(Note: When I started working on my orientation document for my new clients, I realized that most of this info would be handy to any author or rights holder (RH) thinking about handing their “baby” off to a narrator for the first time. Whoever you are, I hope you find this guide helpful on your journey to giving your story a voice!)

Thank you for choosing me to narrate your book! I am grateful for the trust you’ve placed in me to literally breathe life into your project, and I want to make sure we’re both set up for success. By reading and following this guide, we will make your book the best it can be.

Contact info and Social Links

You can find my direct contact information in my written acceptance to your offer—this is usually a better way to reach me than ACX, with one exception I’ll mention below. I also am active on Instagram and LinkedIn, and keep a fresh collection of samples on my Soundcloud page. As your release date nears, please stay in touch so I can help promote your book to my audience!

Auditions and offers

Most authors like to hear how the prospective narrator will perform their words. I will be happy to supply a custom audition lasting no more than 5 minutes (Approx. 750 words) from your text. If you like what you hear, please reach out and I can share more information about rates and timeline so you can make an informed decision. However, not that I do not reserve space on my calendar until you make an formal offer on ACX and I accept it.

Schedule and Payment

My offer acceptance will have confirmed two due dates—the 15 minute sample (Which I can usually do within 1-3 days of acceptance and receipt of the sample text) and the book completion date, when the files will all be uploaded to ACX (or another agreed-upon location for a non-ACX project). Also, we need to send any emails regarding scheduling changes through their message system as it is the official record of communications for ACX projects.

As a general rule I only take Per Finished Hour (PFH) projects (also known as pay-per-production). I ask new clients to pay 50% of the agreed fee as a non-refundable deposit after approving the 15-minute checkpoint file. Once I submit the full, retail-ready audiobook to you, I’ll send an invoice for the remaining balance. Payment is due upon receipt. The final invoice is based on actual finished time and will likely differ from the estimate, as I’ve found ACX has a habit of slightly underestimating recording durations.

Production Process

There’s a lot more to narration than plugging in my microphone, cracking open your book, and hitting record. Here’s what will happen now that you’ve made an offer:

I. You send me the complete, recordable manuscript in Microsoft Word or another “editable” format.

I prefer to receive the complete book before I accept the offer so that I can verify that I am a good fit for the material before we commit. I also prefer an editable file type as I generally annotate things heavily in the next step of this process, before uploading the marked-up text to my teleprompter app. Copying and pasting from a PDF can lead to some weird results that are time-consuming to fix.

2. Once we have entered a contract for me to produce and narrate the audiobook, I read the manuscript cover to cover and make choices affecting how I will record the book.

In addition to making the “acting” decisions around tone and feel that apply to all audiobooks, this step is mostly about identifying unfamiliar words and names, and researching pronunciations of them. If there are words you want to ensure I pronounce in a particular way, let me know! If they’re not already in the 15 minute sample, I can put them in there as well so you can double check me. And if there’s an obscure word I need confirmation on from you, I will reach out as well.

Additional Characters

Occasionally in nonfiction (particularly narratives or memoirs), there’s dialogue from characters other than the narrator. I don’t try to “do voices”, but will often give a different tone, accent, or phrasing to each main speaker in order to make the story easier to follow. During my prep, I look for clues about any additional speakers in the book that will help me give them a distinct voice, including:

• their age/gender

• their socioeconomic standing

• their native region and/or specified accent

• their quirks and attributes

Much like words that you want pronounced in a specific way, I am happy to take your requests on people’s voices and record a 15 minute sample that includes them.

Figures and Diagrams

Finally, many non-fiction audiobooks may also require additional transitional words or descriptions to refer to or describe figures, sidebars, or other images. If your work relies heavily on visual aids, I strongly recommend that you create a companion PDF to accompany the audiobook and change your text to indicate the page in the PDF to find the reference material. This page from the ACX help system has instructions for including this document with your audiobook. If you’re unsure of how to elegantly do this in your particular case, reach out! I’m happy to help.

3. I record and edit the first 15 minutes (approx. 2250 words) or another mutually agreed upon passage of that length, and send it to you for approval.

This 15-minute checkpoint usually is the first 15 minutes of the audiobook. However, it could include passages taken later in the book if the RH wants to check certain character voices or technical terms.

The RH should listen to this file and provide me with any feedback about pacing, tone, character voices, and pronunciations. This is your only chance to offer any specific comments about the performance.

Once the RH approves this file, I complete the audiobook without further input.

4. I record the entire audiobook. 

I perform the text in the book word-for-word as written. I must read the words on the page in the order they are written, without adding, subtracting, or transposing words while maintaining any character voice and using the proper inflection and emotion for the context. Narration is not as easy as it sounds!

I frequently find typos in the book and correct them in the recording as I am saying that line. Also, In order to improve listener comprehension, I will say the full name of an abbreviation or acronym the first time I come across it and use the initials thereafter.

Important note: Audiobook narration is a performance art based on my interpretation of the author’s text. As a result, I make integral artistic and directorial choices as I record. I therefore don’t accept artistic or directorial change requests past the 15-minute checkpoint. Thank you for understanding.

5. I edit and proof the audiobook.

I adjust pacing and eliminate noises that distract the listener. I also check the text as I listen to ensure that my read matches your words, and note any corrections I need to make.

6. I re-record the sentences that require corrections.

These sentences are known as pick-ups. They may have technical errors, such mispronunciations and misreads, or noises that couldn’t be edited out, such as excessive mouth clicks or extraneous background noise.

7. I seamlessly insert the pick-ups into the original audio and master the files to give them a consistent and pleasing finished sound.

This is where that ten years’ experience in podcasting comes in handy! I’m fortunate enough to have had more audio editing experience than many narrators, and I weirdly enjoy all the fiddling that it takes to turn raw audio into a polished, ACX-standard audiobook fit for your audience to hear.

8. I upload the final, retail-ready files to the rights holder for approval and distribution.

Due to my research and the corrections process, I’ve rarely had an instance where a rights holder asked me to re-record a mispronounced word. However, I will correct any technical errors of mispronunciations and misreads, even if it means fixing it multiple times throughout the book. As stated above, I do not make artistic or directorial changes after the 15-minute checkpoint.

Many authors are surprised or startled by the finished audiobook because it will never sound like the voices in your head, especially if you wrote about real people whom you know. My goal is not to be a mimic, but to convey the deeper message of your book as clearly and authentically as possible.

Sometimes rights holders want to re-write passages after they have heard the audiobook. If my schedule accommodates me to re-do such sections, I will invoice the client for 1.5 times my PFH rate on the re-worked passages as I would be going through steps 4-8 a second time.

Any other Questions?

Please don’t hesitate to reach out if there’s something you aren’t sure about. I want your project to be a success, and the best way to help ensure that is to make sure we both understand each others’ needs and expectations.