produce; they cost thousands. Glad we had this talk.
Note: There is such a thing as Royalty Share contracts for audiobook narration. This means you may pay the narrator a basic fee, or sometimes no fee, to record and share the profits with them for a period of up to seven years. Attracting a professional with this type of deal is unlikely unless you can demonstrate a robust marketing strategy that ensures they will eventually earn at least the pfh rate.
If you’re not hiring through a marketplace or agent, I recommend having a clear contract in place that covers the fee, delivery timeline, and revision agreement. Here’s a good example.
How Do I Audition Narrators?
Create an “audition script” using selections from your book and ask prospective narrators to record it. Most professionals will gladly record up to three minutes for you free of charge to showcase their voice. Help them by explaining the tone and pace you’re after, and perhaps indicate a demo of theirs that matches your vision. Don’t suggest they read your entire book to understand what you want; they aren’t being paid yet.
Remember, this is going to be a long collaboration. The narrator is also auditioning you. If a talent has made their portfolio available online, they will be more inclined to engage your offer if you show that you’ve listened to their work. Your ability to pitch your project clearly and passionately matters.
For your audition script, choose representative excerpts from throughout your book, including both narrative prose and various character voices.
Here’s a Basic Checklist of What You’re Looking for in a Narrator:
They should be trained or have substantial experience in narration. Can you listen to demos? Make sure to listen to more than one.
Request a ‘dry studio sample,’ which is an unproduced short track of them stating their name followed by a minute of studio silence. This allows you to assess their recording environment.
Their pfh rate should fall within a reasonable range for their level of experience. Be cautious of cheap rates. The golden rule is: you get what you pay for. No professional works for £50 an hour.
If you’re dealing directly with them, ensure there is a signed contract governing the timeline, fee, and revisions policy. The contract should be ‘non-residual,’ meaning they are not entitled to any share of future earnings from the book.
Request a demo read that includes both prose and character voices.
Am I the Right Narrator for Your Self-Published Work?
If you’re interested in my services, get in touch. If I’m not the right narrator for you, I likely know someone who is. In the meantime, head to the AUDIOBOOKS PAGE on my website to listen to some of my finished work.
Happy publishing!