The Audiobook

Having been made redundant, and at a loss after the family loss, I wasn’t really too sure what to do with myself. One of my very good friends who I used to work with had just moved back to the US and she has started recording, or rather, narrating audiobooks. She recommended that I give it a try.

A few months ago, I completed a very easy online crash course in how to narrate and produce audiobooks. It seemed simple enough, and I had most of the equipment bar a microphone – of course, some computers have microphones built in, but it wouldn’t be strong enough. With the lack of a microphone, I put the idea on the back burner and didn’t think of it again for a few weeks.

I don’t know what it was that made me think of it again. We went looking for a microphone and I ordered a cover for it so my plosives weren’t so pronounced. I went onto the audiobook website, Audible, and saw that I should record a few samples. I recorded about 4, and listened back to them. As everybody knows, listening to your own voice is not altogether pleasant but it actually wasn’t too bad. I uploaded the samples, and buoyed by my enthusiasm, I auditioned for a couple of books. One involved speaking like a king, so I tried my king-liest. The other was for a comedy-thriller set in my home county of Kent. I downloaded the scripts and sent in my recordings.

A day later, I had an offer from the comedy-thriller author, to produce and narrate his book; the first of a series. Excitedly, I agreed and I started recording. Enjoyable though it was, little did I realise how long the book actually was. Over 300 pages and 42 chapters.

However, after 2 months recording, re-recording and editing, it was finally finished. Now I’m waiting for approval and it can finally be sold on Amazon.

I feel proud of the achievement and hope that my narration brings the story to life; inasmuch as it can through headphones. I’ve already auditioned for the next possible project, and we’ll see how it goes from there.